Social Media « The Effective Marketer

Mapping the Social Media Landscape

August 11, 2010

Infographics, according to Wikipedia are “graphic visual representations of information, data, or knowledge”. It’s also a wonderful way to communicate your message. Marketers that manage to become good at visual data communication can positively influence their companies into taking the right approach or strategy. Talking with the CEO or other managers about what all those metrics mean is sometimes a challenge, especially when they are not on top of the latest marketing trends or technologies.

When it comes to social media, a nice chart can do the talking job for you. The problem is finding the right one. The internet is now full of infographics for the social media space and each has its own particular characteristic. Here are some of the more interesting ones I found that try to map out the social media or social networking landscape. Their creators vary widely, from bloggers, marketing companies, to nationally recognized magazines.

National Geographic’s “World Wide Friends” illustration:

National Geographic Magazine World Wide Friends Illustration

Overdrive Interactive “Social Media Map”:

Overdrive Interactive Social Media Map

Flowtown’s 2010 Social Networking Map:

Flowtown's The 2010 Social Networking Map

Information Architect’s Web Trend Map 3.0:

Information Architect's Japan Web Trend Map 3

Harvard Business Review “Mapping the Social Internet”:

HBR Mapping the Social Internet

Mapping Social Media and Internet Trends

What I like about the maps above is that each one is a great representation of the data it is trying to communicate. The maps that follow a known pattern (subway lines, political map, etc.) tend to be easier to understand because they represent images we’re already familiar with. In general, if it takes you more than a few seconds to understand what the map is trying to say, then it’s not a good map. Your audience, of course, will be the determining factor telling you whether one type of map is more appropriate than the other.

Have you found a good representation of the social media space? Please share!

Leave a Comment » | Communication, Marketing Planning, Social Media | Tagged: Communication, linkedin, marketing plan, Marketing Planning, Social Media, Web 2.0 | Permalink
Posted by Daniel Kuperman

Why Social Media Needs to Die

April 14, 2010

OK, this may be a bit harsh, but all the talk about social media versus traditional marketing is driving me crazy. Sure, gurus, experts, and agencies alike want to tout they are the latest and greatest when it comes to the new marketing tools on the block and so it makes sense for them to brand themselves as “social media agencies” or “social media experts”. But what about the “traditional marketing” as they call it? It’s all the same thing, but with different adjectives.

Trends and the Obvious

Isn’t it funny how some numbers on a screen, a nice chart and statistically sounding papers can make you believe in anything at all? I found it amusing when reading about two new surveys about social media adoption were released that some of the highlights were:

Companies are spending more on social media and plan on increasing social media budget
Companies are switching more money from traditional marketing to digital marketing
Small and large companies alike are turning to social media
Social media is becoming a viable took in the marketing mix

Let’s say someone just came out with this new thing called the Television. And not only that, after a few years it is now in color and families are gathering around it for their favorite shows. Wow, you may say, let’s jump into that and get our own commercial there! Social media, like any other tool (or vehicle of communication to be exact) is the same thing. The new shinny object is obviously attracting people to it and the more you try it out, the better you’ll be at mastering the right message.

Another obvious trend being reported talks about how companies are integrating social media into their marketing efforts (a couple of reports discussed here and some discussion here too). Really?! Wow, these marketers must be really smart to be integrating social media… but how about the ones that say they haven’t integrated social media into their marketing mix? Are they losers? Maybe they are still trying out the waters, creating a twitter account to listen to the market before jumping right in. This “integration” talk is another useless discussion because it really doesn’t help you do anything better today. So what if most marketers are not integrating social media into their strategy? How can this data help you? Don’t tell me that you need that to “sell social media” internally into your organization because that’s a lame excuse. Agencies might like the data because it tells them how easy or how hard it will be to sell their new “social media” strategy service.

The Academic Debate No One Cares

I think I had enough of the whole social media versus marketing discussion when I listened to the Six Pixels of Separation Podcast talking about digital marketing agencies vs. traditional marketing agencies vs. social media agencies.

I wholeheartedly agree when Mitch Joel says “Let’s not make it bigger than it is.”

The discussion of where social media fits, and whether is part of marketing or not is purely academic and has no practical purpose.

For those not in the marketing field, let me clarify this with the simple diagram below:

All of those items are under ‘marketing’. Yes, even ‘sales’ is part of marketing, that’s how we’re taught in school and how it is in the real world. In fact, books such as “Marketing Management” and “Principles of Marketing” by Philip Kotler widely used at marketing courses talk about the good and old “Four P Components” of the Marketing Mix and have as examples the following:

Product: product variety, quality, design, features, brand name, packaging, etc.
Price: list price, discounts, etc.
Promotion: sales promotion, advertising, sales force, public relations, etc.
Place: channels, coverage, assortments, locations, etc.

No, they don’t mention “webinars” or “email marketing” or “facebook” but you get the idea. Those are all tools of your marketing bag.

And Now For Something Completely Different

While many are using the term social media in everything they do, I propose something different: just kill it from your vocabulary. You can argue about “push versus pull”, about how “inbound marketing” is the new thing and all that great stuff but keep in mind that it is all part of your marketing strategy and execution.

Talk about “integration”, about “traditional vs. new”, or “digital vs. virtual” doesn’t get you anywhere.

I know I’m not alone in trying to end the social media vs. marketing dichotomy and know that a lot of you marketers out there are getting tired of this whole thing, so let’s just try something completely different and stop talking about social media as if it were completely separate from what we do on a daily basis. It’s a tool, so let’s refer to it as one.

Leave a Comment » | Marketing Management, Marketing Strategy, Social Media | Tagged: linkedin, Online Marketing, Social Media | Permalink
Posted by Daniel Kuperman

The Fun Theory: How to Change Behavior

November 30, 2009

How do you change people’s behavior? Corporate America usually relies on some form of compensation system which basically uses a reward/punishment method that tries to coerce people into doing what the company wants. You have to fill out forms, get approvals, and meet goals otherwise there’s no pay raise or bonus. In other cases you try to get website visitors to navigate a certain path by placing links in strategically important places or enticing them with an offer. Books and theories exist on how to get people to perform their best or to change the way they behave (“Bringing Out The Best In People” comes to mind) but rarely we see those in action.

Volkswagen launched what became quickly a viral campaign with emails being forwarded, youtube videos with over 1 million hits and comments from all corners of the web. They call it The Fun Theory (www.thefuntheory.com) and the goal is simple: using fun to change people’s behavior for the better. The videos on their website (embedded below) are some great examples of what they mean.

How are you changing your customers and your prospects behavior? Can you make something fun that will entertain and educate them? And how about your staff or your company’s employees? Some food for thought.

Leave a Comment » | Communication, Marketing Strategy, Social Media | Tagged: linkedin, marketing campaigns, public relations, responsibility, Social Media, Viral Marketing | Permalink
Posted by Daniel Kuperman

Suit over Gartner’s Magic Quadrant Big Marketing Ploy

November 6, 2009

In an earlier post I wrote about ZL Technologies lawsuit over Gartner Group’s Magic Quadrant, over what it considered “multitude of illegalities”.

And not surprisingly, the judge dismissed it.

Gartner’s comment about the decision focused on them being an independent research organization and denies they use “pay for play” in the publication of their reports.

So this should be the end, right? ZL lost and will go back to its corner. Well… not so fast! The way I see it, ZL had a minor victory here. Let me explain. Had the judge sided with them, the win would surely have been better but I have to think that they knew they didn’t stand a chance. So why go through the trouble? Because ZL can use Gartner’s arguments against itself and now have it documented by a judge to prove it. As they had stated on their website they were hoping to use the proceedings to get :

Fair Disclosure on Conflicts of Interest
Fair Disclosure on Evaluation Scores
Better Oversight

They won’t get better oversight (and that was a real stretch) but they did get from the arguments (which are now documented) that the Magic Quadrant is nothing but Gartner’s opinion about the market and not “hard facts” as some might believe. In recent emails they have started using this as proof that “(…) the market should take note that the defense on which Gartner prevailed was its argument that its reports contain ‘pure opinions,’ namely, opinions which are not based on objective facts”.

So how’s that for a comeback? I see as a great opportunity to market themselves and when talking to CIOs and decision makers that bring up Gartner’s MQ, they can simply point them to the result of the lawsuit and say “listen, as much as you like Gartner’s Magic Quadrant, it is pure fabrication based only on their opinion. No hard facts. They said it themselves! So forget about it and let me show you the demo….”.

But how will ZL be viewed in the market? Can their tactic backfire? It seems that some people have already tweeted to this effect. Now is time for them to be very, very careful with the community they target.

Keep tuned because ZL can still come back to fight the court’s decision.

Leave a Comment » | Communication, Marketing Strategy, Social Media | Tagged: Communication, linkedin, public relations, Social Media | Permalink
Posted by Daniel Kuperman

The Networker’s Dream

October 14, 2009

Ever been in a situation where you are trying to get a hold of someone or get introduced to another person but just can’t figure out how? This is the reality for most salespeople. How do you get pass that low level gatekeeper and get an introduction to the real decision maker at the company?

Give your network a boost with PeopleMaps

The answer is in PeopleMaps.

This really cool tool I read about on Laura Ramos’ blog, shows the path between you and your desired target. By gathering information from your LinkedIn, Facebook, Yahoo, Gmail (not Hotmail, mind you), and other social media sites you belong, it maps out your connections and the connections of your connections.

There is a free version that is worth trying out just so you see the power of undcovering a strong connection between you and another person you may want to befriend. Is like LinkedIn on steroids, because not only you can see who’s connected to whom, but also HOW they are connected.

And here is where some caution is necessary. I saw that in some cases it showed me a path to a person via a friend of mine just because they both worked at PriceWaterhouseCoopers. And PWC is a company with thousands of people from all over the world, so although the fact that they worked for the same company is good, it doesn’t really ensure they know each other. A call to this friend could solve the mystery, though, and is better than no clue at all.

Sales reps should look into this tool as a potential route for getting in direct contact with those hard-to-reach contacts, and also to expand their networks. And if you are looking for a job, this may be a great way to find a way to get a personal introduction to the hiring manager on that company you want to interview for.

2 Comments | Online Marketing, productivity, Social Media | Tagged: linkedin, Online Communities, productivity, Social Media | Permalink
Posted by Daniel Kuperman

Why Social Media Is Not For Everyone

July 21, 2009

While many are in love with the whole concept of Social Media as being the next big thing in marketing, the holy grail that will lift sales and enhance your brand, I have seen some detractors that insist in calling out the faults and dangers or adopting Social Media as part of your marketing strategy.

Taking the plunge into social media may not be the right thing for you

Social media is just another media

Experts, personalities and false prophets are all clamoring that social media is king. We’re told that if you have a good plan , if you follow a proven framework for rolling out your social media activities and integrate them with your sales efforts , then the ROI will be clear . That is, if you can translate all those additional site visits, downloads, and re-tweets into sales. Otherwise it’s just buzz.

Some blasphemous professionals on the other hand, caution us to be careful in our efforts, telling us we should really focus on those customers that love our product and not use social media targeting everyone. They caution us saying it could be dangerous to our business if incorrectly used and it’s only helpful to build relationships and goodwill . Sales? Maybe not so much.

I don’t know about you, but so far it seems like Social Media is nothing more than just another media, another tool in the marketer’s arsenal. It’s like saying everyone should do email marketing, everyone should do podcasts, print ads and TV spots.

Choosing the right social media strategy

While some may say that since your employees are already using social media (facebook pages, tweeter accounts, linkedin posts, etc.) you should also jump on the bandwagon , I say there are several reasons for companies to be reluctant to embrace it wholeheartedly. The same questions you would ask before using any marketing tool available you should also ask of the Social Media tools. What is it for? Who is our target? What is our goal? What are our objectives? What resources will it require? Will we do it ourselves or will we ou ts ource to someone with more experience? Do we need to create rules or procedures for using it? How will we measure success?

At the company I work for we recently had an informal discussion about Facebook and Twitter, with people raising questions such as “why don’t we have a Tweeter page” or “let’s create a Facebook account and start inviting customers”. That is all nice and good, I said, but let’s first decide on why we are going to do it. Get people to buy our products! Tell them about a new release! And similar comments ensued. Yeah, but HOW do you do that? Just making sure you are Tweeting five times per day is not guarantee for success especially if you have nothing more to say that hasn’t been said already. As with any new tool or concept, it always seems easier said than done. Probably because it’s “free” (yes, you don’t have to pay for it but you do need to invest time), it is immediately implied that if you are not using it you are behind the times and putting your company at risk.

Let’s put aside the fact that the press and the Internet in general are full of stories about how social media is transforming businesses and think in terms of marketing strategy. Why would you use a tool without first deciding how it will impact your brand, how it will impact your resources and how it will help you achieve your goals? I’m not saying that you shouldn’t use it but I am simply cautioning you to use it as part of your overall strategy. If you want to create a corporate blog that focuses only on your 10 most profitable customers and you have good reasons to do it, then don’t think for a minute that you are doing something wrong. If you need to Tweet about what you had for lunch because somehow this creates affinity with your prospects and will eventually translate into sales, then knock yourself out. Nothing is purely good or bad

Social Media In Three Easy Steps

Step 1: Learn how to use it

Before judging whether something works and the best way to use it, first attend a course, read a book, talk to people that are using it. There are several free online courses and resources on the web you can use to learn more about it. Only then will you be able to really make a good decision.

Step 2: Learn how to NOT use it

Now that you know what the social media tools are all about and how they are supposed to be used, check out the myriad of examples of companies that are doing it correctly and getting returns and also check out how companies are screwing it up so badly it is becoming a public embarrassment (recent United Airlines fiasco , IBM’s IT failure debacle , and Habitat’s tweet spam come to mind). Learn from others mistakes and then you will be ready to commit your own.

Step 3: Teach and listen

With all that good info you now gathered at hands, bring this knowledge to your company and spread it around. Educate the CEO, the sales manager, your staff and everyone else that you think can help you shape your company’s strategy towards social media. Then listen to what they have to say, you may be surprised. And don’t forget to give them the option of doing nothing. Whatever works for your business is what you should do.

How did YOU approach social media at your company? Please share!

9 Comments | Communication, Marketing Strategy, Online Marketing, Social Media | Tagged: Communication, Marketing Planning, public relations, Social Media | Permalink
Posted by Daniel Kuperman