Tag Archive for "social media"

Posts Tagged ‘social media’

Measurement. Measurement. Measurement.

Dec 21, 2011 | tags: Debra Williamson, emarketer, Marketing, measuring social media, social media, social media monitoring

It has been said that you can’t improve what you can’t measure. An article from eMarketer emphasizes that statement. Debra Williamson, eMarketer principal analyst, states,

“Marketers often think of social media measurement as listening and monitoring. But that is only one part of a fragmented process, which has contributed to a lack of focus for both marketers and vendors. It has also created a culture of data overload, in which metrics that do not have much business value have more importance than those that contribute to the bottom line.”

Alterian has just released a report that says that 70 percent of all senior management reports have no social media reporting in them. And this is at a time when marketing and public relations departments are asking for more and more dollars to finance the growing social media presence.

The reason social media is absent from these reports is because everything should work backward from the reports. What do you want to see from social media and how should it be compared to the other marketing initiatives? Social media metrics need to line up with the corporate structure so that comparisons can be made.

Social media is not some strange animal that nobody knows how to measure. However, it is strange when there is no context to the reporting and when the reporting has no home in senior management monthly reports.

Click here for the entire eMarketer article. But just had to get my two cents in first.

By the way, happy holidays to everyone. Best to you, your family, your community and the wildlife that lives around you.

Paul Kirwin, Founder and CEO of Channel Signal

The Cul-de-Sac

Oct 19, 2011 | tags: online branding, online marketing, social media, social media cul-de-sac, social media marketing

The Cul-de-Sac is a great metaphor for what happens in social media.

People (people online) steer into the cul-de-sac. Sometimes they are lost. Sometimes they are looking for an address. Sometimes they are just driving around.

Do they want anything from the owner of the house (Brand)? No. Not really. Maybe a little information.

Does the home owner (Brand) want anything from them? Well, in this case, yes, they want them to become customers. But the online environment doesn’t lend itself to persuasive selling. So there is passive selling through content. Or contests or giveaways, which is way worse.

So, most of the time it’s two ships passing in the night.

If you are a Brand, most of your friends and followers on Twitter and Facebook are just that:

Drive-bys.

Paul Kirwin, Founder and CEO of Channel Signal

Humanity

Jul 26, 2011 | tags: consumer-centric marketing, customer-centric marketing, embrace irrationality, facebook, facebook friends, human-centric marketing, jeremi karnell, Marketing, outdoor, running, social media

Recently I have been reading and thinking about the obsession that technocrats have with performance and the quality of software platforms. Google with its disdain for salesmanship and obsession with functionality. Many other technical companies driven by engineers who believe that the more efficient and intuitive you make the information systems, the more people will use them. And the disregard for salesmanship, human networking and marketing. The point seems to be, “build it and they will come.” Seems like an artificial approach.

And then you have the new Toyota ad, which characterizes a young man who is worried about his parents because they each only have a few Facebook friends. He has 900 friends. And the camera cuts back and forth from the parents having a ball with real friends having real fun, and this lonely kid walking around the house worried about his parents’s social media standing. The real friends and the artificial friends.

And now comes many companies engaging in social media who judge their successes on converting people into customers and messengers, so they can sell more goods and services. Grow. Grow. Grow. They want to be “Friends” with you, and you be “Friends” with them. Consumers know that companies only want them to buy their stuff and have no intention of being real friends. Seems like artificial communication.

In a new article in MarketingProfs, Embrace Irrationality, the author, Jeremi Karnell, spells out the difference of human-centric marketing and the focus on customers in customer-centric marketing. The difference being that human-centric marketing approaches a customer as a whole human being, not just a consumer who buys stuff. This approach realizes that people like events and experiences. They want and need love, family and friends.

Consumer-centric marketing is captured by these three phrases, according to Karnell:

1. It views people as somewhat passive participants.

2. It measures success by how much merchandise a consumer moves.

3. Rising paradoxes have led consumers to seek more meaningful relations with brands.

This past decade has taken the wind out of the sails of the “spend now and worry about it later” mentality. 9-11. The Internet bubble. The real estate bubble. And the near collapse of the financial system have all contributed to people rethinking their priorities. Home, family, relationships, and experiences have taken center stage and it looks like those priorities will stay there for awhile.

But companies are not picking up on this. In social media companies want friends and followers. And why? So they will buy stuff and grow companies. And what do consumers want? A life.

So, why don’t outdoor companies start focusing on sponsoring events that improve lives by teaching new skills. Sponsor events that bring communities together. Or, participate in events that test the endurance of people who are new-found athletes.

Recently, I have been reading many blogs in Channel Signal about men and women who have lost weight, started training, and are now into running. Their excitement on completing their first 10k literally jumps off the page. Now, if a company can be a part of that experience in an authentic way, they have a customer…for life.

Don’t sell them stuff.

Sell them on themselves.

And that’s humanity.

And that is real.

Paul Kirwin, Founder and CEO of Channel Signal

Google grabs plus sign, hits social media stage

Jul 15, 2011 | tags: facebook, google, google plus, google social network, social media

by Hannah Birch, Channel Signal Editor

Much has been said about the Web giant’s new social media suite, and the chatter is largely justified. After all, Google has been responsible for some considerable failures when it comes to ventures into the social sphere, including the Father’s Day faux pas and the spectacular flop that was Google Wave.

Recent developments could be changing that. Google+ was rolled out rather stealthily at the end of June and, as long as the user experience continues to improve, this first version is certainly a good start.

The core features of Google+, like the Stream and the notification system, will be familiar enough that Facebook users won’t sign onto the service only to be immersed by that unpleasant, “I’m-at-a-party-and-don’t-know-anyone feeling.” Google has also had the opportunity to observe, and ostensibly avoid, some of the mistakes made by Facebook.

From what I can tell, Google execs have made some very wise choices. Some of these are deceptively small, like being able to edit or delete a post from a mobile device. Being able to fix typos right from a phone is another thoughtful way to avoid embarrassment on the Web and one that Facebook is still lacking.

The interface fits in well with Google’s established aesthetic; Gmail users will notice consistencies in both the full browser and mobile versions of Google+. (An app is already available for most smartphones except Mac’s iOS devices, but it’s coming soon to these as well.) As a long-time Gmail user myself, the integration of my email into this larger social function was painless. The ample white space and sparse but effective use of color are Google hallmarks that persist in the new service.

Functionally, Google+ is intuitive enough to be inviting but innovative enough to be exciting. The Circles feature, where users can sort their contacts into groups like “family,” “friends” and “co-workers” (or custom groups named by the user), seems like a well-reasoned way to delineate spheres of sharing. This also makes Google+ contacts feel quite organized, as opposed to Facebook’s haphazard Lists system.

Sparks allows users to specify interests, then generates a content feed based on that input. The results are a bit sloppy in some cases, but the idea is interesting. For anyone out there addicted to Facebook’s “Like” button, Google+ has, appropriately, a “+1″ feature that functions the same way.

All in all, Google has gotten enough things right to make the company’s new social media hangout worth a look. And, owing largely to Google+’s integration with more “serious” services like Gmail and Google Calendar, the site has, dare I say it, a more professional and adult ambiance. Although the company has made no statement alleging competition with Facebook, it’s clear that Google+ could become a strong alternative.

Paul Kirwin, Founder and CEO of Channel Signal

Twitter: iOS 5′s new BFF

Jun 10, 2011 | tags: apple, facebook, hannah birch, ios 5, mac, social media, steve jobs, twitter, wwdc

Hannah Birch is our new intern at Channel Signal. I’m picky about interns because we expect much from them. Hannah and I started talking about a year ago. I liked her blog, and her vision for herself. I liked her intelligence. Most of all I liked her work ethic. Here is her first blog entry for Channel Signal, and she takes on a big subject…the collaboration of Twitter and Apple. Here’s Hannah.

A small, blue bird landed on an apple. The bird sensed an opportunity. The apple, in Cupertino, California, responded in kind. A very big deal has been struck.

Steve Jobs recently announced at the Worldwide Developers Conference that Twitter capabilities will be extensively integrated into Apple’s new mobile operating system, iOS 5, which is rumored to be debuting in the fall. (Find Twitter’s announcement here.) There are several ramifications that go along with this.

First is ease of use. Instead of logging into different apps with separate accounts, Twitter credentials will be used on a single-sign-in basis. No more “click here to create an account with us” buttons on games or logging into an email account to share an article. It will all be under one blue, streamlined umbrella.

Second is the ability to tweet from just about anywhere on the phone. Safari, photo albums, contacts, Maps, Youtube, etc. will all be outfitted with options to tweet with a single click. This will make adding attachments to a tweet much more accessible, and Twitter’s development of its own photo-sharing service will only add to this aerodynamic feature.

Third is the sheer vibrance that tweets will likely acquire. Twitter streams could soon look like something akin to Facebook due to the richness of media, although there is still an opportunity for a fresh take on sharing. And, for better or worse, more noise in your stream is almost inevitable. (Can anyone say Farmville for Twitter?)

The Apple-Twitter partnership still has a few issues to address. Security, for instance, will probably be a concern as users share more personal information. The infamous 140-character limit could be a challenge, albeit a fun one, for tweeters that have more components to add to a single tweet. And, as much as Jobs touts the widespread use of iOS, there are still other users on different operating systems and platforms that may gravitate elsewhere.

Either way, Twitter has been handed a huge seal of approval by Apple. It will be interesting to see how consumers use the new Twitter, how Facebook evolves to keep up and how consumers respond to being surrounded by flocks of chirping birds.

Paul Kirwin, Founder and CEO of Channel Signal

Channel Management

Apr 20, 2011 | tags: Channel Management, Marketing, New media, Outdoor Recreational Industry, public relations, snowsports industry, social media, Sporting Goods Manufacturing Association

Companies in the sporting goods business are now coming out with their growth plans, many of them 3 years or more. These plans are aggressive and this signals a change in the landscape. For at least ten years the sporting goods business has been consolidating. This means that stock holders and stake holders want healthy and sustained growth from the new larger company. And it’s up to senior management to plot that growth.

Here’s the challenge.

Where will that growth come from? The traditional sales channels are specialty retail, large specialty retail (REI, EMS, Dicks, Cabela’s,etc.), and huge retail (Walmart).

Specialty retail is averaging growth of between 3-5% over a six year period ending at the beginning of 2010. Large specialty and the big retailers are growing, on average, in the area of 8-10%. These numbers won’t change much. It takes a lot for any of these channels to plan for the explosive growth demanded by the brands. A lot of money will be needed for expansion, inventory and salespeople.

Brands realize that traditional retail can’t supply the lion’s share of the growth, unless many of the brands go to the very big boxes and most brands still believe that Walmart will dilute the authenticity of their product offerings.

The explosive growth will come from two relatively new channels, branded stores and online sales. Online sales have grown, on average, about 20% a year in the last 4 years.

New Balance, Nike, Columbia, The North Face, Merrell, Icebreaker, Marmot, and many others, have announced they will be opening retail stores across the country. Why? Because they can offer wider selections and fulfill inventory faster, which means a bigger upside.

Same thing with the Online Sales Channel, aka, the company web store. Brands are selling merchandise at full price, can replenish inventory instantly, and offer the entire collection. There is a lot of profit margin here.

So, online sales and branded retail stores will be joining the landscape of Channel Management.

Here’s Channel Signal’s guess as to how Brand’s will position the Channels.

specialty retail will be used to create momentum and maintain authenticity.
large retail…less of the same but bigger numbers for the brands.
Walmart, Kmart, etc…look for the brands to open this channel in limited amounts to move merchandise that is lower end. Numbers are good here.
Branded stores…good margins, good selection and success will fuel more stores across the country.
Online stores… great margins, great selection, and more money pumped into the web site to make it more of a shopping experience.

One thing we haven’t addressed and that is social media. My guess, the brands will find ways to build this channel as a sales channel or use it to drive traffic to the other sales channels.

Channel management will be critical moving into the future. And so will tracking what channels are generating the buzz and how that translates into profit.

Thanks to Leisure Trends for the growth stats.

Paul Kirwin, Founder and CEO of Channel Signal

Consumers Buy from Cause-Related Companies

Sep 29, 2010 | tags: Action Sports, bike industry, Channel Signal, New media, Outdoor Industry Association, Outdoor Recreational Industry, Snowsports Industries America, snowsports industry, social media

Our last article was about how companies are building traffic by creating hashtag Twitter accounts, and driving traffic to them by offering discounted products. I feel this doesn’t work and builds no value. We left off with…be known for something.

Well, this is supported by a new Environmental Leader article that puts forth research that 83% of consumer want to buy from companies adapting causes that improve the quality of life. This information was uncovered in the Cone Cause Evolution Study just released.

Article

As Channel Signal gets deeper into measuring the social media efforts of its customers we are becoming more aware of what works and what doesn’t. And what works is creating social media events and programs that improve lives. What doesn’t is when companies use social media as a distribution channel to sell product.

Let’s go back to the tired old theme of social media being like a cocktail party. Well, it isn’t. Unless you want to attend a cocktail party with 10 million people, and your 100 friends are scattered throughout the mass of humanity. And you are relieved when you see someone you know because you can have a conversation: local politics, friends, and upcoming events.

However, if your company is known for something, a cause close to the hearts of many, now you have strangers coming up to you and wanting to talk about the popular initiative. Now, the cocktail party is less intimidating and much more welcoming. Now, there is a common thread of conversation that you helped create.

All reports indicate that successful cause-marketing in social media starts and ends with getting the employees on board. They, in turn, reach out to their respective networks and the viral power starts to generate momentum. However, the corporate cause and effort must be real. Here is one the the experts, Simon Isaacs who leads the cause-marketing division for ignition Inc and works with major corporate clients like Coca Cola and nonprofit brands like United Nations Foundation. He talks about what not to do in an interview with Rachael Chong, a respected blogger.

Issacs:

“Here are five things consumers need to watch out for:

Fluffy Language: Words like eco-friendly or “good for you”, which fail to provide any specific meaning to a claim
Silly Pictures: Suggestive pictures to promote an unjustifiable green image, like flowers in exhaust pipes
Unproven or Irrelevant Claims: Unproven sustainability claims or playing up one green or cause-related achievement of a company’s operations, while other areas are lacking
Fake friends: Made-up third party endorsements and labels
Just downright not credible: Promoting the social or environmental benefits of “harmful” products like cigarettes

An authentic and effective cause-marketing campaign is a win-win for the brand and the cause/nonprofit partner. To answer your first question, “winning” for the brand does not necessarily always mean direct sales. It can also be about corporate reputation, brand love or employee engagement, but it does need to connect back to the business.”

Companies who take up a cause, bring it online, give money, and devote content and people to it, do build their businesses…and in the long run that means selling more product to a growing base of loyal customers.

Next time, we address how adopting a cause creates internal momentum for a company.

Paul Kirwin, Founder and CEO of Channel Signal