EyeTraffic INSIGHT Blog | 1-888-868-MKTG (6584)

Recap of BIBA 2010

February

2010

The Big Ideas Big Action Conference was a great event for entrepreneurs to come together and learn from each other as well as from successful entrepreneurs.

Ryan Moss

Senior Sales Representative

Last week I was fortunate enough to attend the Big Ideas Big Action (BIBA) Conference in Washington D.C. The event was hosted by iStrategyLabs and FedScoop and provided an opportunity for aspiring entrepreneurs, marketers and government officials to interact with each other and also hear the stories of several successful entrepreneurs. The hosts did a great job trying to inspire creativity and out of the box thinking by filling the venue with thing like Playdoh, blow ups Dinosaurs and paper airplanes. While all of the speakers offered valuable advice, the presentation given by Peter Corbett, CEO of iStrategyLabs, was one that really stood out to me.

Corbett’s presentation focused on his approach to “idea generation and conception.” He discussed how a lot of people will just talk about an idea but than stop there and not actually do anything with their idea. Therefore it is important to be motivated and put in the necessary time and effort to try to advance your idea/concept forward. There are a lot of tools out there to help you get started on the initial research including several offered by Google (Search Insights, AdPlanner, AdWords) and some others like Linkfluence and Scoutlabs.

One point that Corbett made sure to hammer home was the importance of staying focused on one single item. Everyone has so many things going on but when working on an idea/concept it is vital to set aside a certain amount of time and focus only on that idea/concept. This will help you really plan out everything and figure out if you are on the right path. With that being said, it is usually not a good idea to just jump into this focused session. Instead it can be very beneficial to clear your “cache” so it will be easier for you to stay focused. For some people this can be done through exercise while others turn to things like mediation.

This conference provided a great opportunity to hear from successful entrepreneurs but it was also very helpful to have a chance to interact with aspiring entrepreneurs. There are a lot of great ideas out there and people just need to find a way to bring those ideas to life.

Tags: BIBA 2010, Brainstorming, Entrepreneurs, Generating Idea
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Coke vs. Pepsi 2.0: Social Media Shakes Up the Cola Wars

February

2010

As Coca-Cola and Pepsi divest from this year’s Super Bowl ad lineup, top dollar from these two top brands is stirring the social media space into a fizz.

Blake Bowyer (@BlakeBowyer)
Media Program Analyst

The Super Bowl will feel a lot more social this year. And not just because the NFL has failed to put a muzzle on tweeting players or the Saints’ “Who Dat” may be the focus of a trademark lawsuit. No, it’s because the 30-second slices between Sunday’s timeouts and touchdowns will be a lot less caffeinated: Coca-Cola is downsizing its presence during the game and Pepsi is pulling out entirely. Where then will you get Super Bowl-sized updates from the people who brought you delightful parade balloon wars and inspired Dylan/Will.i.am duets? On social networks, of course.

That’s right. If you’re still a new media evolution denier, look no further than your Facebook feed for a jolt and the return of the Cola Wars … 2.0. Remember when a blind taste test was as social as it got in heated rivalry between these tin-can titans? Well, as we’ve seen time and time again, where one may go, the other may follow and this time the path leads away from the Super Bowl and into your digital experience.

It was big news last December when Pepsi let the world know it wouldn’t be taking part in the ad game for XLIV. Even with the Pepsi Throwback campaign in full-swing and ripe for Super Bowl exposure, Pepsi decided its money was better spent elsewhere. For $3.01 million for 30 seconds (plus production costs, etc.), it’s hard to argue – even the announcement has garnered a lot of attention for the brand’s surprising audible. Pepsi spent a whopping $33 million for last year’s face-off and will now commit that money (well, part of it) to an online cause marketing campaign: Pepsi Refresh (which will reportedly cost a mere $20 million). The project will let consumers submit ideas – or in Web 2.0 lingo, “crowdsource” – for where donations go and focus on driving traffic to RefreshEverything.com for voting.

Coca-Cola, meanwhile, is taking a double-pronged approach by teaming up with Facebook to support the Boys and Girls Club of America and augmenting those efforts with two game-time ads. The spots will direct viewers to the company’s Facebook fan page and encourage them to share virtual gifts, each of which will result in a $1 donation to the youth organization. The effort will be tied into Coca-Cola’s current corporate campaign theme “Live positively”. The company’s Chief Marketing Officer offered some insight as to why Coca-Cola is part of this year’s ad parade: “The Super Bowl … brings families and friends together to celebrate and create memories. It’s a perfect time to open a Coke … and giving folks a chance to help others through our ads makes the experience even better.”

So, that’s the new media Cola Wars battleground and, while the brands’ playbooks may seem similar – online, philanthropic, social customer involvement – they’re actually quite different. And, from a strategic social media marketing perspective, only one wins the coin toss: Coca-Cola.

Why? Simply, Coca-Cola is being social. The company is bringing – but not broadcasting – its message to fans, not requiring that they come to it. While one could argue that Pepsi is smart to drive traffic to its site, expose millions to its content, and show off what is admittedly a pretty fantastic online experience, they’re pulling tricks from the same old playbook. Coke is right there every second you’re on Facebook and allowing you to share the easy way you just supported its mission of giving back. Coca-Cola has built a thriving and respectful Facebook fan page, on which most of the content is from fans sharing stories about how Coke is part of their lives. Coke is embracing social media through Facebook and Pepsi is pretending to through a project that is convoluted, inward-facing, and even open to potential abuse and security issues.

This year we don’t have to wait until the ads roll to pick a winner. If 2010 is the year of big brands embracing social media, Coca-Cola sets a golden standard by balancing share of voice, embracing a flattened landscape, and exuding authenticity. Even if opening happiness is a bit abstract, the company’s mission is clear. In fact, it’s on your Facebook wall – pass it around.

Sources: NY Times and ESPN.

Tags: Coca Cola, Coke Facebook, Pepsi Social Media, Refresh Everything, Social Media Marketing, Super Bowl Advertising
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Spike in Grammy Viewership Outcome of Social and Digital Media?

February

2010

The Grammys included a heavy integration of social networking sites and digital elements, engaging the 26.6 million viewers that tuned in.

Christine Pepin
Media Coordinator

Although awards shows in general are on the decline in terms of viewership, Sunday night’s Grammys brought in a 25% increase over the event in 2009. There were several elements centered on the evening’s performance that aided in generating social media buzz before, during and after the show:

1- The Grammy’s iPhone app, giving user’s the change to guess award winners and access trivia.

2- The “We’re All Fans” site (such as Lady Gaga) that allowed fans to track up-to-the minute dialogue, live photos and other information from 16 different artists at the show.

3- The opportunity for fans to cast their vote to determine which of three songs Bon Jovi would play at their first Grammy performance.

4- The live 72-hour broadcast on Grammy Live! featuring backstage footage, videos, photos, news reports and artist interviews.

One reported missed opportunity was the lack of effort taken by iTunes and Target to take advantage of the real-time communication. Only one tweet was sent by Target and iTunes, rather than a constant engagement with Tweets and reTweets to download music from winning artists or special Grammy albums.

Here’s the breakdown of some social media stats from Mashable from the “We’re All Fans” campaign:

125,760 Facebook Fans
48,776 Twitter Followers
1,505,838 combined views on YouTube for the “We’re All Fans” campaign videos
2,050,699 combined views on Grammy.com for the “We’re All Fans” campaign videos
The Grammys were a trending topic on Twitter for more than four

For any Lady Gaga fans- check out these statistics on how she’s been using social media to increase her popularity.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Google rolls out click-to-call for AdWords

February

2010

Keith Vera
Client Services Manager
After a successful testing of the new AdWords click-to-call feature, Google has rolled out the service to all paid-search advertisers. AdWords click to call now “makes it even easier for potential customers to reach you by adding a location-specific business phone number in ads that appear on mobile devices with full internet [...]

Keith Vera
Client Services Manager

After a successful testing of the new AdWords click-to-call feature, Google has rolled out the service to all paid-search advertisers. AdWords click to call now “makes it even easier for potential customers to reach you by adding a location-specific business phone number in ads that appear on mobile devices with full internet browsers”. Phones with full browser capability that can show standard HTML web pages, like the iPhone, will allow phone number in the ads to be clicked to make phone calls direct to a business. The ads can be served based on a users specific location, automatically displaying the business location closest to the user.

View how click-to-call adverting works, shown in the Google Mobile (Ad)itude video:
Mobile [Ad]itude 9 with Meredith: Click to Call Ads

Costs to advertisers are the same as the cost for a click, which is a very cost effective way to generate calls to a business. Let us know what you think of the new click-to-call AdWords feature, and if you’ve seen the same type of boost in click-through rates that trail participants reported.

Tags: click to call, Google AdWords
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Hey Google, where is our Caffeine?

January

2010

In Aug of 2009 Google announced its next generation of search called Google Caffeine. Half a year later and Caffeine is still not live, or is it?

Andrew Bates

Client Services Manager

Last September I reported on a hot topic in the search and web world called Google Caffeine. In this post I covered details about what Google Caffeine is (or will be), and how it is likely to dramatically impact search. This next iteration of Google’s search is focused on improving the search site in these core areas: Speed, Accuracy, Temporal Relevance, and Index Size. Most important is the weight or importance on social networking posts in an effort to increase “temporal relevance” and the validity of near real-time information. Bing and Google worked to add real time search to their indexes and results via licensing agreements with Facebook, Twitter, and others.

From all initial reports and tests, Caffeine does exactly what Google intended. Mashable, SEOBOOK, and many others reviewed the new site via a test sandbox environment, but Google closed down this test version of the Caffeine last fall. It’s fast with a deeper index and obvious incorporation of social posts. So where is it?

Well we now see some elements of real time search in current Google SERPs, so we know that at least a partial launch of Caffeine has been completed. In the last couple weeks some reputable sources have even made the argument that “Google Caffeine is Here And Has Been For Weeks!” Most believe and see evidence that Google has slowly been rolling out features of Caffeine behind the scenes with only occasional posts highlighting specifically those new features as Google Guru Matt Cutts did yesterday in his post “keep an eye on changing pages.”

When will we get to use Google Caffeine? You probably already are now every time you search on Google. While searching for my firm EyeTraffic Media I see our website, blog, Linkedin, and twitter pages in the results, but I also see nearly real time posts from our twitter account:

EyeTraffic Media real time search results in Google

The last couple months have shown that Google is already incorporating the most valuable aspects of Caffeine in current SERPs. No need to hold your breath. Google Caffeine is already old news. The current challenge for SEO experts and online marketers is learning how real time search affects a website’s organic rankings. Do you agree? Let me know your thoughts.

@AndrewBates

Tags: Andrew Bates, google caffeine, real time search, seo, Social Networking, temporal relevance
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Your Gatherers: Giving ‘Em What They Want

January

2010

It’s time to stop thinking of social media peeps as fans and followers. They’re gatherers and you may not be giving them enough to come back.

Blake Bowyer
Media Program Analyst

I’ve never really liked the terms “fans” or “followers” for Facebook and Twitter users, respectively. It’s the kind of marketing vocabulary that seems presumptuous. As a verb, someone may have fan-ed your brand or followed your company, but that doesn’t mean they’re a fan of your online presence and you don’t have anything to prove. As much as it pains me to throw another term in the mix, “gatherer” is more appropriate and meaningful. For some reason, this mob has approached your brand after an encounter in another medium or possibly through a tangible interaction. They could have read about you, they may have purchased your products, but now they’ve found you online.

What do you do next?

Act. Give them what they want. New fans and followers expect something, but not the same old something. They could get that from where they’ve been before, but they approached you online for something else. What can you give them? How do you keep the gatherers from dispersing? Know what they want and what they expect from you.

eMarketer gathered some recent information from a small MarketingSherpa study on Reasons for Friending or Following Companies Through Social Media and this table shows the results:

Additionally, a Razorfish study exploring the Primary Reason US Internet Users Follow a Brand on Twitter isn’t identical, but in the same vein:

While these responses seem intuitive (coupons provide instant, tangible benefits through savings), they’re important nonetheless. Your brand has gatherers because – surprise, surprise – they’re looking for an added benefit; they want value. Being a fan or follower is akin to being a member of an exclusive club or a loyalty program. Your gatherers are wondering, “I’ve found your brand and have chosen to show my support. What will you give me in return?” They’ve done something through social media that other media would never facilitate – they’ve reached out their hands and want to make a deal. Those are the three defining attributes of effective social media marketing: efforts are reciprocal, two-way, and both parties benefit to make it work.

They’ve gathered, now bring them back. You might be counting fans and followers, but seeing those terms as literal is old media thinking with new media execution. They’ll butt heads eventually and your gatherers are more likely to lynch your brand than advocate it.

Tags: Facebook fans, Social Media Marketing, social media tactics, Twitter Followers, Using social media
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Finding Customers Through Social Media

January

2010

A successful business development plan allows you to listen and learn as much as possible from your target audiences before the selling process begins. Social media channels provide a level of prospecting that can deliver unparalleled selling intelligence.

George Assimakopoulos
CEO & Principal Manager

Business development is the answer to the question. “How do we find customers?” As a business owner, I have come to learn that business development requires two paths: finding new customers through prospecting and lead generation; and reinforcing existing customer relationships through ongoing regular contact. Our biggest sources of new business are customer referrals, word-of-mouth, and our use of social media to position us as subject-matter experts across our network of followers.

Networking within our targeted vertical industries has led to many new opportunities and client relationships. As a service provider, our company has leveraged social media environments such as Twitter and Facebook to build industry credibility and to listen to what audiences are discussing as trends. In essence, we have chosen to become part of the conversation rather than to let it happen without us. We keep up to date with the latest news from our clients and target prospects and then re-tweet the posts to associate our company with news leaders.

As basic of a process as this may sound, many companies neglect to take advantage of social media exposure to become thought leaders in their related industry. Therefore, we practice what we preach for our clients as well. When we create social media strategies and execution programs, we first audit the social media landscape to better understand perception and reputation of our clients brand, products and services. We then benchmark those results against our clients’ competitors to determine if there is a significant difference. This benchmark allows us to then develop a tactical road map for where to focus a client’s social media priorities.

When considering social media programs as part of an online advertising or integrated marketing approach, be sure that your sales and marketing teams are involved to listen for industry trends and best practices being shared across competitors, prospects, and other thought leaders.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Foursquare: Not Just for Playgrounds Anymore

January

2010

Why the preeminent location-based social network is spearheading social space evolution by encouraging its users to act like loud-mouthed kids.

Blake Bowyer
Media Program Analyst

I’ve never run for elected office, but I still got appointed mayor last week. In fact, I’m the mayor of six places including my neighborhood Subway, a couple of local restaurants, the Daniels College of Business, and two coffee shops. What does this say about me? Well, other than the obvious pronouncement that I spend most of my time enslaved to homework and caffeine, it says I’m an active evangelist of each of these places. I’m not just the mayor for bragging rights, I’m the mayor because I believe they deserve my business and I want my friends to know the same.

Wow, it sounds like Foursquare just turned me nto an unwitting evangelist for two of my favorite Denver haunts: Café Europa and Greeks Gone Wild. I thought I was just having fun and showing off.

This is social media marketing guerilla style. Sure, I’m a fan of tons of places on Facebook, including Waffle House and Black Box Wine, but the nearest Waffle House is a 15-mile daytrip into the badlands from my house and I can’t remember the last time I had cabernet from a spout on my counter. Building enormous Facebook fan followings and stagnant presences on other social networks doesn’t mean that much really. I don’t interact with those brands and I don’t mention them on my Facebook page. The last time my 719 friends saw those two pages pop up on their feeds was when I became a fan. That’s not doing much for these brands’ presences and it’s not being social at all.

Conversely, I checked into Monaco Lanes last night at 10:30 and every one of my friends had the potential to see it. They’ve also watched me check in to – and be crowned the mayor of – Café Europa the past three days. However, the fact that the names of these places show up here and there at varying degrees of regularity isn’t the point. The profound effect is that I am literally interacting with these establishments – I am physically there, spending money, and giving them my stamp of approval with every visit. Friends might come see me or they might not, but if I have any kind of credibility and influence on where they eat, drink, or study (ugh), I may be pushing that business to the top of the list – and top of mind.

Now, that’s clearly a marketer’s perspective, but I find it a valuable one. While many social networks are scrambling to find internal ways to monetize and gain sponsorship, Foursquare is slowly building its presence from the outside-in. Savvy businesses will eventually figure out that people are voicing their support through check-ins and tips. They’ll gain valuable information on visitors, customers’ habits, and take advantage of location-based specials (all of which Foursquare could easily charge for). I just checked in to Café Europa, but I might not be in the mood to deal with an excruciatingly long line for lunch. Thankfully, Carmine’s On Penn – hypothetically – just sent me a lunch special via Foursquare, so I’ll sidestep the line and sit down to some gluttonous Italian food. And that’s where social media self-actualize: asymmetrical two-way communication benefits.

Recently, Foursquare has attracted a lot of other chatter about badges and frequency cards to attract businesses and keep users active. But, I think the truism of transforming a regular like me into an advocate because I like to think I’m cool and go cool places, that’s the crux of Foursquare and its ilk. Now, who wants to challenge me for mayorship of Tokyo Bowl? That one I’m willing to give up. Find me on Foursquare and take my crown: Blake on Foursquare.

Tags: Foursquare, Social Media Marketing, Social Media Monetization, social networks
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Another Social Media List for 2009

December

2009

Yet another social media review for 2009. Some of the year’s best social networking posts.

Andrew Bates
Client Services Manager

With the holidays and year’s end we are inundated with “best of” and “top 10” lists of everything from The Top 10 Most Important Tweets of 2009 to Time’s The Top 10 Everything of 2009. To keep you from having to read all of the social media reviews for this passing year, I’ve taken it upon myself to do so for all of us. Here are some of the better collections I’ve seen recently:

Open Web Awards Winners List 2009 – This is Mashable.com’s 50 winners of their 3rd annual Open Web Awards: Social Media Edition. Here you can find some great follows and resources with a brilliant mention and win for one of my favorites – “Best Social Media Maven to Follow: @BuzzEdition.”

Ten PR People to Follow on Twitter – From socialmediatoday.com, this directory has a few that I already follow and gave me insight on some I had not heard of yet. I’ll be watching what these people have to say about online marketing and social networking in 2010.

10 of the Best Social Media Tools for Entrepreneurs – so nice, I mention @mashable twice. This list is from October, but has some excellent resources for social media professionals. This post includes great points as well as some good tips on how to get the most out of Linkedin.

Top 10 moments in social media in 2009 – In this LA Times article from yesterday, Mark Milian (@markmilian) mentions the overwhelming change in tradition marketing brought about with the rise of social networking. He also touches on the obvious stories like TMZ breaking the Michael Jackson death via twitter while not ignoring the political issues like the Iran protests.

Top 5 Social Media Articles from 2009 – another fresh post, but from one of the best new blogs of 2009. This article is a collection of some very interesting posts filled with wisdom and valuable statistics (mmmm stats….). socialmediaexaminer.com is one to subscribe to and read consistently.

What will 2010 bring for social media? Well luckily there are plenty “best of” and “top 10” lists for this as well, but I won’t get into predictions now. Instead I wish everyone a happy new year whether you made it onto someone’s ’09 list or not.

Cheers,

@AndrewBates

Tags: Andrew Bates, best of, buzzedition, latimes, mashable, Social Media, Social Networking, socialmediaexaminer, top 10
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

About:
First Name:
Last Name:
Email:
Company:
Phone:

close

Search

Archives

Tag Cloud