Yes, word on the grapevine is that Twitter is set to launch brand pages similar to Facebook’s pages to allow brands more space to communicate with followers. If this is in fact true, this will be a major change to Twitter and something which will either make it or break it. My prediction – it will break it. We already have FB so we don’t need a copycat. Stay true, Twitter. Stay true.
Angry Birds Rio
Are you an Angry Birds addict? How would you feel if you could play it guilt free for your client? This is how the promoters of the new movie, Rio, feel right now. Actually, not only are they probably guilt-free, but are probably high-fiving their way to the bank as their partnership with Angry Birds has given them 10 million downloads in 10 days. At $AU1.19 per download, that’s $11.9 million from a promotion. Win.
So what other apps are you obsessed with and how could you make them work for your clients?
Facebook for mobile
With over 250 million users logging into Facebook from their mobiles, it makes sense to have as much functionality as possible without impacting on usability. Facebook feel pretty confident that they can squeeze some more function into their mobile apps (let’s face it, there wasn’t that much to begin with so it was a fairly safe bet) and have launched maps, unfriending and most importantly, the ability to check-in to events, not just locations.
To be able to check-in to an event you have to be invited and RSVP’d “yes” to attending. Your location also has to match the location of the listed event venue, and it has to be the correct time of the event. This will be an interesting addition to watch as it merges real life social with online social. Update your software on your phone to start checking in now.
Vice and WPP join forces
Global, monolithic ad agency network WPP has become a major partner in Vice Magazine. Vice – an infamous youth magazine – is known for its cheeky and irreverent take on the world. An interesting acquisition you may think, but WPP have invested in the mag to further develop their content capabilities and no doubt, further blur the lines between advertising and entertainment. If they don’t kill the mag in the meantime, this will be a stellar move.
Well it’s the pre-SXSW edition of BOTI this week, and let me just say, I am freakin’ excited for next week. If the twitter stream is anything to go by, it’s going to be a highlight edition. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, we still have this week to get through and there were actually still quite a few substantial announcements to document.
Al Jazeera’s new Facebook talk show
Arab news network, Al Jazeera, have announced they will be producing a talk show using content from social networks, including Facebook and Twitter, to drive the topics. This is an initiative aimed at attracting “a younger, more technologically connected audience than most other news talk shows”.
The move comes following the reliance on social media during the recent uprisings in Egypt and Libya, which gives an interesting look at the changing role of social media in society from narcissistic mirror to a news and entertainment source.
WiFi Cabs
Japan strikes again in the innovation stakes, introducing WiFi to their fleet of taxis. While business people might rejoice at being one step closer to being constantly online, you have to ask, should there be times when we need to log off?
Facebook’s anti-bullying strategy
Long accused of inactivity in the fight against online bullying, Facebook have stepped up and developed an anti-bullying strategy. With the aim of creating a “culture of respect” the new tools include a better reporting system for offensive or bullying content as well as a more community focused option, whereby people are guided through the possible options for action including privately messaging offenders, removing them as a friend or blocking them altogether.
It’s important to note that users must be over 13 to join Facebook in the first place. So, what do you think of these steps? Is the subtle but empowering approach enough or should Facebook be more aggressive in their steps to reduce bullying across the site?
SXSW
Everyone get excited because SXSW is happening right now! SXSW is the premier event each year to reveal what new technologies are going to emerge and dominate. Hold onto your seats because the next issue of Best of the Internetz is going to be awesome! If you just can’t wait until next week, check out http://sxsw.com/ or the twitter stream for all the latest as it happens – search #sxsw.
Nothing like a few good “Woah” stats to get the agency haters to pay attention, so the latest instalment of the What the f@*k… series is a must read. Enjoy.
I went to the latest Digital Citizens event last night which looked at crisis and reputation management in social media. There were a lot of great points that are definitely worth raising with clients so that they are prepared for a Twit Storm should one hit.
Preparation:
Be proactive! Brainstorm worst case scenarios and develop planned responses that include getting advice from relevant authorities in areas (ie. Police, Councillors, Support Groups, Industry bodies, etc). It’s always good to build a relationship with these authorities too. Develop a document which can be accessed quickly in case of emergency so everyone is clear on the plan of action
Establish presences on Facebook, Twitter, forums, etc before a crisis so you already have a base community that is receptive to your brand to talk to without needing to build a community during the crisis. This will allow you to be a part of the conversations, not just respond to them which will build credibility as you will be seen as an authority and can potentially avoid problems blowing up
Create a “dark site” which is a website that is not live but can be pushed live if a crisis arises and the brand needs to respond quickly. The dark site should have your pre-planned responses ready to go and approved by all relevant stakeholders so there are no unnecessary delays. This is such an important point as time is of the essence when a crisis is unfolding and immediate responses are crucial
Get C-level employees aware of your response plans and make sure they understand the channels so they are confident in the actions if they need to be put into action
It’s important to involve your legal team throughout the whole planning process so they understand the nature of social media and the importance of fast responses
Don’t rely on listening service to pick up a potential crisis – they are too slow to provide information
During the crisis:
Be rational. Consider what has happened – a few bad tweets is not usually a crisis but if the disgruntled party has a wide influence it could be. How far will the problem reach?
Build a strong search presence so that if people are searching anything to do with the topic, they are finding your information first rather than the critical info. Be mindful though that buying search terms post crisis can backfire though (as seen with BP) so get in early
Respond with honest and humanised messages, not stale, legal responses though definitely consult legal advice prior to publishing anything so that they can perform a risk assessment
Take responsibility for your mistakes and be clear about what went wrong and what you are doing to fix the problem.
Get your information out in as many channels as possible. If you are seen to be transparent about a problem, it will be less newsworthy than if people think you are trying to hide information
Set up a “war room” with all key stakeholders in the room so decisions can be made quickly
Brief legal teams quickly and clearly. Tell them you will be responding via social media channels and need a fast, humanised response. Push back on them if their response is too corporate sounding
Note: US websites don’t have a legal obligation to take down material if requested so you cannot rely on cease and desist orders. If you want people to take things down, it’s best to approach them informally and appeal to their better nature – legal threats are pointless and only make them less receptive to your requests.
Overall, the real message is that if you plan properly, you can usually avoid a crisis unfolding. Planning and education are the key!
Big thanks to the Digital Citizens crew and the excellent panel - Matthew Gain (Edelman), Rachael Falk (Telstra) and Jonathan Ngyuen (Ogilvy).
Create a bigger volume of ads targeting a smaller volume of people - In order to have an increased conversion rate on your advertisements, increase the targeting in order to make the advertisement more relevant for the users. Relevance will get people to respond to your ad.
Friend users before you sell to them - In addition to having an increased conversion, you are also now able to reach out to individuals directly if you wish.
Facebook is least effective at direct sales - Facebook presents businesses with the opportunity to reach their target market throughout the entire marketing cycle. While a small percentage of users are ready to purchase while they’re browsing Facebook, a much larger percentage of users are going to make a purchase in the future if not now.
Set budgets with a goal in mind - If you set a budget on a campaign for $20 a day you should know what you would like to receive for that money.
Understand your market - To help define your market, you can go through the market segmentation process. This involves defining the need your company satisfies and then more thoroughly defining who your customer is.After exhaustively defining who your customer is, you’ll be more effective at defining the targeting factors to be used in Facebook advertisements.
Monitor performance and adjust accordingly - If you visit the ad reports area you can download three types of reports to determine how your campaigns and ads are performing: advertising performance, responder demographics, responder profiles.
Test landing pages vs Facebook pages - Facebook advertising combined with relationship marketing cannot be your only strategy. You need to generate sales and sometimes that means being direct and converting a customer.
Split test ads by demographic - Trial different techniques within the same demographic. Does every girl respond to pink? Probably not but some do.
Develop creative ad copy - excite readers into action
Don’t over target - Everything in marketing is a balance and the last thing you want to do is spend all of your time increasing ad relevance while not interacting with the users who are clicking through on the ads.
A recent interview with Malcolm Gladwell has raised some interesting perspectives around the potential fragility of social media.
“The problem is, we’re still in the experimental phase. The thing about Facebook is, it’s insanely new. This world of the Internet, if we know anything from its brief history, it likes nothing more than to build someone up only to topple them. Who has an AOL account these days? Not that long ago, AOL was the single most powerful player on the Internet. Who has a MySpace account these days? MySpace sold for billions of dollars not that long ago. I’m very reluctant to crown Facebook king of the future. They certainly are flavour of the month”.
Malcolm is right. The current major players in the social media space may not be the same players in the years to come, but is this a reason to avoid engaging with them? Social media will evolve but it has earned a place in people’s social interactions so we can’t just refuse to get involved. In order to “fish where the fish are biting” (excuse the cliché) brands will need to improve their versatility and act more quickly than they have in the past. Sure there will be risks, but that’s what makes it exciting.
I'm Lindsey. I work in advertising, but I'm also an ex-record store, high fidelity-esque Aria Award winner. I'm a trend hunter, music obsessed and a pop culture tragic. I collect watches and scarves & I love to travel to anywhere completely different to home. I'm an Australian living an adventure in Singapore.
