Two outstanding reports released this week:
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!
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.
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!
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.
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!
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.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.
Joy Abdulla asks:
How can social marketing be shown to be effective in terms of dollar sales?
Is there a mechanism/ method/formula through which we can effectively forecast or project what would be potential earnings for a brand by utilizing social marketing techniques on various sites?
ADMAVEN answers:
Joy,
The answer to your question is that you must have a third party software (or design your own) to measure the effects of your campaign. If the campaign is simple you may be able to track metrics yourself, but if there are any added layers of complication you will need extra help.
I have linked a company called Sway that does this very thing for many campaigns rooted in social media.
LINK: http://www.swayonline.com
Rich Dettmer, Director of Digital Strategy and Partner at Slack Barshinger, asks:
What law governs web based data collection?
When collecting data on a web site, is the collection governed by the laws of the country the data is collected from, or the country where the site is hosted? For example: If I am collecting user registrations from Europe on a site that is hosted in the United States, who’s laws govern that transaction?
ADMAVEN answers:
Hi Rich!
International law is tricky in the traditional corporate sense, but combined with the Internet there is very little case law to call upon.
The generally accepted concept is that you are governed by the place where your business is incorporated (whatever mechanism that may be). If you do not have a brick and mortar establishment, you may be subject to the laws of any country through which you transact. For example, collecting money from a UK citizen and storing that money in the United States exposes you to legal liability in both countries, however collecting data with no financial transaction most likely does not expose you to the country in which the individual providing the data resides. There is some case law along these lines regarding spam as a method of collecting data, and I do not recommend mass emails as a foreign campaign strategy.
In general the United States is a rules based country when it comes to law. You can review case law and find clearly (sometimes not so clearly) written torts, statutes, and laws that govern our businesses. In Europe (since this is in your example I will use it here) the laws are principle based. In other words, courts tend to look at your intent more than your action when deciding cases. If you are not doing anything blatantly illegal, I would say your liability is very low.
You can always seek council through an international attorney, but this is a costly engagement and may not provide you with a clearer answer.
I highly recommend contacting the consulate of each country in which you are interested to discover more about what your legal exposure may be. In my experience they are very helpful and willing to discuss these issues as well as the culture of their home country (which may help you formulate regional marketing strategies).
DISCLAIMER!
I am not a lawyer, though I do hold a Bachelor of Science in International Business and am almost through my MBA in the same subject. These kinds of questions appear in case studies and course materials. I hope my answer helped!
Laura Fitton, Principal and Founder of Pistachio Consulting, Inc., asks:
How can businesses use Twitter and other microblogging tools?
Communications, advertising, PR and social media agencies, what are your client's burning questions about Twitter and other "microblogging" platforms? Where do you look for the answers to what they should be doing?
ADMAVEN answers:
Laura,
Clients do not typically know about Twitter as a business tool. When appropriate, I may suggest microblogging as a way to engage a passionate target base.
The important thing when using Twitter - or any blog based tool - is to provide relevant content that is of interest to the target audience. Because Twitter is an opt-in service, target users must feel as though they are receiving something in exchange for their attention.
You can read more about how to use blog and microblog tools in ADMAVEN - The Interactive Advertising Blog, which I have linked below as a resource. Scroll down to the article entitled, "SEO vs. SMO Part 3: The Social Metropolis". Read the linked materials in the article and you will have a complete understanding of how to engage a target audience with a blog or microblog tool.
LINK: http://admaven.blogspot.com/2008/08/sem-vs-smo-part-3-social-metropolis.html
Natalia Alexandrou, Senior Marketing Executive at Report Buyer & Piribo, asks:
B2B Affiliate Marketing - does it work!?
I'm interesting in hearing your experiences (good and bad) with B2B affiliate marketing... and I'm not talking about the affiliate programs which use B2C tactics such as printer companies etc.
Are there any success stories? How did you approach possible partners? What tools work best for you?
We are a B2B company and we launched an affiliate program 5 months ago through a network with a dedicated campaign manager... and are only getting B2C affiliate sites joining our program. Is the industry just not ready to take on B2B affiliates?
ADMAVEN answers:
Ms. Alexandrou,
My experience has taught me several things about B2B Affiliate Marketing:
1) Pursue affiliates with whom you have a long and trusted business (or personal) relationship first. This may involve a C level meeting where you speak to the CEO, COO, and CTO to generate a list of companies that are willing to go the extra mile and form an affiliate relationship.
2) Be flexible. Although you should come in with a detailed plan on your Affiliate program, be willing to tweak the plan for each Affiliate. Every company is different, and applying one model to your targets may discourage them from forming a relationship.
When I started my B2B affiliate program, we went to our CEO and generated a couple of leads with whom we knew the CEO had maintained a personal relationship. These companies trusted our brand name, and were willing to at least listen. We then came in with our presentation, including the buy in figures, terms, etc... We had a contract ready to go, but never got a signature right away. Instead, we found the average time to close an affiliate was 6 months, and involved detailed negotiations with top management on both sides. Each deal was unique, but persistence and follow-up helped get the job done!
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.
Since making its official public release three days ago Yahoo Buzz has generated just that: a lot of buzz. But has it delivered? The premise of any site using the user rated content model (YouTube, Digg, etc…) is to push relevant articles into the hands of readers by peer voting. Of course any organization can submit its own writing – ADMAVEN does it for every article – only large groups of individuals voting for a submission will bring that particular article to prominence. So far Yahoo Buzz has acted more like Yahoo Drone.
In press releases and interviews leading up to the public opening of Buzz, Yahoo stated that individual bloggers, small-time writers, and other such users will be given a chance to be on the front page and vaulted into relevancy. Unfortunately that just has not happened. Major news organizations dominate the first page of articles, with a few non-syndicated bits buried deep within the back pages.
My advice to Yahoo Buzz is simple: get rid of the New York Times, Salon, Times.com, and all the other major news organizations bloating the service. We know where to get that information, assuming we don’t already have RSS Feeds set up for it. The key for Yahoo Buzz should be to carve out a niche of relevant, user generated content that includes the blogosphere, videos, and other popular media. In this way Buzz can differentiate itself from its competitors and get away from the traditional news aggregation model that so many other sites employ.
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 Optimization continues to grow at an exponential – and nearly incomprehensible – pace. In the agency world it is almost impossible to stay at the forefront of the SMO environment due to this rapid expansion. That being said, there are a few agencies that do an outstanding job of keeping abreast. In the third installment of the SEM vs. SMO series, I will focus on GoViral, the concept of The Social Metropolis, and the book by the same name. To begin, let’s get up to speed on the concept. At the end of the article I will provide a link to download the full book free of charge from GoViral.
Jimmy Maymann, the founder and CEO of GoViral, presented his concept of The Social Metropolis this year in Cannes. The video of his presentation is below. Though lengthy, it provides a basic introduction to the concept of The Social Metropolis and what it means to enter this emerging space.
One of the key takeaways from Mr. Maymann’s presentation is the concept of democratization of information. As more people have free and unfettered access to the internet, we see a growing trend of consumer empowerment. The following excerpt from The Social Metropolis highlights the resulting disparity between consumer intelligence and the current state of the ad industry:
“The result is a genuine mismatch between a media and marketing experienced public, and a marketing/advertising industry that, generally speaking, have been delivering the same product since the 1970s. I magine if Ford or Sony did the same...? The old model is broken - a new one is only slowly taking shape. Over the past decades, companies have become used to defining their message, shaping their brand, and having complete control over the channels of communication. Now they are losing it” (The Social Metropolis – Page 11).
Though there is a bounty of new and exciting information in The Social Metropolis, ADMAVEN wants to highlight the bigger picture – respect SMO or be left in the dust.
Explaining exactly how you can take advantage of SMO to leverage your next big campaign is out of the scope of this article. This information, however, can be gleaned by reading GoViral’s The Social Metropolis. Visit GoViral and download the book here.
Happy reading!
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 Optimization (SMO) seeks to drive traffic not from search engines, but from third party websites, applications, and social networking services. Adding SMO to a campaign can be the missing link between mediocre response number and an award winning response! SMO can be added to an existing campaign – depending on the target market and product/service offering – or be the single method of generating publicity. The premise behind SMO involves connecting with the customer on a personal level without the use of a traditional click-through advertisement. Rohit Bhargava, SVP of Digital Strategy and Marketing at Ogilvy 360 Digital Influence, is credited with inventing the term Social Media Optimization. Mr. Bhargava outlines the basics in his article, “5 Rules of Social Media Optimization”:
I suggest reading Mr. Bhargava’s article if you want to get the basics of how SMO has grown from a relatively undefined (yet practiced) advertising technique to a clearly defined, methodical operation to supplement or found your next big campaign.
In my next article I will suggest some specific techniques I use to leverage the power of SMO for any type of campaign.
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.
Reuters has reported Adam Vitale, the Spam King of Brooklyn, has been sentenced to 30 months in prison for sending over one million unsolicited emails to AOL users in 2005. Government informants posing as a legitimate company hired Vitale to send the spam advertising computer security software in exchange for half of the products profits. Vitale’s network of servers routed the outgoing mail in such a way that AOL’s spam filtering software was rendered useless.Convictions for sending spam are rare in the United States and practically nonexistent in the rest of the world. In my opinion this is a good step in ensuring interactive advertising is taken seriously. No one wants to receive spam; it cheapens the interactive advertising industry as a whole and blocks out advertisements that customers may actually want to get.
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 complete digital communications solutions with a proven ROI for a variety of industries.
Eerily similar to Second Life, Google Labs has produced a virtual world in which avatars interact with user created content in three dimensions. Did I mention it is free to download and use? Lively by Google utilizes in browser software to allow webgoers to dive head first into virtual reality and interact with other avatars and their environment. Google, in typical press release fashion, states they will not place ads of any kind in Lively. I have to wonder how long this will last – especially with marked success from similar products like Second Life, in which advertising is rampant. Implications for interactive adspace are huge. Take corporate self-promotion for example. I had a quick look at the popular rooms page on the Google Lively website and found the interactive agency Proximity Worldwide’s room.
Looks like a typical agency setting to me. Note the YouTube videos rolling on the wall and the Proximity logo covering the floor. Conversation in Lively comes easily: simply type your message into the box and hit enter to generate an easy to read chat bubble. Now if only I had someone else in the room who would answer me.
Other frustrations came quickly. The initial load time for the room is about 30 seconds – not a death sentence by any means – and subsequent lag ensues after the space is generated. My laptop is not wimpy by any means, but Lively seems to eat all my resources and then some.
Lively also provides simple ways to integrate your personal space with a MySpace, Facebook, or other social networking page. I am a fan of improved interactivity and “bringing the customer into your house”, but Lively needs to solve a few key problems regarding slow loading and jerky movement before this tool will be truly useful to the interactive advertising community.
My verdict: keep a close eye on Lively in the months to come, but don’t scramble to set up your own complex virtual labyrinth only to realize you are the only one populating it.
Key implications: look to Lively for enhanced customer service apps, live order taking, and embedded YouTube viral marketing in the near future. There may come a day when interactive agencies sell a Lively environment as part of the standard online presence package.
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 complete digital communications solutions for a variety of industries.
