Category: Social Media

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Content Marketing Culture Media Social Media Strategy

Tweeting a 5K

Five thousand tweets

Today marks my five thousandth tweet sent through Twitter, a social information network that I joined April 16, 2009. In those 1,315 days, I’ve come to value Twitter for far more than a tool for sharing my latest meal.

Direct connections

Twitter allows me to engage directly with some of my favorite authors, creative thinkers, marketers, and entertainers. I can respond to a poll, comment on an author’s latest blog post or book, or even engage in a direct 1-on-1 conversation as follow-up.

As an example, I’ve had the pleasure of reading two of author Gary Vaynerchuk‘s books. Through Twitter, he’s helped me stay motivated and keep on-top of current marketing trends. He even took the time to send a few direct messages my way.

Introduction to new folks

Via other’s retweets, I’ve connected with new folks from my several networks. I know more folks who attended Syracuse University, work in the creative world, or those I’ve met in person and now use as resources.

For instance, I had the pleasure of meeting several creatives at last year’s An Event Apart in Boston. I now get to receive feedback and commentary from these folks who help improve my designs and writing – and use them for design and development help.

Sharing what’s important

Welcoming folks into my circle of followers with similar interests creates great personal value on Twitter. I’ve been able to introduce friends and colleagues not only to my writing and designs, but also popular destinations like fashion blog and video series Put This On, technology and Apple blog Daring Fireball, design features on Fast Company Design, and interesting social apps like Over.

Through these publishers, I’ve expanded my knowledge in many fields while simultaneously sharing with followers what I find most interesting and valuable.

Redefining news

Breaking news now employs Twitter for distribution. When a global event occurs, news organizations can quickly share the story’s headline while awaiting further details. I’m able to keep up on the latest developments without waiting for a full story to be written, edited, and posted.

This is also true of personal news. Exciting announcements can spread quicker than phone calls could ever do. That instant satisfaction of sharing a big day with the world – and receiving words of congratulations – makes Twitter incredibly valuable.

And of my 5,000 tweets, a personal announcement is my favorite. On June 5th, I was able to share the birth of my daughter with the world.

Twitter may simply be a digital tool, but it has brought great value to my life in my first 5,000 tweets. To the next 5,000!

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Content Marketing Music Social Media Strategy Technology

What’s new?

UnPanel

From the HB Blog

At last week’s UnPanel at FutureM, the topic of discovery dominated the conversation. In a marketing world with strong social ties, folks shared their thoughts on today’s discovery tools – specifically how people find new music.

Spotify, iTunes, and other music services offer their versions of new music through “related artists” tools. A user might also find “listeners also bought” lists. These form our social “bubbles,” or groups of people with seemingly similar tastes, likes, and lifestyles.

The simple theory: like-minded listeners may also like similar artists, albums, or songs. That’s how we find “new” music. Seems simple enough, right?

Seriously, what is new?

HB’s CEO, Nicolas Boillot, raised an interesting point during the UnPanel discussion:

“How do we reach folks outside the bubble?”

In the world of music sharing, it’s not an easy task. There are potentially hundreds of thousands of music fans who would buy an album… but may never come in contact with the artist through their music service.

So is this considered “new” music? Does the definition require that the first introduction to the music be random and not through a recommendation?

Marketing to the new

Here’s the challenge: You need to market to groups that may be in your target audience but have yet to be reached. So what strategies will help deliver key messages?

  • New language: marketers can try reaching a “new” group through different words or key phrases. One group may like affordability while another like reliability.
  • An inch deep and a mile wide: cast the net wider but with more general tactics. Try promoting a product’s value – not necessarily that it’s up to certain technological standards.
  • Go old school: the delivery mechanism provides alternatives. Just because you’re offering a digital product doesn’t mean the marketing needs to be digital. How about a tried-and-true three-dimensional direct mailer?

To go beyond the bubble – to the true new audiences – we must be willing to try new tactics. The language, style, and delivery mechanism are only a few alternative solutions.

Reaching outside the bubble is possible… it just requires a “new” way of thinking.

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Content Marketing Media Social Media Strategy Technology

What happened to my big-screen TV?

High definition television

From the HB Blog

The big-screen, flat-panel television: an in-home entertainment game changer. More pixels and high-definition signals created amazing, high-quality images for television shows and movies. These TVs became commonplace in many homes where bigger is better. Larger dimensions create a better experience when watching a sporting event, concert, or movie. Size matters.

So what happened to all that real estate?

Since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, news and sports stations have added scrolling tickers to their broadcast. At the time, this seemed strange – but now it’s expected. On that terrible day in American history, we were able to follow multiple stories at the same time: the live broadcast and updates from those at ground zero.

In the 10+ years that followed, users have received their news less from broadcast television and more from web sites and social tools – the so-called “second screen.” Someone watching television will simultaneously access their phone or tablet for additional information. These changes led to the biggest shift in high-def TV.

Information, not size

Television broadcasts are shifting away from “the most pixels make the best picture.” Instead, televisions are using that extra space for more information. What was once a beautiful 42″ display has now been reduced to 2/3 of its size because of graphics, charts, and information.

Take the third presidential debate between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. The broadcast cared less about showing as much of the candidates as possible and more of the “pulse of the nation” – something typically found on Twitter and other social tools. Less face time, more information.

Counterintuitive

In a world of second screens, does it make sense for television broadcasts to fill precious pixels with information found elsewhere? The television industry is already considered to be behind the rest of the technological world (why are cable boxes and their interfaces terribly designed?).

For the smart networks, they’re relying on mobile web sites or apps to deliver secondary information to the user. A perfect example: Conan on TBS. Their iPad “sync” app does precisely that – during a broadcast, you can sync your iPad in order to follow along with the show, in real time, with secondary information. In this example, TBS can use as many pixels as possible towards their comedy bits and beautiful celebrities while their audience still shares in the experience of additional data and information.

The lesson: use the tools as they were intended. Keep it simple and rely on compatible strategies to deliver additional information to the user or viewer. It makes for a better experience – and a better use for your television!

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Content Marketing Design Measurement Social Media Strategy Technology

The vernaculars of man and machine in marketing

From UnPanel and MITX

Look out! The machines, robots, and automators won a few marketing battles over the lowly humans. These tools have even taken away income from marketers and agencies.

So how can mankind overcome? Or, more realistically, join forces for the ultimate marketing solution?

For starters, it helps to speak the language.

New business development: conversation vs conversion

Nothing feels better than earning a “win” for the agency. And for us humans, it all starts with a simple chat. We get a sense from an interested prospect that there may be a strong fit. Excellent!

Robots often see these interactions as conversions. An interested party visits a web site, does some research, and fills out a form with similar information from the human encounter. The robots have converted someone into data. Huzzah!  

User experience: collaboration vs user testing

Designing and developing a web site ain’t easy. It takes deep learning and discussion to determine the best answer to questions like, “where should this button go?” and “what should be the names of these pages?” In the web design (and marketing) world, it’s a team of individuals who can work together to determine the best solution.

The robots see things differently. They offer incredibly detailed insight through user testing. Products and strategies like eye-trackers and heat sensors yield robust data. Robots compile the findings and the intent is to do exactly as they say.

Content development: creative writing vs quality score

Writers are schooled to develop creative content by professors, instructors, and our own drive and intuition. This creativity helps guide the big picture in marketing campaigns – often a hook, tagline, or theme. It’s the key stepping stone in content development – a great idea.

Robots often see creativity through a quality score. Does this particular page of a web site gather lots of traffic – and more importantly, traffic that stays on the page? Well, it must have been creative, unique content.

Fight or unite?

So now what? The robots have taken some of our money, clients, and maybe a bit of our dignity. Which language should we speak? Do humans fight back or give up?

The honest truth: human marketers should employ robots, not fight them. It takes a great idea to start a campaign and great execution to let it shine. Simply put, only humans can come up with great ideas… but robots offer an amazing partnership when it comes to execution, guidance, and feedback.

Try not to look at the robots as impending doom. Rather, they’re the new breed of marketing sidekick. And that’s great news for us humans.

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Business Culture Design Media Social Media SXSW Technology Video

SXSW Interactive: Attempting to Digest Five Days of Awesomeness

Co-written by Andrea Dunbeck and Justin Hastings

What a week! Now that the panels, discussions, presentations, chats, serendipitous introductions and nightly events have concluded, we attempt to wrap our week in Austin into four central themes that we brought back for HB to make our work (and our clients’ work) more successful.

As a reminder, you can relive all of the action here.

Trust

Andrea spoke about this a few days ago. Throughout our time in Austin, we heard discussions surrounding the idea of audience trust and authenticity. Only when content speaks directly and honestly to the audience will a brand perform well – and this happens over a long, incremental period of time, not in short, sporadic bursts. With the right campaign, trust can be measured through speed and reach – audiences will make quicker decisions through a trustworthy relationship.

“Trust can be measured in speed and reach. Vendors can make things easier in order to solve a problem – therefore, you can work more efficiently and make more money. Reach comes from sharing stories with your friends.” – Liz Strauss, founder of SOBcon and Inside-Out Thinking, from What’s So [Bleeping] Hard About Social ROI?

In fact, multiple presenters talked about getting out of the user’s way, allowing for individual brand experience and exploration. Technology should be calm and unobtrusive, using clean, simple design and user experiences to communicate messages.

“Calm technology is in the background and relaxed. Actions become buttons or are triggered through invisible interfaces.” Amber Case, Co-founder, Geoloqi , from Ambient Location and the Future of the Interface.

Be Bold, Smart and Nimble

Panelists and speakers throughout all our sessions challenged attendees to break traditions, defy standards, go rogue and show change. Shifts in offerings and marketing strategies must become part of an agency’s (or brand’s) DNA, allowing them to act like startups to adapt to constantly evolving industries, media channels and technology.

“There needs to be resistance to hierarchy. Smaller, nimbler teams innovate faster.” – Rei Inamoto, Chief Creative Officer, AKQA, from Why Ad Agencies Should Act More Like Tech Startups

We often heard the recommendation to “fail fast” – testing new ideas, strategies or projects through user research and experimentation.

“Fail quickly. You learn more from what doesn’t work then you do from what does.” – Lance Weiler, Story Architect/Experience Designer, RebootStories.com, from Multiplatform Storytelling: Frontline War Stories.

Give the People What They Want

It all boils down to this. Content strategy, development, distribution and marketing – it’s about getting your audience members what they want, when they want it and how they want it.

Brands are no longer just product and service companies – they are publishers who must provide meaningful, entertaining content to their users (even if the content does not directly tie to the product or service). These same brands must inspire their audiences through unique storytelling – gone are the days when copy, on its own, can create the same experience as a story involving visuals, videos, photography, and media from other platforms.

“What would our audience love to see? Don’t even think about the brand.” – Anthony Batt, President, Katalyst, from Entertain or Fail: Brands as the New Publishers.

The role of the content strategist thus continues to grow across brands and agencies that develop large amounts of content. Increasingly, people in this position will take the lead on new projects. A successful content strategy combines thoughtful workflow and governance (people) with substance and structure (engaging content).

“Nontraditional storytelling through visuals and interactive is becoming what readers want.” – Jill Abramson, Executive Editor, The New York Times, from The Future of The New York Times.

Social

We all think Social is so special. Stop it – it’s not. Social is simply another marketing tactic like advertising or direct mail. So why expect special ROI measurements from social marketing? For many other marketing tools we simply ask, “are profits increasing?” We need not treat Social as an alien, but rather just as another strategy in your marketing toolbox.

“Aren’t we overcomplicating this? What’s the ROI of taking a guy to the golf course or out to dinner?” – Matt Ridings, Co-founder & CEO, SideraWorks, from What’s So [Bleeping] Hard About Social ROI?

The only real difference is that social media allows you to listen to your audience, rather than broadcast to them. So do it – leverage the opportunity to get to know your prospects and customers so all of your communication is spot-on for their needs and interests.

Oh, and “viral” is overrated.

Phew! The week in Austin surely filled our brains with plenty to digest, review and implement in the coming weeks and months. We look forward to SXSW 2013!

Read about the rest of our trip to SXSW trip at The HB Blog.