Archive for November, 2009
Google Analytics illegal in Germany?!
Are you joking? No, read this article on Techcrunch.
Achtung! Several federal and regional government officials in Germany are trying to put a ban on Google Analytics, the search giant’s free software product that allows website owners and publishers to get detailed statistics about the number, whereabouts and search behavior of their visitors. More.
What do you think about this development?
Randstad en oldtimers geïnteresseerd in kilometerheffing
In de afgelopen week heeft de kilometerheffing Nederland bezig gehouden. Er zijn veel voor- en tegenstanders van de omstreden maatregel van minister Eurlings.De kilometerheffing is dan ook een onderwerp wat, naast de Mexicaanse griep, veel besprok……
Design for Conversion (DfC) mobile edition 2009
Hi, how are you? How is your conversion doing nowadays?
Design for Conversion is a highly interactive conference aiming to collectively (as one big family) deepen our knowledge of Persuasive Technology, Experience Design and Evidence Based Marketing, and how these disciplines can learn from each other. With heavy doses of design thinking, cognitive psychology and statistical knowledge we are very serious in taking up a worldwide conversion challenge.
For who? We actively invite database marketers, e-commerce managers, interaction designers, marketers, information architects, copy writers, usability engineers and business intelligence experts to join our conference.
Interesting event to attend! Registrate here. Have fun.
The Best Social Media Videos
Recently I ran some training sessions with an Aussie client in Melbourne, and as I normally do I used some of the great video content that’s out there to highlight some points I was making about this crazy social media world we live in.
Here are a few of my personal favourites, but I’d love to expand this list with your suggestions – so please leave me a comment with links to any videos you’ve found compelling.
I love this video. You can tell I’m a geek as it never fails to give me goosebumps. The theories in David Weinberger’s Everything is Miscellaneous distilled into a 5 minute video.
Cool song, some interesting stats – not sure if they’re all that accurate though.
- Social Media in Plain English, CommonCraft
Everything by commoncraft is brilliant. There’s a series like this including blogs and twitter.
I’ll post their RSS video as well, as it’s the best explanation I’ve seen of what can be confusing technology.
This video doesn’t describe social media… it ‘is’ social media. Entertaining, but a worthy way to reflect on how the Internet is shrinking the world.
Update: 24 November 2010 – here are a bunch of community additions, from the comments here and LinkedIn
- Social Media ROI – via everyones favourite English PR blogger Stephen Davies
“I’m sure you’ll have an opinion on some of the content but it does what it says on the tin. Like the song also.”
- United Breaks Guitars – Lee Hopkins, Lori Johnson on LinkedIn and others
The oft-referenced customer service disaster video for United Airlines. 6 million views and counting and a staple at social media conferences everywhere.
- Did You Know 4.0 – Lee Hopkins (again – he has a huge list in the comments!)
Cool song, cool stats, compelling.
“Via The Bad Pitch Blog, a clear and visually pleasing video explanation of why online media placements may actually be more valuable than print in the long run.”
The Online Media from RealWire on Vimeo.
- AT&T ‘Lost Dog’ Commercial – Myles Bristowe, American Marketing Association President
“You have some good, “what is social media” videos. I like those myself. I’d like to direct you in a different direction by showing a video that shows “why social media matters”. I like the “Lost Dog Commercial” by AT&T. They’ve done an excellent job of showing how their product integrates with the power of social media in a real-world situation.”
State Farm won’t underwrite social software?
State Farm doesn’t want to connect people.
We got this letter from State Farm today. They proactively canceled our policy out of nowhere with the explanation that:
State Farm does not write businesses that develop social software that allow people to meet online. The size and scope of the operation does not meet our underwriting quidelines
It’s hard for me to believe that State Farm wouldn’t underwrite Facebook, Twitter or any of the bajillions of consumer and business-facing companies making or using social software.
That said, here’s the rejection letter we got from them today. I know that they’re on Twitter as @statefarm. Wonder if their underwriters know. So much for being “like a good neighbor.”
Using Bloggers as Means, Not Ends Unto Themselves
- Not everyone can write
- Not everything is monetizable
- Your audience is your audience, not a commodity to be sold and bought
- And, there’s only one Dooce (in other word’s, you ain’t gonna be the next Dooce)
… the FTC will have wider repercussions than people realize, and will stifle much of the social media outreach done by marketing firms – think giveaways, etc – and will lead to tax implications from the IRS that have not been touched upon so far.
To be a Writer…
“In recent years, I have had no desire to do anything but work and be with [son] John. I hear people talking about going on a vacation or something and I think, what is that about? I have no desire to go on a trip. My perfect day is sitting in a room with some blank paper. That’s heaven. That’s gold and anything else is just a waste of time.”
“Your busiest day might be watching some ants carrying bread crumbs. Someone asked Flannery O’Connor why she wrote, and she said, “Because I was good at it.” And I think that’s the right answer. If you’re good at something it’s very hard not to do it. In talking to older people who’ve had good lives, inevitably half of them will say, “The most significant thing in my life is that I’ve been extraordinarily lucky.” And when you hear that you know you’re hearing the truth. It doesn’t diminish their talent or industry. You can have all that and fail.”
Twitter and LinkedIn: Like America and Cultural Imperialism
Big news in geek-world this week as Twitter and LinkedIn announced a new partnership – or as they bill it a perfect combination ‘just like peanut butter and chocolate!’.
Now as a long-time user of both services I was happy to see them linked. But as a global communicator I was a little nonplussed by the heavy use of the peanut butter and chocolate analogy (they even made a nifty graphic!). You see, outside of the US of A (where both Twitter and LinkedIn were founded and are headquartered) peanut butter and chocolate ain’t necessarily viewed as a ‘perfect combination’, in fact… many would say it’s downright weird.
It’s a light-hearted analogy for sure, but I doubt that Reid Hoffman and Biz Stone realised how quickly there choice of PR messaging would highlight the American-centric nature of their thinking… and this for two global services with most of their potential growth to come beyond Uncle Sam’s shores.
Down Under we’d probably see ‘vegemite and cheese’ (pre iSnack 2.0) or ‘beer and a bbq’, while Dr Mihaela Vorvoreanu tells me the Romanian equivalent would be mamaliga cu branza (polenta and cheese). While we’re at it – what’s the ‘Peanut Butter and Chocolate’ style ‘perfect combination’ for your culture?
Mobile Navigation Gets A Lot Easier
Mobile users with GPS enabled phones as well as those without GPS capability can now browse mobile maps or use location-based services to find friends, locate restaurants, convenience stores or the cheapest gas stations.
Client Lion Brand Yarn Wins Forrester Groundswell and SNCR Awards
I’m proud to share the news that our Converseon client Lion Brand Yarn has been awarded two of the awards I most respect in the social media world: Forrester’s Groundswell Award in the highly-competitive ‘Talking‘ category and a Society for New Communications Research award for best use of online publishing in the corporate division.
I’ve previously blogged a detailed case study on LBY’s outstanding results in social media, including sharing the presentation I delivered alongside LBY’s smart VP of Marketing Ilana Rabinowitz at the Internet Retailer Conference earlier this year.
The Forrester Groundswell Awards attract a large amount of entries, and I was blown away that we beat out the likes of the innovative Mad Men Yourself campaign and USA.gov from the Office of Citizen Services amongst the 23 entries in the B2C talking category. Meanwhile, the Society for New Communications Research has the support and involvement amongst its fellows of the smartest thinkers in our industry. We’re humbled by the recognition.
This post ain’t all self-horn-tooting though, to add some value I’ll share some quick thoughts about the ’secret-sauce’ of the Lion Brand case study:
- Connect with people around their passions
Knitters and crocheters are extremely passionate, their hobby is one of their greatest areas of interest. Not every brand has as direct a link to a passion as LBY does, but every brand can work to find the point where they really ‘matter’ for their stakeholders.
- Social media is a marathon, not a sprint
We’re receiving these awards 18 months after we launched the podcast and subsequent blog efforts. The greatest returns for this program have came in the 12-18 month range. First you need to build community, then you need to market to it.
- Do it wrong quickly (as Mike Moran would say)
You can’t measure what you’re not doing. LBY gave themselves the time to do corporate social media right, before worrying about strict ROI and proving a business case for resources. If this initiative hadn’t shown success, they could have stopped at any time. But continual measurement and improvement proved the case for more time and energy.
- Organizational culture matters
At the core of good social media strategy you need to care about your stakeholders and be prepared to openly connect with them. You can’t pay lip service to adding value to the online community – you really need to walk your talk. Focus on relationships and building trust over time.
- Anyone can succeed in social media
Who would have thought knitters would be one of the most passionate online audiences you can find? Stop making excuses for why your brand can’t do it, and get out there and try something.