5 Reasons Why Companies Choose the Wrong Agency Partner
posted by Laurenc on April 29th, 2009Ad Agencies: 5 Reasons Why Companies Choose the Wrong Agency Partner
A few weeks ago, MediaPost wrote an article on “10 Reasons Why Clients Don’t Pick the Right SEM Agencies.“ This post really got me thinking, and I wanted to make my own similar list on five common traps that marketers fall into that leads to choosing the wrong agency partner. Picking the right partner for your business is critical to the success of your campaign. The wrong partner will not understand your business, goals, or even your target market, which could result in campaign failure and thousands of dollars wasted away.
If you are an client looking for an agancy-partner, stay away from these common problems that can cause you to choose the wrong firm.
1. You don’t have a clearly defined scope of work. Many clients fail to do the requisite preliminary research before issuing an RFP, including taking a hard look in the mirror and being honest about your assets and liabilities and what type of outside firm is likely to complement these. If you’re not sure what you need, you can always send out an exploratory RFI (Request for Information) to get a feel for what’s out there and/or hire an experienced consultant to help you navigate the waters.
2. You have an unreasonably short RFP lead time. If you want a customized RFP response with deep insights that shows how the agency will drive your business forward, you have to give them more than a week or two to work on it. Besides, if you hire the agency that dropped everything to put all their greatest minds on creating your RFP response, imagine what they’ll do once you’re a client and the next RFP hits their inbox.
3. You let work samples make the decision for you. Clients love flashy blinky things. And when the flashing and blinking comes with data, they light up as if they just hit the slot machine jackpot. Unfortunately, all too often clients see all the flash and forget to ask for the results. The next time an agency shows you examples of work they have done, as for a detailed business case study to go along with it.
4. Your approval process to too strict. You won’t believe how many times I have seen clients choose an agency by following a by-the-book process, choosing the one that looks best on paper, and ignoring their gut-instincts. In reality, there is no way to score intangibles like chemistry, vision, and how in-tune they are with your business. Choosing an agency firm this way is like marrying a person just because eHarmony’s 29 dimensions of compatibility say you’re a good match.
10. You don’t check references. It always amazes me how few clients actually check references. To continue the dating analogy, it’s like getting married without meeting any of your significant other’s friends or family. There’s no better way to determine how good an agency really is than by talking to their other clients.
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The Social Media Shift
posted by Laurenc on April 28th, 2009Internet Marketing News: The Social Media Shift
Netpop Research, a full service internet research firm, has produced a new report on the growth of social media, titled “Media Shifts to Social,” which found that the percent of time people spend communicating online has increased 18% since 2006, while time spent on entertainment has declined 29%. So, what does this mean? It means that online entertainment has been shifting from large media consumption (i.e. Television) to small, powerful social media contributors such as blogs micro-blogs, social media, video and photo sharing.
The report expounds, “stated simply, 7 million people in the U.S. are contributing content online through six or more activities (uploading photos, publishing blogs, posting ratings/reviews, etc.). These heavies are also connecting with 248 people in a typical week, on average.” So 7 million people, each reaching 248 people per week??? You do the math!
- Social networking has grown 93% since 2006
- 105 million Americans contribute to social media
- 7 million Americans are “heavy” social media contributors (6+ activities) who connect with 248 people on a ‘one to many’ basis in a typical week
- 54% of micro-bloggers post or “tweet” daily
- 72% of micro-bloggers under age 18 post or “tweet” daily
What does this mean for marketers? Well as social media continues to increase in influence with consumers, marketers have to be increasingly aware of the conversations revolving around their company, brands and products/services, and in order to drive growth, companies must engage consumers on a one-to-one level, focusing on starting conversations and providing value to users online.
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Spending Increases for Online Video Production
posted by Laurenc on April 27th, 2009Campaign Strategy: Spending Increases for Online Video Production
eMarketer recently released a study on online video spending, estimating that by 2012 the US audience alone will reach 190 million—88% of the Internet user population.
Here is an excerpt of the report:
Although online video ad spending has not grown as swiftly as originally predicted, looking beyond 2010 huge additional sums will be spent every year, reaching nearly $6 billion in 2013.
Two factors are driving the growth: more trusted video content to sustain advertising and more large advertisers (brand marketers, mainly) entering the market.
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XMarks the Spot: Bookmark-Powered Web Discovery
posted by Jeanannv on April 22nd, 2009Recently, I noticed that I was seeing little blue squares with “i”s in them all over my search pages and in my browser bar. I had no idea what it was, nor what I had done to cause it to happen. Note: that happens frequently…as I tend to try new FireFox gadgets all of the time in my quest for the most efficient social media marketing tactics. Anyway, when I stopped to explore the little blue guy, I discovered it was a FireFox plugin called XMarks.
You likely know it better as Foxmarks, the web based bookmarking system that FireFox has had in place for a long time. But with this latest upgrade, they have catapulted XMarks into social search, something that Google has yet to truly effectively do. Let me tell you how it works…
Once you have installed the Xmarks Plugin in your FireFox browser, simply go to a search engine (I tried it on Live, Google and Yahoo, worked on all three) and enter a search term. When you see this icon, click on the blue box. A pop up will appear with information about that link, how many times it has been bookmarked, topics or tags used, and an option to get more site info. If you click on the get more info button…
You will be directed to a page that has the site title and summary and bookmark information.
If the user clicks the “more’ link, they are able to edit the title and the site description, as well as report any off topic or spammy, abusive use.
Below, there is a listing of similar sites, as well as a tab for site reviews. The reviews can also be edited by others.
There is no doubt that XMarks gives social search a run for the money, though they prefer to say they are “bookmark -powered web discovery”. And in terms of democratizing search content, at first glance, this seems like a great option. But as I explored the features a bit, the wiki-like ability to change site titles and descriptions, even change reviews, threw me for a loop. It seems like the potential for abuse is fairly high. I would love to use these features, as I often do quite a bit of web research, but if the system is junked up with a bunch of spammy stuff, it will quickly fall off my radar.
Will FireFox and XMarks be successful in their Social Bookmarking wiki adventures? We will have to stay tuned to find out.
Social Media Etiquette: Use What Your Mama Taught Ya
posted by Jeanannv on April 21st, 2009Warning: the following will contain episodic ranting and complaining about the poor manners of people communicating via social media.
Something has been nagging me, way at the back of my thoughts…sort of popping up every now and then. I usually 
just brush it off or push it back down and ignore it. But today, I am going to offer up a serving of Emily Post-style tsk-tsk ranting about poor social media manners. And while you may initially think this is insignificant, by the end, I hope to have convinced you that these types of actions are precisely what jeopardizes online brand positioning and believability.
Complaint #1: People who do not return emails, IM’s or even Twitter replies drive me nuts. Yes, there is a point to which this can become overkill…but when someone goes out of there way to contact you, the least you can do is acknowledge it. Hello? Customer service 101, people…
Complaint #2: People who ask for feedback or response or input of some type and don’t acknowledge reciept. Did they get your message, or is Twitter Fail Whaling again? Who knows??
Complaint #3: Dude, don’t act like a spammer and then complain when someone blocks, drops or otherwise unenrolls in your service. For that matter, even if you aren’t a spammer, people have the right to change the channel…let it go…
Complaint #4: No sneaky following…don’t misrepresent yourself as someone who has a lot in common with me, then send me information about male enhancements. Seriously, I don’t need them. No, really…
Complaint #5: Say thanks and make a public acknowledgement…it’s the quickest way to let people know you are a collaborator. Don’t post their work with your name pasted on it…this really seems to bother people…
Complaint #6: Lighten up…relax, people, this is social media, not life and death…lately, it seems like this has become a game of he said she said. If we can all agree to use the manners our mama gave us, then I think we can make this thing work.
Finally, Complaint #7: Share the love…social media is not about being divisive, but about making connections, and building relationships. If this doesn’t appeal to you, you may be in the wrong place.
Failure to follow these basic principles can at best irritate people and at worst jeapardize your company and brand image. Invest the small amount of time necessary to connect with people in a way that would make Emily Post proud. Your readers and customers will be glad you did.
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FireFox Social Media Metrics Plugin Script
posted by Jeanannv on April 20th, 2009There are so many reasons why I love FireFox, one of which is the seemingly endless number of ways I can customize it to fit my needs. True, I often find mys
elf completely overloading it with a variety of gadgets, which slows the browser’s functionality down to a snail’s pace. I then go in and remove a few, then I am right back on track.
One of my most recent finds is the Social Media Metrics script that can be added via the Grease Monkey application. This script essentially turns Google Analytics into a social media measuring machine. Though the measurement capabilities are somewhat limited, it really can’t be beat for ease of use and efficiency.
Here’s a screenshot of how it works…by going to the content section, and clicking on the page you want to view, you are able to see the detailed information about that page.
Below the tradtional Google Analytics info is the social media metrics plugin. Essentially, it measures major social bookmarking sites, plus backlinks via Yahoo.
Now, before you complain that this is not enough information, remember that it is a whole lot more information than you had before…and while it is not the answer to life on the planet, it is a nice way to quickly scan for reader response to your posts.
I was happy to find this Firefox plugin. I love the idea of being able to do a quick check to see how my readership responded to a post. I will definitely be using this in the future.
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Pluck On Demand: Adding Social Content
posted by Jeanannv on April 17th, 2009Today I stumbled across a new service called Pluck On Demand. This is a very cool platform for building your brand online offers a couple of benefits to the user, additional content and a level of social media interaction. Some heavy hitters are already using their services to build depth and interaction, companies like McGraw Hill, NPR, Reuters, Sun Times, Whole Foods…the list is very long. And the basic package is easy to install and easy to use.
Pluck has partnered with Blog Burst for content generation. I have been a member of Blog Burst for quite a while. If 
your submitted content is approved, they syndicate your posts across the web. They are often picked up by people who are in need of content (newspapers, other media sources) and published via their publishing channel. The syndicated content is always linked back to the source. This has led to some serious blog traffic for me.
Pluck on Demand is their free level of service…a sort of DIY kit. I found it incredibly easy to install. If you are capable of copying code, creating widgets and creating pages, you can easily use their services. I added it to my site in about 15 minutes. And I was taking my time…
Will this really be a value add for my readers? We will see…I would like to think that they will enjoy more on site social media, but I am not sure. In order to participate in these services, users have to sign up. This may upset some long time members of the community who are used to just entering their info and leaving a comment. Still, I think this is headed in the right direction. People want sites to come alive, not to be flat and lacking interaction. I will report back on how these changes are received.
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CNN Redefines News with iReport
posted by Jeanannv on April 16th, 2009CNN has its traditional news site, but it also has an entirely user-generated news site called iReport. And though the concept of social news isn’t new, the fact that a major network is embracing it to this degree most certainly is. CNN introduces their site in this way:
iReport.com is a user-generated site. That means the stories submitted by users are not edited, fact-checked or 
screened before they post. Only the stories marked “On CNN” have been vetted by CNN for use in CNN’s global news coverage.
Lots of people argue about what constitutes news. But, really, it’s just something that happens someplace to someone. Whether that something is newsworthy mostly depends on who it affects — and who’s making the decision. On iReport.com, that is you! So we’ve built this site and equipped it with some nifty tools for posting, discovering and talking about what you think makes the cut.
Wow, is that really true? Is news just something that happens someplace to someone? I mean, when I take my dog to the park for a walk and he almost gets attacked by another dog, is that news?
All of this highlights the ongoing struggle between traditional news and social media news. The culture of one is very dissimilar to the other. But does that necessarily mean we throw out the old and embrace the new? I am all for the democratization of information sharing, but I don’t want everything that is published being presented as fact on a news site.
Clearly, CNN vettes the stories it airs before doing so, but the fact that they have given “news” such a broad definition worries me somewhat. What is to prevent the “news” from becoming one giant advertisement? Ironic to hear from a marketing consultant, but I want some news sources to be unbiased (to the degree that is possible).
I do think it is a good idea to have social news sites…democratizing the sharing of information keeps our media and government more honest. But, it can’t be our only source of news. We need a new wave of journalists who understand how social media works and can use it as a feed for information and inspiration, but ultimately, not the final facts for the story.
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House Viewers Cope with Grief Via Social Networking
posted by Jeanannv on April 15th, 2009For what is probably the first time in social media history, a television show is helping its viewers cope with the loss of a character via social networking. Last night, I was catching up on my dvr’ed tv episodes when I came across last week’s House episode. If you haven’t watched it yet and want to see it, check out the Fox site where you can still catch it. And note that what I am going to say next will completely spoil the plot of said episode…because within the first 15 minutes viewers are shocked to find that one of the shows most likeable characters (Kutner) has committed suicide.
WHAT?? I almost choked on my nighttime bowl of Cheerios. I sat straight up in bed, jostling the dog, spilling the milk 
and generally causing a ruckus. I mean, this was completely out of the blue…no warning signs at all. And while this is shocking, it is not necessarily relevant to the readers of Social American, exept, what Fox did next was at the same time, horrifying and amazing.
The producers of the show partnered with the National Alliance of the Mentally Ill (that’s the amazing part), hopefully to share a resource to people who are struggling with suicide in their families. But they also created a memorial page for Kutner in Facebook, complete with family photos, an obituary, comments from his colleagues on the show, and a widget (?) of his medical badge.
Clearly, this is all meant to stimulate discussion, generate press and market the show. And it is succeeding on all counts. But I have to give this a big two thumbs down. Capitalizing on the suicide of a cast member within social media spaces is not a good online marketing strategy for building a brand…even for edgy shows like House. I know the show’s purpose was to get people thinking, get them riled, but the ensuing marketing tactics are far beyond good taste. Not that it matters on a grand scale, but they have definitely lost a loyal viewer.
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Social Media and Publishing: It’s a Brave New World
posted by Jeanannv on April 14th, 2009It is a strange time for publishing. The mass adoption of the blog by popular culture, the economic crisis, Amazon.com and saving the environment have all led traditional authoring, online marketing and printing methods to be called into question. And if you are reading this, you are likely one of the new generation of authors who have realized
that as the old paradigm crashes, you finally have a chance to get your amazing, incredible, no one has ever seen before, material into the hands of the people who are dying to read it.
A book, whether it is print or electronic, is still an incredible marketing tool. If most of your readers have only experienced you in the social spaces, you have likely been speaking in 140 characters or less. By expanding your thoughts in book form, you give readers a chance to really embrace your philosophy, your company, your brand. Clearly, it should not be a 200 page advertisement or marketing brochure, but creating a high value, well branded book is an excellent way to firmly position your brand and potentially serve as a customer recruitment tool.
Sites like Lulu offer authors a chance to upload fully written books as .docs or .pdfs. Users can then create full color covers and purchase ISBN numbers, distribution packages, etc. Though it can be a bit difficult to learn to navigate, the end result is worth the struggle. And for better or worse, the author has complete control of the final product.
Your fantastic read can also serve as a way to monetize all of that content you have been generating in your blog. Blurb will slurp up your blog and spit out a perfect bound book. This print on demand service costs you no money, but is available as an option for your readers to order.
Keep in mind that writing a book is no small undertaking. Plan on spacing it out over the course of a year or so…particuarlarly since you will be the one who will be writing and marketing your product. There are great sources for support, many of the self-publishing or POD sites have social networks attached. Connect with others who have already experienced the process and seek their support.
It’s a Brave New World out there in book publishing land. If you have always wanted to write a book, but were baffled by the publishing process,with services like Lulu and Blurb, you will have your work in public in no time! Now, where did I put that pencil?
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