Archive for May, 2009
SCG on the Road: Winning Friends and @Replying People
Friday, May 29th, 2009Spring Creek Group will be heading down to Twtrcon in San Francisco this Sunday. Time allowing, we’ll also be sponsoring a Twitter analytics tweetup following the 140 Smiles Launch Party on Saturday and a Twitter measurement tools table at lunch on Sunday.
Our resident twitterer on the scene and in the flesh will be @ericpratum, so if you’re there, make sure you track him down and say hello. If you can’t make it down there, don’t worry, the rest of the gang from SCG Global World HQ will still be available here and @SpringCreekGrp. We’ll fill you in on what you missed.
#ohpleaseno
Tuesday, May 26th, 2009It often feels like I spend a lot of time defending Twitter on here, making the case that it really is useful, or isn’t just a fad, or actually has some kind of purpose/place in the overall sphere of legitimate and respected human communication.
I then find out that Twitter is in talks to develop a television show. The premise of said television show? Totally unscripted events that will “. . . put ordinary people on the trail of celebrities in a revolutionary competitive format.”
You have now officially begun to try my patience, Twitter.
You Know What Would Be Really Handy?
Tuesday, May 19th, 2009If someone, somewhere, had put together a fairly comprehensive list of 13 essential social media listening tools and then written an article about their proper place and use in the social media ecosytem.
That would be very handy, indeed.
Take That, Bridge
Monday, May 18th, 2009
After months of endurance training, hill running and wind sprints, Spring Creek Group’s “No Runner Left Behind” team successfully beat the bridge at the annual Beat the Bridge to Beat Diabetes run benefiting the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
With more than 9,000 participants we managed not to be the last to cross the line and learned a valuable lesson that will involve neon colored t-shirts for next year’s run. We then celebrated with a post-run brunch that was generously hosted by SCG’s Andy Boyer where we rehydrated using Vitamin C packed mimosas.
Though sore and tired today, we had a great time while getting some much needed sun and exercise. Now that we’ve caught the exercise bug we’re on to planning our next under-10K run– any suggestions?
Measuring the (Marketing) Effectiveness of a Hodouken
Thursday, May 14th, 2009We’ve talked about how much we appreciate creative ways to make use of a YouTube channel before, so imagine how pleased we were when we sat in on a YouTube presentation at this year’s WOMM-U.
One was a presentation that highlights a Street Fighter video which displays a clever way to use annotations in order to essentially create an engaging game out of the video asset. This technique and video might be old hat to some of you, but hey, we got to hear about some of the potential uses/benefits of this method while surrounded by like-minded peers, so for us, it was a fresh take on the matter.
Feel like playing video games at work today? Go check it out, and if your boss asks what you’re doing, chalk it up to market research.
Good Night and Good Luck: Don’t Count Out Marketers Just Yet
Monday, May 11th, 2009
The namesake of my college at Washington State University, Edward R. Murrow, said many an important thing. Now, in a time where technology is moving at breakneck speeds and there is an ever-growing claim that traditional communication is dead/dying/on life support, his words ring as true as they did when he penned them.
“The newest computer can merely compound, at speed, the oldest problem in the relations between human beings, and in the end the communicator will be confronted with the old problem, of what to say and how to say it.”
One could argue that the “computers” in this sense are new communication tools like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc. While the technologies for delivery are changing faster than most can keep up with an RSS feed, the importance of having a well-versed, well-written, and cohesive team is still priority numero uno.
So chin up, marketers. You’re not going the way of the Betamax – not if old Ed Murrow and I have anything to say about it.
Outreach at What Price?
Friday, May 8th, 2009
The Feds are watching you. Well, maybe not you specifically, but they’re watching us – the social media marketing world – as a whole, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, after reading a recent post on the subject, we here at Spring Creek Group let out a collective sigh of relief.
While the social media world can sometimes feel like the Wild West (complete with tweet fights replacing high-noon shootouts), the fact of the matter is that marketers need to take the lead in policing their own. That’s why (well, one of the reasons at least) Spring Creek Group is becoming more active in WOMMA. The group, beyond the increased networkability, provides a great code of ethics, which build on Spring Creek Group’s own set of principles, which every employee works to uphold:
- Value – Don’t “Market”; Create and Publish Content that Adds Value – Assist, Inform, Entertain.
- Ethics - Never Break or Even Bend “The Rules”… Most Importantly Understand Them, By Community and By Site.
- Transparency – We Are Who We Say We Are at All Times. Personal and Professional Openness, and Clear Association with the Brand.
- Authenticity – Consistent, Passionate Commitment to Your Market and Customers (not just your Brand).
- Focus – Do The Right Things Well… And Let the Community Handle the Rest…
Keep these in mind when you’re evaluating your social media outreach and remember that going to bed at night with a clean conscience trumps going to bed with huge results – lucky for us (and you) we’ve found that a combination of the two makes for an even better night’s sleep.
Weathering the Snarkstorm: How and When Do You Censor Comments?
Thursday, May 7th, 2009Recently, I read a blog post about the misfire between social media and PR-types. Being of that PR world (for three years) I thought that I’d drop a line supporting the story and give a bit of an opinion at the same time. The opinion, which wasn’t all that abrasive, was that perhaps PR-types aren’t best-suited for taking the social media reigns. Yes, before you ask, I did drop @SpringCreekGrp into my comment. However, it wasn’t in a “OMG, look at us!” way, but rather in talking about how social media marketing agencies partner with and compliment traditional PR and advertising.
I hit submit, waited a bit and noticed that my comment wasn’t showing up. A colleague posted their thoughts and their comment quickly moved through moderation and is on the page.
While we can’t be exactly sure why my comment was taken down (perhaps it was the view that PR people are simply missing the social media point), we (the SCG Blog Squad) can take this to school and learn a bit of a lesson.
We here on the SCG Blog Squad believe that communication and collaboration make the world go round. So, if one of you out there doesn’t agree with one of our stances, let us know. We won’t simply delete your comment just because you have a differing view, in fact, we’ll probably dialog with you more.
Of course, in today’s Web, it is necessary to sometimes censor comments. We here at Spring Creek Group World Headquarters try to stick to the “would you say it in front of your boss, mother, and the Queen of England” rule. This guideline rules out the profane, discriminatory, and just plain inappropriate. If you want to tell us how absolutely off our rockers we are, go at it – just try and do it without the four-letter words.
When Real-Time Means Shortened Face Time
Tuesday, May 5th, 2009According to Mashable, enough people find it utterly important to have a live stream of who’s poked whom, who’s been tagged in a picture, and who asked you to be a knight for the 30th time on Facebook.
With this move toward real-time, crafting a great message becomes pretty darn important. Your message will look like the $1 spinning past the arrow, thus ending your dreams of spreading your message and you don’t necessarily get another spin.
Here are three rules to writing an effective Facebook update item that are sure to make your shortened time on your audience’s walls all that more productive.
1) Think like a copywriter – Copywriters are the surgeons of the communications world. Where marketers and PR types can pad a 12 word sentence enough to fill a page, copywriters use precision. Think like a copywriter and treat your update like a Facebook version of an elevator pitch.
2) Be sticky – Sticky threads are the threads you see on forums that are always at the top, regardless of how old they are. In the world of real-time updates your audience will see your message longer if your message is interesting enough to have comments continually added.
3) Be a clock-watcher - Monday mornings are a flurry of social network activity. People are uploading photos from the weekend’s debaucheries, friends are stating their general disdain for Monday mornings, and companies who haven’t figured out the news cycle are dropping releases. Know your audience and know the news cycle around your group/product. One person yelling in a sea of people yelling just sounds like a bunch of people yelling. One person talking in a quiet room sounds like a person with a bullhorn.
Facebook 5-0
Monday, May 4th, 2009Not that we have some kind of obsession or problem with the police or anything, but there sure does seem to be a general law enforcement theme going around online today that we think merits a mention. Aside from the FBI news we talked about earlier, there was also an interesting article in Newsweek where the (150 person!) team that decides exactly what kind of content is allowed and banned on Facebook was profiled.
The author(s) of the article makes the case that this team is one of the keys to Facebook’s continued success, and we certainly don’t disagree.
As we’ve seen (both online and offline) in the past, advertisers often tend to shy away from controversial content, and if there’s one thing Facebook can’t afford to lose right now, it’s advertising.
