Twitter

Feb 21 2012

Internet Marketing Vs. Social Media Marketing

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We have often said that the work we do here at Area 224 – and the 12 Minute Marketing program we launched last year – has been at the intersection of Internet Marketing and Social Media Marketing.

Guess which camp we think Pinterest is in?

But what do we mean by that?

Good question…and, even though we see some real differences between the two – in approach, in positioning, and in numbers – we think both sides can learn lots from each other. Here are some key learnings:

Internet Marketing is All About Numbers.

Social Media Marketing – while getting better at it – is more of a “soft science.” Here’s what we mean:

Uber-Marketer Frank Kern has talked quite a bit about specific programs he has done – and he has opened the kimono and shared the nitty-gritty numbers. Like this:

10,000 emails sent
27% open rate
97 sales
$1397 per sale

The ROI here is unclear – we don’t know how much was invested in all facets of this campaign, but we can tell you this: Internet Marketing focuses on Sales Numbers.

To take it a step further, there’s a guy named Ryan Deiss – also someone who falls into the “Uber-Marketer” camp – who has often said that he zeros in on one absolute number before deciding whether or not to get involved in someone’s product launch:

Earnings Per Click. (Or, if 100 people click on a landing page, and 5 of them order a $49 product, take 5, multiply it by $49 and you get $245; divide that by 100 and you come up with $2.45 per click.)

Meanwhile, Social Media Marketing is Less Mature about Bottom Line Impact

Very simply put, if we have to explain any of the above concepts to you, you are probably NOT an Internet Marketer. You might be a Social Media Marketer.

OR, at the risk of being even more direct, you might just be “in Social Media.”

This is one area where big brands and big agencies have failed in the past: they’ll hire based on soft numbers that might be rather suspect. 5000 Facebook friends (the limit). 25,000 Twitter followers (many of whom may well be bots).

And, to expect “Social Media” to translate immediately into “Social Media Marketing,” you MUST have an Objective.

Gone are the days (and these were a couple years ago, mind you) where brands can say “get me on Twitter” or “get me a Facebook fan page” and have that translate into some definition of success.

Campaigns and Landing Pages are more the domain of Internet Marketing

Yes, I said it out loud: Social Media Practitioners – the experts, gurus, ninjas and rock stars you have heard so much about – these folks tend to NOT be very good at running a campaign that goes beyond really soft sciences like “engagement.” You’re possibly going to hear terms like “number of Retweets” and “number of Facebook Fans” – but, from the Social Media folk, you will not hear anything that makes the ears of the sales people ring.

“We drove 1000 people to the landing page, and 125 of them filled out a form. All of them received a white paper from our firm; we were able to reach 15 of them by phone in the first week after the white paper arrived. We have appointments with 5 of them to talk about their business needs.”

A hypothetical quote…but which type of person produced it?

Internet Marketing is always wearing a Sales Hat

This might be the greatest difference between Social Media Marketing and Internet Marketing:

Internet Marketers always have a number attached to their name.

One reason yours truly got out of traditional PR back in the middle of the last decade: fighting for budgets and not being able to quantify the value you bring to an organization is TIRING stuff.

Our Point: if you’re in Social Media, think first like an Internet Marketer.

Sep 26 2011

The Lively Art of Twitter Language

Too Much Facebook Lately? Let’s Talk About Twitter!

Three trends on Twitter, discourse, language and engagement that are worth taking a look at. Here goes:

Trend 1: Brand Hijacking of Trending Topics

When a topic is talked about by lots of people on Twitter, it is called a “Trending Topic.” Sometimes, this trend can be one word and have a “Hashtag” or pound sign in front of it.

Oftentimes, these Trending Topics can be rather risque. Sometimes, they can be in poor taste.

TODAY: the number one “un-sponsored” Trending Topic is this phrase:

So, no matter where you stand on this particular topic – whether you think it’s promoting violence or you think it’s all in good fun – you can choose to ignore it if you would like.

You don’t have to be part of the conversation if you don’t want to. You can stay far, far away from it.

In fact, if you’re a brand marketer, we’re going to recommend that you stay away. You don’t want to be associated with the types of discussions that might be happening on Twitter right now around this topic.

Then there’s Radio Shack.

If you’re a brand with money to spend, you can pay to “promote” your tweet – so that anyone who clicks on the term and searches for the latest commentary on that topic can see your message.

Like this:

What’s the Takeaway? The brand is out of your hands. So think twice before “hijacking” a sponsored topic that could get you in trouble.

Trend 2: Blue Language and Twitter

I like to point fingers at glass houses, so why not use myself as an example here?

Fact: When checking keywords during a recent Twitter session – search.twitter.com is HIGHLY recommended – I decided to say that the assertion that a certain site (Klout) sending gifts to people was not, contrary to a tweeter’s belief, evidence that “Social Media Works.” I used the word “bull—-” which may or may not fit your definition of “Blue Language.” However, I was admonished:

Rather than this becoming Twitter War Three, I was able to have some polite off-line discussions with the person offended, and, yes, I apologized for using that term. Then I started following her on Twitter.

What’s the takeaway? You’re not going to make everyone happy anywhere you go on the web. What’s okay to you is over the line to others. You can’t win every time.

BUT: Should You Clean It Up?

Here’s where authenticity is key. I would only use that sort of language in a public forum in rare occasions – giving a speech, it depends on the audience, and it’s not “part of my act.” Some writers, bloggers, consultants and speakers CAN get away with this: Danny Brown, Erika Napoletano and Jason Falls all come to mind.

The question you need to ask yourself is this: if you’re the kind of person for whom Blue Language is part of the fabric, great. For me, upon further review, it’s not, and I’m much better sticking to my “nice guy, no potty mouth” persona.

Trend 3: Being Okay with Automation

If you want to have a lively discussion about the use of Twitter, talk about “Automation.” In some worlds, it’s completely bogus. In other worlds, it’s completely necessary.

In my world, it’s (to borrow from above) part of the fabric. And it’s also tough to tell where it’s actually happening these days:

Looking at the above snapshot of Shelly Kramer’s Twitter stream from over the weekend – you can’t totally tell. The “via”, the “twrt.me” links, any and all of it could be part of an automation program, or NONE of it could be part of an automation program.

These are four sample tweets – do these four mean she doesn’t engage with people? (NO, she DOES.) Is she always engaging with people? Does she have a team of interns? Is she up at all hours?

What’s the Takeaway? There are uber-tweeters with 100,000-plus followers and absolutely no automation. There are others who automate some, and still others who can’t be bothered with tweeting themselves but have a team doing it for them.

You need to make your own decision, and you don’t have to make an absolute decision. It might make total sense, or no sense at all.

As long as you’re actually having conversations with people, you’re on your way to real engagement.

Coming Full Circle: Can You Still Be “Lively” on Twitter?

I’ll admit to falling a little off the wagon of late when it comes to Twitter: I used to spend all hours on the site, then I was down to a few minutes a day “checking in.” I’m back a little more because it is in line with my business objectives – and I’m in a “Relationship Business,” so building relationships on Twitter is of strategic importance.

You need to make the decisions based on what’s right for your business – and choose the style and tone that makes the most sense.

Want to hear more “thinking” like this? Check out our Holistic Social Media Lesson – part of the 12 Minute Marketing series. It’s free to watch that, and four other sample lessons, using this link. And no “opt-in” necessary…ah, that’s a subject for another post.

Apr 20 2011

New Twitter Front Page

If Twitter – the microblogging platform Area 224 loves – is dying, why do they have a glorious new front page?

Gotta admit, I for one welcome the new Twitter front page overlords.

In all honestly, this change may have slipped by a good many users. If you are set to auto-connect, or you use a client like HootSuite or TweetDeck, you may have missed this.

But it’s tough to miss something so striking, and simple, and cool.

Let’s break it down:

Follow your interests.

Right in the middle — What greets you on Twitter

“Friends” – “Industry Experts” – “Favorite celebrities.” Tipping the hat to Twitter’s focus on celebrity and, frankly, broadcasting updates from important people and people who think they’re important. (And me.)

I, as a user, get it. But what’s in it for the newbie? The person who doesn’t get why they should “follow” anything at all?

Recognize anyone? A brand, maybe?

Twitter Front — That's Pete Carroll up there

What’s brilliant about this new approach is that, among those random, rotating photos above – there’s bound to be someone or something that says to you “oh, I can connect with them!”

Love to hear if you have access to this – or if you’ve noticed it when you logged in.

Always evolving – that’s Twitter.

Apr 08 2011

Friday Twitter Tip: Don’t Autofollow

New to Twitter? A veteran looking to maximize your time there? Here’s one tip: Don’t “Autofollow.”

There’s a tool, available for free, that can maximize your time spent on Twitter. It’s called SocialOomph, we’ve used it off and on for the past couple years.

You’ll find features that will allow you to do things like manage multiple accounts, or queue up updates on things that can be sent at off hours.

There’s a dangerous feature, though, called “Autofollow.” And, even though we did use it with our Area 224 account, we have turned it off within the past month. Why?

Twitter Snapshot — Imagine 200 of these following you

It’s no joke: as we’re going through the list of followers – those who are receiving our updates in their stream – we found about 200 very similar accounts. All of them doing the same thing: “FirstnameLastnameYY.” Same type of bio.

You want to maximize your time spent, and you don’t want your stream clogged up with crap like this. Don’t autofollow.

Feb 03 2011

Real Time Personal Branding Case Study – Kenneth Cole

Image courtesy bigsoccer.com

If you’re following Kenneth Cole’s “Brand Suicide”…

Hat Tip to our pal Shelly Kramer for her analysis of the Kenneth Cole Twitter Issue. You can read her take here: Kenneth Cole Brand Suicide.

Let’s take a look at another aspect of this situation: The Perils of the Personal Brand.

Or, maybe, more accurately, The Perils of the Eponymous Brand.

Kenneth Cole – person, shoe brand, both – may well weather this storm. Maybe they’ll sell some shoes. Maybe Kenneth himself will make a public apology, allow us to bask in the glow.

But when YOU are the brand – Kenneth Cole, Martha Stewart, John Smith Company – what do you do to get out of a situation like this?

If you’re running an Eponymous Brand – if the company is named after you – do your cohorts live the vision?

Can they say stuff on your behalf – like on Twitter – so that this sort of thing doesn’t happen? Can they talk you out of the really bad ideas – like borrowing from a real life-and-death crisis to try to sell your spring collection?

Have you come up with a strategy behind your communications? Or are you throwing proverbial spaghetti against the wall?

If you work for a Personal Brand – do you feel empowered?

Martha Stewart has survived numerous crises – probably because (like, say, Oprah) she’s got the right deputies everywhere – and she set out to build something larger than herself.

But are you in a position where you can tell the boss, “hey, this is a bad idea?”