Blog Archives for Social Media
Social media summit: Mobile marketing is on the move
Posted by Cary B. Willis on September 29, 2011 · 1 Comment
Smartphones are changing everything. They’re part of a huge trend toward mobile marketing that’s still growing.
That was one of the main messages we picked up at the Third Annual Emerging Media Summit recently here in Louisville. The summit was put on by the International Association of Business Communicators’ Kentucky Chapter and the Louisville Digital Association. It was a great conference with a lot of good speakers.
Speaker Jason Falls discusses the role of games in social media
Here were some of the other big takeaways:
- Blogs are losing some of their influence as mobile marketing ascends. If you want to do any mobile marketing, you need to have a clutter-free, easy-to-navigate, mobile-optimized version of your web site.
- Technology is changing rapidly. What’s hot today might not be hot tomorrow. Don’t put too much stock in any one tool.
- In social media, no one person can know it all. Any organization involved in communications needs to have multiple people who are comfortable with social media.
- Use multiple approaches to reach out (QR codes, SMS texts, news releases, website, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) and to listen to/quantify what people are saying online (social media monitoring tools, switchboard, surveys, etc.)
- Online health is a growing trend
- Gaming is a growing tool that is applicable to many clients
Tim Hayden of 44Doors compared social media to “the campfire in the village,” where a broad range of conversations is taking place. You can either join them or not, but the conversations are going on. Hayden said mobile marketing brings a new dynamic to communication that is liberating, rewarding and empowering – bridging the online world with the offline. The challenge is in harnessing it.
The use of QR codes in marketing has exploded, allowing smartphone users to wave their devices over a code that takes them to a website. Ergo, instant buy-in from the customer! But does it take the customer somewhere he or she wants to go? Is the site optimized for that little tiny screen the user has in his hand? Does it allow for a quick and seamless exchange of information with him? Does it offer him some sort of reward? Or does it take him to a home page that takes two minutes to load all the graphics, minuscule copy and a confusing array of links?
QR codes are being used for virtual grocery shopping in Korea, wine-brand rollouts in the U.S., restaurant deals, car-repair deals, traffic info, and much more. QR codes are even used as identifiers that could save your life. Say you have an accident and are found unconscious. Medical personnel could scan a code in your wallet that will instantly bring up your health-care history so you’re given the right kind of treatment – and not, for example, a drug to which you might be allergic.
Don’t be surprised if one day soon you walk into your favorite home improvement store and are greeted with an automated voice that says hello and asks if the power drill you bought last time is still working for you, and would you like to save 10% on power tools today?
New West, GE put the bliss in BlissDom
Posted by Cary B. Willis on February 1, 2011 · Comment
It was the perfect storm for a home-product rollout. Eight hundred moms gathered together in one place. Moms who have their own blog. Moms who are likely to be intimately familiar with the world of laundry. Moms who are a little stressed, a little wilted, after bouncing from session to session, networking, and wandering dozens of busy displays.
Moms who neede
d a little “me-time.”
So New West decided this would be a good opportunity to reach out to these tech-savvy moms with some old-school human touch.
We teamed up with General Electric to show off some of GE’s new Profile™ Washer & Dryer pairs at the BlissDom conference in Nashville Jan. 27-28. These are beautiful machines, with all the latest technology, including “Overnight Ready” wash cycles that remove so much moisture you won’t even need to transfer to a dryer, plus a SmartDispense™ system that automatically adds just the right amount of detergent or fabric softener.
In other words, more me-time for the launderer.
And what does a busy woman do with a little free time? She goes to the spa! We decided to reach out to conference attendees through a spa atmosphere, complete with skilled professionals to provide neck massages and manicures.
To sweeten the pot even further, GE gave away a gorgeous new GE Profile™ washer and dryer to one of the attendees who dropped by the booth.
Bingo.
“How amazing was that massage? Loved it! Thx to GE, Opryland spa, and #Blissdom,” mommyinsider wrote on her Twitter page.
“I’m in a conference room…make your first stop the @GE suite where you can get a great massage! #blissdom I’ll meet ya’!” tweeted StressFreeBaby.
“Holy cow…I just saw the Bentley of washer dryers. @rationaltunes would die. GE profile (@GE_appliances),” said Twitter-happy looneytunes.
And on and on.
Now that’s what we’d call a clean sweep.
Let them rant, or: How I learned to stop worrying and love the criticism
Sometimes the best offense is a good defense. And sometimes the best defense is letting people bad-mouth you.
Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? Like a recipe for failure?
But that’s just what Barack Obama did, and many experts are saying that’s one reason he got elected president last November. Obama allowed his critics to come to his own social network site (MyBarackObama.com) and blow off steam. Whether these critics were nudged into the Obama fold or stayed upset with the candidate is almost beside the point. By coming to one site, the candidate’s site, rather than working behind his back to stir up a movement against him, the critics were largely neutralized. In many cases the complaints were countered by Obama’s staff or, better yet, by his grassroots supporters.
The point is, the debate was contained within a defined forum, on the subject’s home turf. The door was open, grievances were aired, and the world went on turning. And in the process the target of the criticism gained credibility.
As I’ve grown older, I’ve accepted the fact that some people are going to criticize me, my family, my business, my clients, my political heroes, my favorite entertainers, my beloved sports team, or my hometown – no matter how much I wish otherwise. Disagreement and conflict are part of being a human. Google “criticism of Mother Teresa” and you’ll get 227,000 hits, for heaven’s sake.
By the same token, if you’re active and visible, people are talking about you. And you know what? Let them talk. In fact, encourage them to talk. Set up a forum or a blog about your product or service and engage them. Maybe they’ll be defanged by your – sorry, guess I’ll use that word everybody else uses these days – transparency. Your supporters might well come to your defense, or at worst, they will make up their own minds about the validity of any criticism and, if they already have a good opinion of you, they’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. Most people who have spent a significant amount of time online realize that the Negative Nellies of cyberspace tend to be quite vocal – but not always reliable.
Responding is tricky. If the criticism is isolated, hysterical, or not directly related to your product or service, in most cases you should just let it go. If the same criticism pops up more than once, you should acknowledge it and, if plausible, pledge to look into it. When appropriate, offer to work one-on-one with the critic to resolve the issue. If you do respond, do so with a respectful tone, even if deep down you think the critique is out of line.
Keep in mind that the most valuable lessons in life often come from our critics. Constructive criticism might help you learn how to build a better mousetrap, or how to improve customer service. And in the process, your customers just might become even more loyal than before.
