AdvertisingAge Sources ADMAVEN and Expands

A recent article in AdvertisingAge by Abbey Klaassen sources a previous ADMAVEN article and expands on my initial findings. I recommend giving it a read!

Nicholas Kinports (follow him on Twitter @ADMAVEN) has worked in the interactive technology world for over 15 years. He is the Digital Strategy Lead and founder of Chicago-based digital marketing firm lonelybrand, where he directs the creation and execution of digital marketing programs that generate measurable signups, conversions and sales.

Social Media Studies! Blogs and College Students Are Growth Markets

Two outstanding reports released this week:

Technorati's State of the Bloggosphere 2008

and

EMarketer's College Students' Social Networking

Both studies tackle some complex methodologies and manage to create a well done, very readable report that may help your agency or company make more informed decisions when planning social media campaigns.

Combine these reports with Sapient's recently released Brand Marketers' Top 10 Wish List for Agencies of the Future and it does not take a rocket scientist to see the implications!

Studies notwithstanding, social media is clearly a growth market and will not dissipate any time soon!

Nicholas Kinports (follow him on Twitter @ADMAVEN) has worked in the interactive technology world for over 15 years. He is the Digital Strategy Lead and founder of Chicago-based digital marketing firm lonelybrand, where he directs the creation and execution of digital marketing programs that generate measurable signups, conversions and sales.

Plug In To The ADMAVEN Blog List

I have updated the ADMAVEN Blog List with many more resources for readers interested in delving into the Web 2.0 community. These resources are located towards the bottom of the page on the right side. Enjoy!

Nicholas Kinports (follow him on Twitter @ADMAVEN) has worked in the interactive technology world for over 15 years. He is the Digital Strategy Lead and founder of Chicago-based digital marketing firm lonelybrand, where he directs the creation and execution of digital marketing programs that generate measurable signups, conversions and sales.

Interactive Advertising Q&A Roundup

As an active member of communities touching the interactive advertising world I answer many questions on a daily basis. Each week I will round of some of the best questions and answers for your consumption. If you have a question about a subject related to interactive advertising or related subjects, you can email Nick Kinports at nick.k@maddockdouglas.com.

David Peck, New Media Strategist for LSF Interactive, asks:

How can we use a video like this to get the youth to vote? Saw this great video regarding getting the youth to vote in the upcoming election:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4kg514DcTA#

Got me thinking… How can we use a video like this to get the youth to vote?

ADMAVEN answers:

David,

Using a video to influence a group is a very powerful technique that has proven results; IF and only IF the video in question resonates with meaningful, targeted, and perceptually valuable content.

For example, let me direct you to my latest blog post, which is a prime example of exactly what I am talking about (not an ad to get you on my blog the post actually is a perfect example for this question).

Linked below to the blog and the specific post itself.

http://admaven.blogspot.com/2008/09/robin-williams-and-spore-why-not-more.html


Judith Bush, Manager of Software Development at OCLC, asks:

What are "best practices" and "best uses" of Facebook for community outreach?
My goals are to:
-become recognized by the general community
-become a known resource for watershed information throughout the community
-involve schools and students with projects as well as fundraising

ADMAVEN answers:

Judith,

Your situation is superb for the use of a social media outlet such as Facebook. The best Facebook campaigns involve relevant content (important and timely information to your local community) that cannot be easily accessed elsewhere (your council produces the information as a sole provider). Your target audience of schools and students are among the top users of Facebook.

This being said, your immediate goal should be to choose an individual to represent your organization and create a Facebook profile for that individual.

Next, you must begin placing relevant content into the profile. This may be done in the form of a blog, group, or announcements. Once your content is rolling you can begin inviting your target audience to participate with a clear, concise message detailing why your Facebook profile is important to their lives.

As for stories of successful engagements, let me point you toward a few resources.

I have linked below to my review of a free ebook entitled, "The Social Metropolis". The book provides relevant case studies and success stories that will assist you in developing your own campaign. Follow the link in my blog to download the book.

http://admaven.blogspot.com/2008/08/sem-vs-smo-part-3-social-metropolis.html


Mike McClure, Partner, Exec Creative Director at The Yaffe Group, asks:

What would get you to watch a webinar? What makes a good webinar? Special guests? Unusual topics? Straightforward strategies to improve your biz? Sock puppets? What works for you?

ADMAVEN answers:

Mike,

In general, the most effective webinar involvement is a personal referral. If your target audience is small (say <1000 people) the best thing to do would be a targeted campaign that has a high level of customization. For larger target audiences I recommend using your analytics to find out where these targets spend their time online, and then leveraging social media to promote your webinar. Regardless of the strategy you take, make sure your webinars provide relevant, useful, and entertaining information that is truly meaningful to the target audience. Ensure your webinars are extremely easy to share over social media (i.e. YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, Digg, Technorati, Email, Etc...). If the content is good enough your audience will work to distribute for you.


Guillermo Pérezbolde, Editorial Director at Entrecreativos.com and Creative Operations Director at Mente Digital, asks:

Do you think that Google´s AD Planner will become the standard for Online Media planning?

ADMAVEN answers:

Guillermo,

Google offers a lot of great tools to deal with simple (read: small) online campaigns. They will not be replacing agencies any time soon for larger jobs.

We use a variety of tools and outside resources to get the job done on larger campaigns. and Google cannot match the depth and breadth of expertise and software that the process encompasses.

Gates, Seinfeld, and Penny Arcade

The latest Penny Arcade comic sums up my feelings about the new Microsoft campaign featuring Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld attempting to connect with consumers by living a "real" life.

Unfortunately Microsoft did not take their own advice about connecting with consumers when they green-lit the massive production funds.

Chicago New Media Summit

I will be attending The Chicago New Media Summit September 15th and 16th at The Museum of Contemporary Art. I hope to see many of you there!

Nicholas Kinports (follow him on Twitter @ADMAVEN) has worked in the interactive technology world for over 15 years. He is the Digital Strategy Lead and founder of Chicago-based digital marketing firm lonelybrand, where he directs the creation and execution of digital marketing programs that generate measurable signups, conversions and sales.

Robin Williams and Spore: Why Not More?

Robin Williams makes a surprise (read: planned by an agency) appearance to demo the creature creator aspect of the new game Spore.

For those of you who pay attention to these things, traditional and interactive advertisements have appeared everywhere for Spore. I'm not sure what the total advertising budget was, but it is massive.

This is a great example of how an impromptu appearance and an unscripted, honest presentation about a product by a key influencer combine to form a viral juggernaut. As of this post the video has been viewed on YouTube about 1,000,000 times.

Nicholas Kinports (follow him on Twitter @ADMAVEN) has worked in the interactive technology world for over 15 years. He is the Digital Strategy Lead and founder of Chicago-based digital marketing firm lonelybrand, where he directs the creation and execution of digital marketing programs that generate measurable signups, conversions and sales.

Political Roundup: McCain Palin and Obama Biden Link In on LinkedIn

Political campaigns are notorious for eliciting passion among supporters and detractors alike. This election cycle has seen an unprecedented surge in the use of social media to spread the message. Today I would like to focus on how the Republican and Democratic nominees are using LinkedIn to connect to professionals worldwide.

Let’s start with a top down view of the social media campaign structure:

McCain Palin 2008

John McCain 2008 Campaign Company
John McCain Professional Profile 500+ Connections
Sarah Palin Professional Profile 364+ Connections

Obama Biden 2008

Barack Obama 2008 Group
Barack Obama Professional Profile 500+ Connections
Joe Biden Professional Profile (Not Available)

Of note: The McCain Palin ticket seems to have a better handle on the LinkedIn community, with a clearly organized campaign company built with all members present. Though Obama has a group containing over 15,000 members, the campaign does not have a clearly organized company nor was I able to find a profile for Joe Biden, the prospective Vice President.

Although LinkedIn represents only a small fraction of the available social networks, it does represent a key demographic of white-collar professionals. The Obama campaign has some clear room for improvement before November.

Nicholas Kinports (follow him on Twitter @ADMAVEN) has worked in the interactive technology world for over 15 years. He is the Digital Strategy Lead and founder of Chicago-based digital marketing firm lonelybrand, where he directs the creation and execution of digital marketing programs that generate measurable signups, conversions and sales.

Blogger’s New Following Feature

I have added the Following widget to ADMAVEN. The right hand side of the page will now display ADMAVEN followers! Join up by clicking the link to the right.

Interactive Advertising Q&A Roundup

As an active member of communities touching the interactive advertising world I answer many questions on a daily basis. Each week I will round of some of the best questions and answers for your consumption.

Simone Katz, Media Planning and Buying Professional, asks:

What are common metrics used to measure the success of a social networking campaign?

When building a brand through the use of social networks, what are typical goals and how is success measured?
Thanks!

ADMAVEN answers:

Simone,

The direct answer to your question is metrics are either generated in-house or through a partner that specializes in such research. The reality of world today is that social media campaigns are absolutely critical, however clients often balk at integrating them due to poor data quality (i.e. you can't get clear metrics from so many different data points).

Saying "don't focus on the metrics just run with the campaign" is a naive outlook. Metrics must be integrated into the pitch and monitored throughout the campaign to understand what areas are effective and what areas need improvement.

Now to the specifics of the tools; if you do your own research, you will need to use Google Analytics and Alexa to get a clear picture of how your campaign is doing versus the competition. This will only work if you are running a fairly simplistic campaign, however the upside is that you will have virtually no research expense save for the time it takes to monitor data and produce reports.

For complex campaigns, you will need to hire an outside company such as Sway Inc. to produce what is called a Social Media Map. This document outlines the fine points of how your target audience is responding to your efforts. The data is complex, however the results are a better campaign and a greater understanding of how to connect to the target audience.

Typical goals depend on the product or service and target audience. You must compare your sales with industry averages or competitors and gauge the success of your campaign based on a comparison study. Alexa is particularly good at this bit.


Jennifer Dube, Marketing Manager at Cisco Systems, asks:

What's the marketing difference between a Facebook Group and a Facebook Page?
From a marketing standpoint, when would you choose a Group vs Page to promote your company, product, brand or service? What are the pros and cons of each?


ADMAVEN answers:

Jennifer,

My recommendation is to both have a page AND a group. The two are not mutually exclusive and provide two different ways for your audience to connect with your company or product. One route you may choose to take is have a top executive create their own personal Facebook profile and follow with a Group administered by this person.

In social media, the more points of potential networking the better. Some individuals may want to join the Group (a less proactive way to be involved with a product or service) while others may want to network directly with the person they see to be in charge of the concept.

The bottom line is that a technical analysis of Group vs. Page is irrelevant as either one can be created in thirty minutes and require virtually identical promotions channels to be effective.

Remember Jennifer, social media will not be effective as a marketing solution unless you provide a reason for individuals to connect with you and give you their attention. This requires you providing - up front and at no charge - relevant, useful, or entertaining content with little or no branding.


Ben Ayed, CEO of NorkaTech, asks:

What is your experience with viral Bluetooth marketing? Does anyone have experience with low cost beacons such as BlueMediaServer.com for couponing, interactive point of sale or guerilla marketing?

ADMAVEN answers:

Ben,

My advice to you is seek council from the Asian and European markets. Though Bluetooth marketing is in it's infancy in the United States, other more mobile technology oriented markets are taking full advantage and have been for some time.

I recommend contacting an agency that specializes in innovation or digital marketing techniques. If your budget allows and your interest is serious, research into Bluetooth initiatives for your target audience would be the best strategy.

If you have further interest in this subject I may have a case study for you to review.


Steve Crosetti, Owner/Guide at MoJoBella Fly Fishing, asks:

I think the proliferation of video on the web is awesome, but does a mediocre video help your individual brand?


ADMAVEN answers:

Steve,

A mediocre video can actually harm a brand through opportunity cost. The mediocre video will certainly not hurt the brand reputation (assuming it is an aberration in an otherwise outstanding campaign) itself, however the budget expended on that video could have been used to send a more effective message elsewhere.

A mediocre video will generate little attention and fade to obscurity within a week (or less). Your digital advertising budget should be spent on truly outstanding and innovative concepts, thus maximizing your exposure to your target digital audience.

Nicholas Kinports (follow him on Twitter @ADMAVEN) has worked in the interactive technology world for over 15 years. He is the Digital Strategy Lead and founder of Chicago-based digital marketing firm lonelybrand, where he directs the creation and execution of digital marketing programs that generate measurable signups, conversions and sales.

Maddock Douglas Global Expert Network

Maddock Douglas, the premier Innovation Agency - and my client - is seeking experts in all fields to join its Global Expert Network. The Network will be leveraged to provide new views, research, and experience for MD clients and partners. I encourage anyone who is interested to contact me directly. MD will pay honorariums each time your opinion is called upon, and it is an outstanding way to network with other top professionals in a range of fields. If you are interested or know of someone who may be just email me at nick.k@maddockdouglas.com for more information. I look forward to hearing from you!

Nicholas Kinports (follow him on Twitter @ADMAVEN) has worked in the interactive technology world for over 15 years. He is the Digital Strategy Lead and founder of Chicago-based digital marketing firm lonelybrand, where he directs the creation and execution of digital marketing programs that generate measurable signups, conversions and sales.

Google Chrome Simplifies and Secures

Chrome, the new browser from Google, has by all counts taken over one percent of the global browser market in it's first day of existence (source: StatCounter.com, Google Analytics, various others). Though less than some people predicted, I believe this is a huge step for Google, and after testing the first release version I can say Chrome does an outstanding job of providing a simple, barebones browser.

Google must provide a more robust feature set in future versions to truly compete with Microsoft and Mozilla, however they are off to an outstanding start in grabbing this much market share.

Nicholas Kinports (follow him on Twitter @ADMAVEN) has worked in the interactive technology world for over 15 years. He is the Digital Strategy Lead and founder of Chicago-based digital marketing firm lonelybrand, where he directs the creation and execution of digital marketing programs that generate measurable signups, conversions and sales.