Archive for Social
Social Media Management Software. Check Out Altimeter’s New Buyer’s Guide.
Januar 9th, 2012 • 1 comment Reports, Social, Tech, Tools
Tags: Altimeter, altimetergroup, Business, Facebook, Presentation, Reports, Social Business Design, Social Influence Marketing, Strategy, Tech, Tools, we are social
So once you have given all the presentations about the value of Social Media and explained that a fan is not worth $2.38 (or something) you will – at some point – face the challenge of managing real time interaction with your customer. Here SMMS, a type of software especially designed to support the management of complex social interaction platforms, are usually your weapons of choice. Especially in a world in which any major enterprise has to be able to manage its 178 social media accounts in average.
A Social Media Management System (SMMS) is a software tool that uses business rules and approved employees and partners to manage multiple social media accounts such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. This system contains features such as governance, workflow, intelligence, and integration capabilities across the enterprise. The success of these tools is dependent upon a business-led strategy, defined processes, trained staff, and ability to measure efforts.
SMMS are there to reduce the complexity of large real time social media platforms. And there are many, many different vendors on the market. From Hootsuite to BuddyMedia, from Wildfire to Spredfast, no two vendors are alike and there is no one-fit-for-all SMMS-solution. Altimeter’s new “Strategy to Manage Social Media Proliferation” serves as a great overview over the SMMS-scene and offers metrics to support the choice for specific vendors based on the social objectives of your organisation.
If you have ever tried to give your customer a founded recommendation on which SMMS to choose you will know how important the following report is. In a market as cluttered and dynamic as this we need more top-level reports like the following one instead of infographics on Mashable.
Social UX. My Article for Page Magazine.
November 16th, 2011 • Social, Trends
Tags: Article, Page, People, personal, Social Influence Marketing, Usability, UX
Just a quick update: German creative magazine Page has once again published an article from me. If you are a subscriber of Page and if you have issue 12.2011 on the desk please just go to page 90 where I (try to) give five tips for a more UX-focused approach to social media.
To cut a long story short: My perspective on social media (does anyone still use this term???) in this article is that all too often brands/agencies still focus too much on staging social campaigns instead on getting their house in order. Activation – and only activation – via social influence marketing should first and foremost enable consumers to profit more from using social functionalities than from not using it. The answer to a brief in the social realm must always revolve around solving a given problem, not to just drive people to a Facebook page. Form follows function, not vice versa.
The article is in German. And if you don’t have the magazine at home: here is a PDF. But don’t tell anyone.
The Good Life. Or: Why I should have become Lifestyle Blogger.
Oktober 30th, 2011 • 4 comments Brands, Social
Tags: Blogging, Blogs, Brands, Lifestyle, Social Influence Marketing
It is actually a strange thing: while we all watch mainstream communication become democratic we can also witness new types of very marketing-focused relationships as they form. Especially at the intersection of mainstream lifestyle brands and the so-called multipliers: meet the lifestyle bloggers.
No major brand can nowadays live without an elaborated digital PR strategy. The path to successful blogger outreach is not simple. Today’s lifestyle bloggers do not just react on one of your emails. You really have to ask for their participation and offer them something really nice. Something they really, really want to blog about. Otherwise it wouldn’t be earned media, right?
Whudat.de for example is one of my favorite lifestyle blogs in Germany. I like MC Winkel‘s blend of music, art, web finds…and product recommendations. But I also know that lifestyle blogging has become a very convenient method to enjoy a bit more industry attention than Average Joe. Below MC Winkel’s post about his (apparently) great days at the Santorini Grace Hotel we can find a statement: ‘If you also want to get featured in one of Germany’s leading lifestyle blogs feel free to contact me…’
No disrespect. This is just how it works. MC Winkel enjoys Mercedes test-drives in Teneriffa, trips to Australia (sponsored by South Australia’s Tourism Board and Quantas) and does not get tired to comment that
- he is absolutely convinced of this product/car/hotel
- and if you also have a fantastic product/car/hotel you would like to get featured, contact him
China. Ogilvy’s ‘Social Media Equivalents’ in China 2011.
Oktober 17th, 2011 • 2 comments Social
Tags: Agencies, China, Media, Ogilvy, Social, Social Influence Marketing, Social Networks, Tools, Touchpoints, visual, World
Ogilvy China has re-created the well-know Conversation Prism to show some of the Chinese local platforms thriving in place of major international equivalents. Practivally the diagram is actually as useless as the original Conversation Prism (‘Did anyone ever look at this diagram of 250 platforms to find the right one for his purpose?’) but it nevertheless gives you a good understanding of the vast Chinese digital landscape.
Do also check out Ogilvy China’s study ‘Connected’ on digital marketing in China.
via Penn Olson
Facebook and I. Or: Doubt Creeps in.
September 27th, 2011 • 1 comment Social, Strategy
Tags: Facebook, Philosophy, Politics, Truth, World
Last week’s Facebook update has left me perplexed. I simply do not quite know what to make of what I see – what I perceive as the significance of their latest plans.
No longer do apps prompt you just to “like” something on Facebook. Instead, you’ll share that you “hiked a trail” or “rode your bike” or “kissed a girl” (and liked it). Any action can be shared via Facebook, and the only limit is the imagination of developers.
The second addition is the new permissions screen for giving apps access to your Facebook account. It’s more robust and explains exactly what an app will be sharing with it. The result is that the prompt will only appear once. Once you accept, the app can share exactly what you’re doing to your Facebook wall as you’re doing it. (Ben Parr on Mashable)
Oh…did we mention that Spotify for example forces all new users to login via Facebook? In other words, will there be any choice at all? And where will it stop? Are we accepting sensors in a year that share our location once we enter a club or shop? I am 100% sure you can turn such an application into a great CRM program.
From my perspective the key privacy problem does not lie in Facebook’s blurry analytics approach or the thesis that Facebook tries to track me even though I am offline. As my colleague Allan Chang pointed out, google is doing this for years while Intel has integrated unique Processor IDs in every PC since 1999.
This Morning’s Hot Shit. The new Facebook Features.
September 23rd, 2011 • 1 comment Experimental, Social, Social Business, Strategy, Tech, Tools
Tags: Facebook, Semantic Web, social network, Social Networks, Timeline
My new Facebook Timeline has arrived. After yesterday’s f8 announcement (great overview here) I really think we are about to see the ‘profound changes’ that mashable talked about yesterday morning.
Hacking Facebook to set up Timeline is a rather simple. Techcrunch has published a handy DIY guide this morning. But only I am currently able to see my timeline right now.
What it does is really to replace my profile with a nice, interactive biography on one page. The Timeline stops everytime Facebook identifies important steps in my life. My sister’s birth certainly was one of these events (even though at that point I didn’t necessarily agree). And I am invited to upload baby photos of her. Cheesy and nice.
Timeline is a new, pretty cool metaphor that really adds a new perspective to Facebook. Facebook as a lifelong diary – well actually…a living diary. Long term not just super-today.
But there is much more that I find interesting.
Dear google. google+ is getting a bit boring.
September 7th, 2011 • 1 comment Allgemein, Social, Tools
Tags: google, google plus, Social Media, Social Networks, Tools
Hi google.
I guess it wasn’t your intention. But I have to say google+ is rather boring right at the moment.
Yes, I know. When you sent out the first g+ invites everyone was extremely positive. It felt a bit like complimenting a rather slow kid for the nice picture it has sketched. And yes, a lot of people really, really wanted an invite.
Fast forward two months: I still really haven’t figured out why google Plus is meant to be a revolution. Interface-wise it is a good hybrid between Facebook and twitter. And yes: the Circles concept is a nice iteration to social networking as well as its likely future search relevance.
But a revolution looks different. Particularly as the most interesting stuff that’s happening on google Plus is exactly the same stuff that’s happening on all the other platforms.
Right now the google+ party…
- almost exclusively consists of Social Media Gurus, Personal Coaches, and bizarre Small Businesses who don’t want to be late adopters again (‘this time I won’t join it 5 years too late’)
- derives its right to party from the claim that it offers better functionalities than other platforms from which it has stolen its concepts – I still haven’t figured out how a Skype-like functionality should motivate me long term
- gets more and more intolerable due to its real name policy
- still has not communicated when it is likely going to be more exciting
More German Angst? Thoughts on Facebook, Privacy and Germany.
August 29th, 2011 • 8 comments Allgemein, Politics, Social
Tags: Facebook, Germany, Politics, privacy, Society
Germany.
This is not just the place I come from. At the same time it is one of the richest tech-cultural repositories for blogging about digital media that I can imagine.
After living in the Netherlands for 15 months now I perceive Germany a bit like the Gallic village from Asterix and Obelix – the famous French cartoon series (that unfortunately only Europeans know). One village against the Roman Empire. Or – as in the case of Germany – one state against the rest of the web.
It’s hard to keep track of all my conversations with clients or colleagues in which we talked about a Global solution for a digital project before someone said ‘and we need a separate solution for Germany’. When talking about Digital Marketing my country of origin is something like the annoying cry baby or the nagging girl friend that is a pain for everyone but that nevertheless requires your full attention. Germany’s Tech-Idiosyncracy coupled with a privacy paranoia makes it happen.
So about two weeks ago it started again. ‘Germany vs. Facebook: Like Button Declared Illegal, Sites Threatened With Fine‘ said the headline of this article. And Mashable found out the Facebook Like is already banned in Germany.
That is of course crap. It is bad tabloid-style journalism.
Fact 1: Germany did not ban Facebook likes
Dear Journalists from Mashable and Silicon Filter: Believe it or not, States consist of institutions. Sometimes many institutions. And quite often far too many institutions (this is the German case). But just because one representative in one instution in a rather small district of Germany THINKS Facebook does not act legally does NOT mean this is the case. In fact it may even be illegal. Especially as Mister Teichert’s claims – if legally correct – would actually legally end the use of almost any type of web service in Germany. Key claim: ‘By using the Facebook service traffic and content data are transferred into the USA and a qualified feedback is sent back to the website owner concerning the web page usage, the so called web analytics.’
Yes, that’s ridiculous. But that’s not the key problem.
Fact 2: This is nothing compared to what’s happening in the EU right now
Directive 95/46/EC aka European Union Data Protection Directive – this does not sound like the stuff that the ordinary Digital Marketer really wants to learn more about. But in fact it will change an awful lot. Since May 25th all member states of the European Union are expected to enact this new privacy directive, which requires businesses to get explicit permission to track pretty much any type of online user behavior.
This in fact means Marketers have to ask for permission for pretty much any type of digital insight gathering. Cookies? Ask for permission. google Analytics? Well…let’s see….oh, this is getting really complicated. And if you want to check out what a seamless user experience of the future might soon look like you can download the Privacy compliant WordPress Plugin here. Click the Demo button to see the drama unfold.
This is Art. Miracle Whip creates User-Gen Gold.
August 16th, 2011 • 2 comments Brands, Social
Tags: Brands, Competition, Funny, Miracle Whip, Social Media, special, User gen, WTF, youtube
Imagine a Brainstorming session in this media agency that runs the Kraft Food’s Miracle Whip account. So the big idea is defined as ‘Not for every Relationship’. And that’s probably because the TVC has already been shot.
Next somebody yells for Social Media. And here we go with the mother of all social marketing concepts:
Yes, you read correctly: Miracle Whip asks you to upload your video that tells the story how Miracle Whip affected your relationship. And potentially you can win $25,000. I may have cursed about this study a couple of days ago but I have to agree with IBM – Marketer and Consumer cannot possibly be further away from each other than here.
As you can imagine, the videos that were uploaded belong to the finest in User-gen that the world has seen so far.
Check out the following masterpiece (and all the other channel videos as well) and think twice next time if a couple of banners and a microsite wouldn’t have burned the pile of money as well. Check out the videos here.
Consumer Love. IBM shows how not to ask the right questions.
August 15th, 2011 • Reports, Social, Social Business, Strategy
Tags: Adaptation Marketing, Facebook, IBM, Media, Prediction, Presentation, Report, Research, Social Influence Marketing, Social Networks, Strategy, Trends
IBM has just published a study called ‘From Social Media to Social CRM‘ (PDF download). I first liked it because it was not boring. It did not repeat the same old shit that you read anywhere else. In fact…it seemed quite uncomfortable and innovative. At first.
So at first some of the study’s claims did not sound very surprising, nevertheless heretic for many people in the industry. IBM found out that most people are not so much into learning about your next campaign on social networks. They are actually almost exclusively interested to meet their friends. And pretty much the only reasons why they friend a brand – according to IBM – is VOUCHERS.
Yes. All of us hate these types of relations.
Who wants to date a girl that only spends time with you because you pay all the restaurant bills?
IBM has got an explanation for you why you spend time with this girl (the social consumer): Simply because you want to think the girl loves you.
Businesses are three times more likely to think consumers are interested in interacting with them to feel part of a community. Businesses also overestimate consumers’ desire to engage with them to feel connected to their brand. In fact, these two activities are among the least interesting from a consumer’s perspective.
Consumers are willing to interact with businesses if they believe it is to their benefit, feel they can trust the company and decide social media is the right channel to use to get the value they seek. That value could be in the form of a coupon or specific information. Engaging with a company via social media may result in a feeling of connectedness for consumers – an emotional, intangible gain – but the wish for intimacy is not what drives most of them.
I agree with the latter claim even though IBM streamlined the study to make sure everyone understands VOUCHERS as the key consumer desire. How? By benchmarkting the girl’s (social consumer’s) top reasons why she dates you compared to your top reasons why you date her. The result could not be much different. And yes: According to this study most of her top reasons to date you are connected to restaurant bills.
So does that mean all of us should forget about investing into next year’s social activation? Definitely not.
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