how to 'maximize' your presence on twitter

Since joining Twitter a couple of weeks ago (which was essentially a trial to see what exactly the site was all about), I've come across countless functions and features that I've had to figure out how to use. But one question has bothered me on more than one occasion - how are some people/brands/companies following so many damn people?! (for example, has AdAge actually gone through and added 5,088 people?)

But now I think I have a possible answer...SocialToo.com. It's a piece of software with the capabilities of automatically following everyone that follows you, or even producing surveys that are distributed to your Twitter network. Personally, my first impression of this 'tool' is that it signifies an advanced case of laziness, but after pondering it for awhile I've come to realize there could be great value in it for the VP Social Media.

Even though the goal of Twitter is to be quick, easy, and informative the truth is that to have a well populated profile with a variety of sources it takes a serious time investment to get it started. By automating some of this searching and following, SocialToo.com and other tools can leave more time for the more important things in life...such as Facebook . Perhaps most importantly is the informational benefit that this tool encompasses. By becoming mutual followers, a brand or company gains potentially powerful demographic information as well as consumer preferences, etc. (although it could take awhile if they were to analyze every profile they follow). Even if the marketing department doesn't consider it for consumer info, the fact that the relationship seems to have become mutual definitely helps in that the consumer feels important - maybe Company X is actually reading my annoying hourly tweets? A great example of this is one of my followers, ClickZ - a social media news site. I've been following them for sometime now but this morning I received an email that they had begun following me too! I realize this may mean absolutely nothing, but the fact that they added me (automatically or not) instantly made me feel appreciated.

So this begs the question...what does the future of the Twitter relationship entail for consumers and companies alike?

can google measure anything?

I'm going to take a step away from social media news and trends for a quick second and make a post about our friend, Google.

Google TV is the search guru's advertising department responsible for TV ads (fairly intuitive). In a recent ClickZ article, it has been reported that Google has added two new reporting metrics that start to bring valuable measures to traditional media (television in this case). The first reporting functions is similar to the Conversion tools that are available with Google Adwords. Users can track the correlation between the frequency of their ads airing on TV and the change (hopefully and increase) in website traffic. This could be a dream come true for marketers, who have always struggled to place a value on the reach and more importantly the effect of their ads. This is especially true for the TV medium, but with the ever increasing presence of the internet, website exploration and further inquiry via the internet is most likely the consumers' first move in the adoption process. Although this metric may not provide any 'intent-to-purchase'-type information it is a way to determine whether your ads are stirring up any interest or if they are being ignored completely. The second of the reporting functions is "audience data reporting." This metric allows advertisers to gain demographic information as determined by consumers' set-top boxes. The ClickZ article notes this importance here is the fact that this is a way to determine which segments are viewing your ads - another fundamental question that traditional marketers sometimes struggle to answer.

Although these tools may not seem totally groundbreaking, the importance here is that advertisers have gained some credible tools to measure the effect of their ads and grasp an idea of who is watching them.

celebrity endorsements + youtube = viral entertainment + brand development

Believe it or not after much skepticism i started a Twitter account awhile back; and now, only a short time later I am using my Twitter feed as a source of not only social news, but also e-marketing and business news. I am a follower of Steve Nash and one of his latest tweets led to me finding a campaign that caught my attention.



The above video is a vitaminwater commerical that Nash filmed recently. It pokes fun at everyday office life and puts him 'in charge' of pretty much anything he feels like. It's been distributed only on YouTube and Facebook as far as I know, and although this approach isn't new I wanted to comment on the relevance this approach has for this particular brand.

I worked for vitaminwater last summer and got to know the brand fairly well. It's a lifestyle brand that's targeted to an urban, environmentally concious, and 'healthy' individual. Steve Nash, the endorser, is a perfect fit to reach this demographic and he is no doubt a user of the product. Furthermore, he is an active 'creator' in the social media space already - he's got a Twitter page, Facebook presence, and many YouTube videos).

The e-marketing aspect of this lies in the medium that's being used. YouTube is again the perfect way to reach vitaminwater's target audience, especially in terms of age, income, and lifestyle (urban and computer savvy). Not to mention the ad (and there are a couple more with other celebs) is funny, which always helps to get something off the ground in a viral sense. In conclusion, this campaign is a great example of how to use the internet to develop brand as well as the positive spillover that comes with using the right endorser.

social media brand pages...what drives popularity?

AdAge recently published an article that outlined the top 10 pages on Facebook, measured by the number of fans that each site has. Barack Obama tops the list, which is not surprising after the massive presence that his campaign had all over the internet. But after Barack the list gets very interesting, and I would like to go through these top 5 Facebook pages and see what each has to offer and perhaps pinpoint what it is that is attracting so many people to form these monstrous online communities.

1.Barack Obama - with 5.9 million fans this page is by far the most populated and has undoubtedly taken off even further since his inauguration. The popularity of this page is definitely due to the personal feel that it has, especially considering it it the President of the United States who is typically considered to be in a social class all to himself - not to mention a 'social media class' to himself. Links to 'personal' blog entries and frequent posts definitely help to engage the audience.

2.Coca-Cola - this page was actually the focus of the AdAge article because of the fact that it did not originate as a legitimately branded page. Rather, it was started by two guys and for some reason became viral and took off with millions of fans. Coke (the real guys) has now become involved in maintaining the page, but they too don't really understand why this particular fan site has become so popular. One theory exists that the social networks of the page's founders were so expansive that it allowed it to take off quickly and in a wide manner (Malcom Gladwell would call these guys Connectors).

3.Nutella?! - the obvious first impression of this page is utter amazement. What could possibly drive such a huge number of people to follow such a basic and seemingly boring product? In looking at the official Facebook page I think it is simply the quirkiness and lifestyle feel of Nutella that has created this community, as well as the fact that it's been around forever (1940s). There are also discussions such as 'what is your favourite way to eat it' etc. that are great at invoking very basic conversation.

4.Pizza - this page kind of falls into the Nutella category, but is absolutely different in that it isn't associated with a brand. It is simply a forum for people to express their love of pizza. The mainstream availability and simplicity of the delicacy as we know it definitely comes into play, but there isn't really any brand community at work here.

5. Cristiano Ronaldo - moving back to brand (and sex appeal and professional appeal and 2.75 million screaming young girls). Ronnie's popularity is undeniable but the page itself is very appealing also. There is significant presence of video and photos, both of which are probably the best media to market a professional athlete. Although there is no feel of his personal touch, the quality of the content will draw people in, especially those who are looking for up to date news, etc.

A bit of a longer post...that's all for now.

microsite 2.0?

There may be a new type of microsite just around the corner. Anyone that has come across the new Skittles.com can attest to this possibility. What Skittles has done is not absolutely groundbreaking (word is that Modernista, a Boston-based advertising agency, was the first to take this approach). So what is so revolutionary?

Skittles.com is simply a collaboration of the company's exisiting presence on various social media networks. Although the home page is currently the Skittles YouTube channel, it has been rotated through sites that include Wikipedia and Facebook. A standalone menu sits up in the top left corner no matter where you are within the site, be it on the Skittles Facebook page or following a Twitter feed. The only links available to you on the menu direct you straight to all of the most popular social networking sites. The ultimate outcome of such a collaboration is the bringing together of various Skittles communities (do they really exist for candy brands?!) and creating somewhat of a 'super-community.'

Personally I quite like the idea, although Skittles might not be the best application, as it combines various social media sites rather than putting them in competition with one another. This seems to make more and more sense as various sites continue to carve their own niche and provide fairly different services.

The innovative aspect of the site lies in how they are trying to leverage their existing presence on social media sites (which is costing them little or nothing) and trying to make a quasi campaign out of it. Apart from bring the various 'Skittles communities' together, the site really doesn't provide any value to its users - it is purely a social, somewhat viral, effort to get people talking. So will it get people talking about candy? I think it's going to have to because it's not capable of much else.

social technographics applied

This post comes as a quick study break...a break that will touch on social technographic segmentation and how it can be applied.
Forrester does a great job of outlining how exactly such segmentation can be put to use, particularly in applying the breakdown of various segments against another variable - primary motivation, for example. As you can see below, users motivated by entertainment are more likely to be creators and/or critics than those motivated by career or family use. The insight here is that sites or brands or companies that are associated with entertainment, be it music, movies, or the like can more aggressively pursue social media as a way to connect with their target consumer.

A more specific example of understanding social technographic segmentation can be seen in the comparison between Dell and Apple users. Dell users are less likely to create or critique with respect to their Mac counterparts, particularly due to the creative 'mood' that is set by Apple. The more active stance of the Apple customer can also be linked to the more evangelistic attitude held by many of its customers. A feeling that results from their love of the brand and product, which ultimately leads to them speaking out.

the google graveyard

It's official - nobody can avoid the current economic slowdown. Even Google is "bracing" itself, backing out of unprofitable ventures and reassessing where they are spending. Their most recent move was the closure of their radio advertising service, a 3 year 'trial' program that involved approximately 1600 radio stations.

Although you could point the finger at the recession, this move further illustrates Google's inability to successfully operate offline. The online giant recently shut down their print advertisement department as well, thereby relying almost entirely on online ad revenues. In fact it t is online that they plan to utilize some of the radio technology that has been developed for streaming audio purposes. It should be noted that Google is still attempting to penetrate with television commercials, but I could see that taking awhile to get rolling.

The moral of this story is simple. It's well known that consumers are tightening their spending habits, but if Google and its $22ish billion revenues are doing the same - the recession is here.
*story from Marketing Magazine, see it here.