A Really Cool Toy

Google Maps has added some more streetviews to its collection and if you haven't seen this feature yet, it's time to take a look. Choose one of the areas that they have street view available and then zoom in on virtually any street to get a close-up. It's like magic! Google has also used social media galore to promote it. They've got clever videos on Youtube to walk you through it, although it's pretty easy to navigate. It's not uber productive but it's definitely cool.

*They even have Madison, our HQ city, listed.

Is Social Media the Cure for Political Apathy?

The presidential race provides a fascinating glimpse into Web 2.0 and social media trends. The race has many of the same elements of a commercial social media marketing campaign -- trying to reach a targeted group of people, engaging them with the right messages through the mediums they use most, and ultimately convincing them to buy/enter/sign up/vote, etc.

Although a wide cross-section of Americans is using social media, it's the demographic that is the most commonly associated with Web 2.0/social media -- young people -- that is being drawn to politics, according to an article Thursday in the New York Times. From befriending candidates on social networks and downloading political ringtones to submitting video debate questions and forwarding news times to friends, young people are connected -- not just to this presidential race, but with each other through social media.

“Young people are particularly galvanized in this campaign, and they have a new set of tools that make it look different from the enthusiasm that greeted other politicians 30 years ago,” said Lee Rainie, director for the Pew Internet and American Life Project. “They read a news story and then blog about it, or they see a YouTube video and then link to it, or they go to a campaign Web site, download some phone numbers, and make calls on behalf of a candidate.”

Will Job Market Dip Affect Social Media Positions?

Steve Rubel thinks so. In his latest article entitled "Three Internet Careers That Soon Won't Exist" he makes a claim that even though we have been relatively safe and even enjoying a measure of job security here in the social media sphere, it may come to an end as digital media knowledge becomes a necessary skill as part of any position. Positions like the online ad salesperson may be the first to go as clients begin testing and purchasing the automated networks and bypassing the media buyers altogether.
We at Sway have been predicting this for quite some time and so have Shoutlet to take us into the new age, but if you are thinking of hiring an online social media manager or are one, here are a few things to look for:

1) Broaden Your Horizons: Know more than just blogs. Know how to set up, maintain, design, and write blogs. Know the best blogs in the industry and how they have risen to the top. Know how it relates to "regular media" like newspapers and TV. In other words, cross training on all aspects of social media is now becoming necessary. It's not just knowing about how to purchase Pay Per Click, but knowing the context in which it will work that keeps your knowledge relevant.

2) Brush Up On Your PR Skills: Automated online is becoming the norm and the luster has worn off of media buying. With millions (literally) of places to put your ads, knowing the perfect placement is key. Relationships with vendors is still important but the right placement can save you or your company a bundle of money and time. Paying bloggers to promote your product is tacky, knowing how to make them want to write about your product is brilliance.

3) Dust off Your Crystal Ball : Know the trends before they happen and be able to nimbly guide your company while large agencies take weeks to catch on. It's easier than it sounds. Read the industry media and while it may be difficult to predict upcoming trends, staying reasonably on top of them will keep you ahead of most of the rest.

Permission, Protection, and its Potential Impact on Targeted Advertising

A bill has been drafted in the New York Assembly that would limit the personal info collected by web companies to do targeted advertising. According to the New York Times:

If it passed, computer users could request that companies like Google, Yahoo, AOL and Microsoft, which routinely keep track of searches and surfing conducted on their own properties, not follow them around. Users would also have to give explicit permission before these companies could link the anonymous searching and surfing data from around the Web to information like their name, address or phone number.

Lobbyists have been summoned, and speculation undoubtedly abounds. Could Albany, N.Y. become ground zero for consumer privacy protection online, or is it an exercise in Internet regulation futility?

The Times article points out interesting points that lead to even more questions.

1. While consumers, as Mr. Brodsky explains in the article, most likely do not know the extent to which personal data is being collected and used to send them relevant advertising, is it really harming anyone? Mike Zaneis, VP for Public Policy at the IAB, says that behavioral and third-party advertising isn't harming anyone. Arguments over privacy of all kinds will certainly be sparked again during this debate.

2. Brodsky says he's not out to totally squash targeting, only to inform and allow consumers to opt out. But would permission, by its very nature, essentially take the magic out of online targeted advertising because so many people would remove themselves from data collection?

3. And if enough people did opt out, is Mr. Zaneis correct in his statement that the abundance of free stuff on the web might decrease? (which begs the question: If you had to pay for the social networking/photo uploading/video viewing/widget embedding that you get for free now, what's it worth to you in cold hard cash?)

Perhaps the most important point about the NY Times story is this:

...some Web executives say the Internet is changing far too fast for lawmakers to keep up. “Taking a snapshot of what should be the standard today probably will not be a lasting and durable solution,” said J. Trevor Hughes, executive director of the Network Advertising Initiative, a group of online advertising networks that voluntarily produced and agreed to a set of privacy standards.

Maybe that's the answer. The web is a hurricane; it's in a constant state of flux that's difficult to predict. The web world is changing too quick for even some experts to keep up, and trying to regulate it might just be futile, even for lawmakers with the best of intentions.

Back to the iPhone

I'm embarrassed to admit that I was one of the fools who had an iPhone the first week the device was released. After about 4 weeks with the iPhone, I sold it to a co-worker and went back to Blackberry. I bitched about the 'soft keys' the 'SMTP' issues, etc. I didn't have these issues with Blackberry. After about a 4-month stint on my Blackberry, I decided to return to the iPhone.

Here's why:

First, the iPhone is a rugged device. Within my 4-month time back on my Blackberry Curve, I had returned the device 3 times because the charging port on the side wore out, leaving my unit impossible to charge. One time I had to drive 3 hours during a trip to San Fransisco to return it to an AT&T-authorized warehouse. I never had hardware issues with the charger on my iPhone.

Second, the Blackberry UI is terrible. No matter how hard they try, the graphics are unimpressive. I yearned for the sexy UI on the iPhone. At one point I even went with the very expensive AT&T Tilt. Which was an equally useless device. Not to mention it had the same charger connection as the Blackberry, so I returned it immediately.

It's good to be back.

More importantly, I figured out how to solve some of the issues that I had with the iPhone the first time. Here they are:

1) USE GOOGLE MAIL. Duh! I set up Google mail on my iPhone so it could check my POP mail from work. Then I used IMAP to sync my mail to the iPhone. After setting this up, I have ZERO spam. It also eliminated my SMTP issues entirely (I guess most hotel wireless connections trust Google's SMTP mail).

2) Rely on WiFi wherever, whenever possible. Once I set the iPhone to automatically switch to WiFi when I walk into a "hot zone", I experienced lightening speed with my email (faster than Blackberry). Since I solved the SMTP email issue, I was OK with the phone connecting to WiFi.

3) Believe in Apple. There were several small issues that made me hate the iPhone the first week it was on the market that now have been solved. For example, our work phone system sends us voicemail messages as an email with an attached WAV file. For awhile, I could not play this file on my iPhone. As of today (I guess the software guys fixed it via the last update), I can play WAV files from within my email with the iPhone's QuickTime player. Problem solved.

Steve Jobs was right, having a software-based phone is infinitely expandable and easy to upgrade. I've learned that if you are willing to wait, the Apple folks are listening and willing to fix it. Well done, Steve.

What is branded entertainment?

Branded entertainment is another way of connecting with consumers online.

Also called “branded content” or “advertainment,” according to Wikipedia, “branded entertainment” is the combination of an audio-visual program (TV, radio, podcasts, videocasts, etc.) and a brand. Initiated by the brand or the broadcaster, a branded entertainment program allows brands to promote their image and brand attributes to their target audience by creating positive links between the brand and the viewers. It is a reflection of the advertiser’s brand personality. It is not product placement or a product advertisement—it is a piece of entertainment.

One extreme example of branded entertainment was the Hottest Mom In America reality show/contest sponsored by Medicis Pharmaceutical the maker of Restylane.

PQ Media recently reported findings from a study that reveals spending on branded entertainment marketing reached $22.3 billion in 2007, an all-time high. This form of marketing has almost doubled in the last five years, and the projected growth from 2007 to 2012 is 12.8% CAGR, exceeding $40 billion.

Patrick Quinn, President & CEO of PQ Media, said "... there are strong secular trends driving investment from traditional advertising media to alternative marketing strategies... Americans are spending more time outside their homes, online at work, communicating via wireless devices and multitasking with various media, which has created a generation of elusive consumers for brand marketers to reach... (leading) to increased investment in alternative marketing tactics."

As more of our clients move to branded entertainment, by placing such content in a branded widget that can be passed along virally and measured—clients will maximize their investment in this new marketing approach.

Social Media: The New Television?

Today I found out what happens when social media starts to go mainstream. An article written by Richard Ord, CEO of iEntry Inc (whom I normally don't disagree this vehemently with) claims that Social Media Will Succeed. This I agree with. However, he then ventures to claim that it's greatest asset lies in it's ability to deliver an audience as large as TV and that eventually, advertisers would realize that they could reach this massive audience with their video ads.

With all due respect to Mr. Ord, I have to take issue with that statement. The beauty of social media isn't in the numbers, it's in the quality of the numbers. If you reach a million people on TV with your ad for Insurance but only 5,000 of those people are interested in buying insurance you've spent a lot of money on those 5,000 people. With social media, you can reach 5,000 people who are all looking to buy insurance. The targeting properties of social media are priceless, not to mention efficient.

There are, as Ord says, as many people on the internet as there are watching TV, but what they are doing while they watch TV, why they watch TV, what they are saying about TV, etc. isn't information that's readily available and you can't break down your target audience much further than what channel you are placing an ad on. With social media, we can research our demographics and place our shoe video ads on social communities for luxury shoe lovers, or our knockoff purse ads on bargain lover sites with a section for knockoff purses.
At the end of the day, the quality of our numbers greatly trumps quantity.

New Shoutlet Site is live

Life's a Bit Sweeter for Business Pros

"Give 'em a little sugar!"

That's what a just-launched social news site, bizSugar.com, encourages its users to do when they see a helpful piece of content. This Digg-esque site for businesses is a great way for business-minded folks to get the "sweetest" info out there and connect with each other. It's designed for small to mid-size business pros, owners, and entrepreneurs to get the best business stories, videos, tips, etc. online.

Time-pressed, knowledge-hungry businesspeople: Time to add another site to your daily round of web surfing.

Linking In

It's amazing to me how many people are still unaware of LinkedIn. For years people have attended conferences, networking events, and chamber of commerce meetings trying to expand their network. LinkedIn allows you to connect to people the same way, but online. Over the past few months I've met hundreds of new contacts using LinkedIn and other services like Plaxo. If you haven't tried one of these services yet, you should. Don't be afraid, jump in!

By the way, you can link to me at:


http://www.linkedin.com/in/swayonline


See you online!

Can Social Media Kill Your Career?

Ruining your career can be pretty easy without any help, just ask anyone who hovered around the punch bowl too long at the Christmas Party, but now it seems it can be even easier with the help of social media.

Business has spilled into the realms of blogs, Youtube, and even Facebook. Places that had generally been the playgrounds of a younger, media savvy crowd are now teeming with business types and CEOs. Let's take the example of Sarah Lacy and her recent interview of Mark Zuckerberg a few days ago at the South by Southwest Interactive Festival. This is explained well by Caroline McCarthy's blog. Lacy made the mistake of asking boring questions, talking about herself too much, and generally having a bad interview of one the most interesting Internet personalities around. Because of social media, this interview was heard round the world via Twitter, Youtube, bloggers, and every other conceivable kind of outlet available. What might have been a small media faux pas and a slap on the wrist turned into a major media event.

The point of this example is, social media makes everything more accessible. What started as college kids getting nervous about potential employers seeing their Facebook pages has turned into colleagues hoping their meeting blunders aren't on Youtube and interviewers having to relive their awful mistakes over and over in the public eye. Advertisers must take note that while social media is a great tool to reach your demographic, the content that you are using is still very important. Allowing your new marketing intern to start a company blog isn't as harmless as it may seem. Getting some help from experts probably isn't a bad idea.

Lastly, (do I even have to say it?), be careful with your Facebook pages, blogs, networks, forums, etc. when you are using them in a business environment! Social Media is a powerful tool that can launch careers and turn businesses around but can also be the equivalent of that bad Christmas Party, that the whole world can see.

Is there a next?

Techipedia had an interesting post recently about the evolution of marketing until the present day. In a nutshell, Tamar Weinberg doesn't just ask what everyone is wondering -- What's Next? -- but instead raises the question:

Is there a next?

She touches on the progression of media moving from a wholly "push" technology to a "pull" technology. We've moved from getting all our news and influential info about products from mainstream media to getting information via the Internet and each other, finally closing the loop and turning the lines of communication back toward companies. Check out how Techipedia illustrates it here.

Weinberg asks "Is Social Media Marketing the Final Frontier of Marketing?" A knee-jerk reaction would be "no," considering how the marketplace is constantly one-upping its own inventions. But in terms of the Internet, it's a thought-provoking question. Has marketing through the Internet -- as it exists and functions today -- running out of ideas? And if not, what really is the NEXT BIG THING?

Mobile Ads Gain Attention

According to CNET.com, nearly 25% of all cell phone users in the U.S. say they have seen an advertisement on their phones in the past 30 days; that is nearly 58 million people. About 50% of those who saw advertising on their cell phone say they actually responded back to to the ad. Mobile ads help to eliminate unwanted ads that consumers are faced with daily. This has to make us wonder if mobile advertising is the way to go? We can directly hit our target markets and generate feedback from them. Either way in the next few months, we will be seeing a significant increase in mobile ads.

Oprah's A New Earth Web Event

Last night I attended Oprah’s A New Earth Web Event with more than 500,000 other people from all over the world. Oprah kicked off the web event by sharing that over 139 countries were represented in the class including viewers from Bolivia, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong, China, Australia, and all 50 states.

This is a 10-week class (held every Monday evening) hosted by Oprah to discuss Eckhart Tolle’s book A New Earth Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose. Each week a chapter of the book is discussed along with workbook assignments.

Here are some of my observations from the event so far.

Oprah’s team has made excellent use of e-marketing tools. Since I signed up, which was about a month ago, I have received weekly e-mails about the upcoming web event to get me excited and prepared for the event. The e-mails also directed me to Oprah.com, where there was unique content for readers of the book.

Last night I arrived on the web event at 7:30 pm, a half hour before start time. While I waited, Oprah had videos to watch that built up to the event. There were testimonials from readers of the book all over the world, all ages 20s to 60s, males and females. These testimonials were very powerful and many readers referenced that they have been telling everyone they know to read the book (these people are word-of-mouth influencers and brand advocates).

Additionally, during the pre-webcast programming, celebrities were also showcased who shared their thoughts on the book; these celebrities included Jim Carrey, Guy Ritchie, Valerie Bertinelli, and Jenny McCarthy.

On the webcast Chevrolet, Post-Its, and Skype were noted sponsors. Post-It also had a pre-roll ad showing a reader using Post-It flags to mark passages in her book. Chevy and Skype were also noted sponsors on the player and in the pre-roll.

The first half hour of the event was Oprah and Eckhart Tolle conversing. Then Oprah opened up to questions from viewers by e-mail or by Skype videoconferencing. Select viewers were shown asking their questions with a “via Skype” mention on the screen.

Although the web event cut in and out a lot due to the large number of viewers, the event can be viewed today on Oprah.com, as well as downloaded at iTunes.

I believe this book has a powerful message. The author is a profound spiritual teacher. To Oprah and her team, I say thank you for making this available to so many. From a professional perspective, those of us in social media thank you for showcasing how powerful the Internet can be as a tool to connect people from all over the world and to demonstrate the power of new marketing communications.

I look forward to the next few weeks.

What an amazing time we live in--a book club with more than 500,000 people attending, all from their own living rooms!

the Trouble with Tracking Viral Campaigns

So now that we know that social media is increasing in scope, wildly popular, and here to stay, how do we convince our agency and client friends that it also works? Tracking social media and viral campaigns has been one of toughest things for us to prove when recommending social media as a part of a campaign. Those of us that are mildly obsessed with reading and learning about social media know that it works but we can't simply say 'trust us, it will work and it's really cool' in a meeting. I've tried.
Agencies typically want to talk about ROI and impressions and relate those to the cost of a campaign and how this translates into money being saved and/or made. This is going to be more and more important as social media grows (hence the HUGE sale of Compete.com this week). Social media is a little wily when it comes to exact numbers as we've all seen campaigns that should be great fail to take viral legs and videos of questionable intelligence watched by millions. The fine line that we must walk is in both the content and distribution. Assuming that you have thought of both, the next step is to determine your ROI and tracking.
Things you should know:

1) Saved money should not be overlooked. Social media is a great advertising dollar saver. If Youtube charges you $20,000 for any campaign and you are able to reach those numbers without using Youtube, consider that money saved.

2) Viral is worth more than impression. This means that if a blogger tells his 50 readers that your product is a great find, you have just received a viral engagement. Think of it like having a sale at your store and the local news comes to cover it. This is priceless!

3) Along the viral lines, pass-along should be tracked as well. How much is it worth to you to know that not only has your e-mail been read but that it has been forwarded on? This information is going to be priceless to your business. It means that someone thought that your information was important enough to pass on. Hence, you can get some idea of what information people want to read when your composing your next e-mail and optimize your e-mails opened.
Shameless plug: There are several companies out there that can track the viral legs of your campaign but Shoutlet seems to be the best so far. We have been working tirelessly to bring passalong tracking once we found out that "this campaign is super cool, I promise it will spread virally' doesn't work so well.