Posts Tagged ‘search’
Going Mobile 101
Wednesday, May 19th, 2010
It’s not enough to have great print or TV ads these days, hence the reason I have a job and am able to write this blog. It’s not even enough to have great print, TV, and social these days. In a time when everyone is walking around with a device in their pockets more powerful than the $4k Packard Bell (yes, you read that right) my dad brought home those many years ago, brands are scrambling to create an all-encompassing experience with users – a seamless brand agnostic of medium, screen size and location – and mobile is the last bit of that puzzle.
But, how do we go about creating a mobile strategy? What do we need to think about? Here are 10 steps to creating a mobile strategy that not only works for your brand, but that works for your customers/clients/and users.
01Know your targets
Paramount in any sort of marketing, but especially so in the world of mobile. Users are potential brand advocates and expect to be treated as such. Know the mobile habits of your targets and start there. Whether it’s online research, ethnographic research or good old fashioned observation, take the time to know your targets.
GigaOm recently posted a piece showing that Symbian users in the U.S. are 2.7 times more likely to click advertising on their mobile devices than Apple iPhone/iPod users. This simple fact not only is a bit of a blow to the recently-announced iAd platform, but it’s an important thing to think about when you’re looking at where to push your mobile ad buys.
Image courtesy of 02 Go local
While it will more-than-likely go the way of the buffalo, location based services (LBS) are an easy way for small and medium businesses to connect with regulars and create brand ambassadors through rewarding loyalty. Brands on the small-ish side have seen a great opportunity with LBS integration and promotion. Now, it’s easy to say “OMG, we should be on Foursquare because I saw all these articles and I know that’s what we need,” but truth is, it might not be. You need to first find out where your targets are and go there, not pick an LBS and hope they show up. Below are a few of my favorites:
Foursquare
Obviously this is the most widely-used location based service out there and brands are flocking to it trying to figure out exactly how they’ll use Foursquare for their brands. You couldn’t go anywhere at SXSW without hearing people talking about checking in, and this was in the town that birthed Gowalla. Brands like Tasti D-Lite, Lucky, and others are harnessing the herd power of Foursquare and quickly finding out best practices for the tool.
Download: iPhone – Android – BlackBerry
Whrrl
Seattle’s own LBS takes on the Foursquares and Gowallas of the world and does a pretty good job. Their focus on bringing connecting the virtual/mobile with the actual/physical is fairly interesting and their tips of nearby places make for a good night out. The experience is pretty fun and I feel like the tips and interactions within the actual UI are more useful than some other apps/services. Their only hurdle at this point is user base – it’s small (but growing).
Download: iPhone – Mobile Site
Gowalla
Austin’s own LBS tool found its way onto my phone when I was in town for SXSW, but I’m not going to lie, I stopped using it shortly after coming back to the PNW. It’s a fairly simple tool to use and worked well when I used it, I just don’t have that many friends using it.
Download: iPhone – Android – BlackBerry – Palm
Yelp
Probably one of the most “old school” of the LBS joints out there, Yelp is a great community filled with passionate users. If you’re able to harness the power of your loyal patrons/clients on this network, chances are you’ll do fairly well.
Download: iPhone – Android – BlackBerry – Palm
– Mobile Site
03Hedge your bets
The mobile world is still evolving (at the speed of light sometimes), so offering brand interaction points for users on multiple carriers, hardware lines, etc. means you’ll have an opportunity to grow user bases with a few options, not just one. If your user base is active in different areas of the mobile web, use testing and analytics to find the most-efficient ways of interacting with those fans and fully realize the ways they like to interact with your brand in those areas.
04Usability over message delivery
While the end game is always creating brand awareness, the mobile world isn’t one where constant bombardment with messaging is very welcome. While yes, some users expect to see a number of marketing messages a day from their mobile devices, they will respond better to great brand experiences with engaging content and excellent usability. It’s been said that content is king, and that’s definitely true in the mobile environment where you’re working with a pretty tiny space (when compared to other mediums). Bring your ‘A game’ in design and usability of your mobile properties and your users will reward you by taking that community to the next level.
05Sometimes there isn’t an app for that
Of course app developers and interactive agencies want to create a custom-built app for you – that’s their job. What most won’t tell you is that many times those applications aren’t necessarily the best way to reach your audiences, let alone keep them engaged. Bring your brand experience to their palms in all you do in the mobile space, don’t rely solely on a application.
06Actually have a strategy
I know this should’ve gone first, but I’m a big fan of keeping you on your toes. Creating a well-thought strategy for understanding and working for your communities in the mobile space means a better chance at success. Don’t build an app because it’s the hot thing to do or go around changing all your content for the mobile web until you’ve got a plan. Then, once you do…
07Let it run
The average time for a new mobile trend to catch on is between 3-6 months… and that’s talking about actual trends that have become “something.” Remember that putting your new mobile content out there doesn’t guarantee instant traction, regardless of the size of your existing social communities. Plan for success and manage for shortcomings in a time period that’s doable for your program, then take time to evaluate and move forwarded as needed.
08Extending, not creating
Ask yourself this with every piece of your mobile campaign “are we extending the brand?” If you’re not extending the brand, but trying to create something else through your mobile efforts, you’ll more-than-likely be sitting in a conference room some time down the road talking about why your mobile efforts fell flat. Using applications, mobile-driven campaigns and ongoing programs to extend existing brand image and community should be the goal.
09Keep innovating
The mobile world is like the wild wild West right now – wide open. What is hot today will be luke warm tomorrow, so keep a finger on the pulse of the mobile world. This makes sense, right? Sure, everyone wants to keep up with the mobile world so they can keep up with competitors – WRONG. Keep up with trends in use among your publics to see what’s next and move in that direction (even try to get out in front if you’ve got the resources).
10Don’t be afraid to fail
There’s nothing wrong with failing once in a while. Some of the best ideas have come after colossal failures and you can always remember that even the highest-paid major league baseball playings are getting paid millions of dollars to succeed only about 4 out of 10 times (a lot less if you’re talking about the Mariners). This rule doesn’t just pertain to mobile, but I’m willing to bet that there were a hell of a lot of failtures before there were monumental successes in the mobile world. Also, so I’m on a cool visuals kick today, check out this ode to failure at Portland-based Wieden + Kennedy.
In the end…
Mobile strategy is constantly changing and anyone tasked with running this area of ongoing marketing efforts has a heck of a job ahead of them, not to mention a lot of sleepless nights. As with any new/reimagined area of marketing and advertising, the mobile space offers near-endless opportunity heavily guarded by near-fruitless endeavors. The ability to track, know, and see what’s next is probably the best set of abilities any one person or group can have – and even these are changing.
Bake (AKA Embed) Your Tweets and Eat Them Too
Thursday, May 13th, 2010Last week, Twitter released a new “hack” feature (http://media.twitter.com/blackbird-pie/) that allows tweets to be embedded in websites, blog posts, and so forth using html. No more screen grabs, no more cropping, no more image uploads.
Here’s what a few people are saying on Twitter, using the new feature of course:
http://twitter.com/adamwc/statuses/13383678914
Hey – check it out – I can embed Tweets now using Twitter’s Blackbird Pie. Awesome. http://media.twitter.com/blackbird-pie/ #fbless than a minute ago via Tweetie
Adam WC
adamwc
http://twitter.com/luigimontanez/statuses/13386076622
Cool idea, but incredibly long embed code: http://media.twitter.com/blackbird-pie/less than a minute ago via web
Luigi Montanez
LuigiMontanez
More important than your embed method of choice is how businesses can refer to and use tweets to complement their relationship building and branding efforts. What people say about brands is more important than what brands say about themselves, and thus embedding positive and even critical tweets can add value and create opportunities for genuine engagement.
If Twitter saw value in promoting its new feature, which it doesn’t need to, the company could do a Twitter Search (http://search.twitter.com/), find tweets that capture positive feedback like the former tweet above, and embed in a blog post to highlight what people have to say. Again, how people perceive Twitter and its features is more important than how Twitter perceives itself.
Embedding tweets voicing concern like the latter one above can (be selective and think it through) add value as well. For example, Twitter could capture tweets that critique the new feature (e.g. how it can be improved etc.), embed them in a blog post, and let their readers know that they’ll be addressing these and making updates accordingly. This would show that Twitter is listening, wants your feedback, and isn’t going to ignore it even if somewhat critical.
By embedding both positive and critical tweets when and where appropriate, companies can highlight positive perceptions of their product / service and likewise show that they’re addressing concerns head on.
Facebook’s Legitimacy Problems: Are You Who We Thought You Were?
Thursday, October 15th, 2009
A recent post outlined steps Facebook is taking in requiring page owners to prove their connections with the brands they represent on the ever-growing social networking site. What does this mean for agencies? What are the short-term and long-term impacts? How will this affect your brand? Let’s take a look.
Prove It
Facebook essentially is providing page owners three ways to verify that they in fact have rights to develop and maintain a brand page and they can be found here:
- Add a badge or Fan Box widget to your Website – This is simple, really and can be done by sending a bit of code to whoever is code monkeying your site. It also provides a great focal point for driving traffic to your Fan Page.
- Add an official e-mail address to your personal Facebook account that can be used to verify your affiliation with the brand (this can also be that of an authorized outside entity like PR, marketing, advertising agency, etc.) – This is easy if you’re a recognized agency, but a little harder if your roles are mostly behind the scenes.
- Add another admin who has a legit e-mail address – This is probably the easiest thing to do. Simply add your client contact to the admins of the page, giving you instant legitimacy.
The Agency
For agencies that are building and maintaining Fan Pages for brands in the Facebook environment, this could be a bit of a sticking point as they have to work out, with their client, the level of visibility they want to have as to who is actually doing the legwork. However, in most cases, a client contact is already (or should be) and admin of the page so they can not only lend their legitimate e-mail address, but also their watchful eye to the account.
The Short Term
In the short term, proving the authenticity of these pages is going to create a bit of extra work, but the short-term rewards greatly outweigh the time needed to get your stamp of approval (is there actually a stamp of approval?). Like with Twitter, brands have always been able to make a case for deleting unauthorized accounts based on copyright law, but now Facebook is taking that a step further and actually making it easier to drive out those pages which might be representing brands in a less-than-authentic fashion.
By simply claiming your brand pages and legitimizing them, you’re essentially eliminating those other pages and, in some cases, Facebook may fold those pages’ fans into your fan base, giving them a legitimate source of interaction on Facebook— and you a broader fan base— in one fell swoop.
The Long Term
Long term, this seems like a strategy by Facebook to not only cut down on clutter and misinformation within the Facebook environment, but also a move toward offering brands added benefits for operating within Facebook. Don’t be surprised if these Facebook Fan Pages start developing multiple levels of functionality and complexity based on dollars spent on Facebook Advertising and direct buys. The team at Facebook is smart enough to make a move when they see an opportunity like this.
Unanswered Questions
While this is still a new(ish) issue, Facebook needs to provide a bit more information around the topic of what this actually means for brands. Will verified pages show up higher in search results, regardless of fan base and searchability? What’s the lag time between reporting a brand page and action being taken to remove that page? What are the criteria for moving fans from a page that might not be verified to the verified Fan Page?
Hopefully we’ll have answers to those, as well as the mounting pile of questions that will undoubtedly come out of this shift.
Everybody’s Heard About the Word (of Mouth)
Tuesday, March 31st, 2009Word-of-mouth has been one of the strongest driving forces in the marketing world since- well, since there has been a marketing world. Create a happy customer or user experience and that person tells someone who tells someone else who tells their hairdresser and before you know it, your widget factory is in need of new space to keep up with the demand.
In today’s world where word-of-mouth is more often word-of-keyboard, how do we track and analyze these messages that are passed on, built up and broadcast?
Sure, you can use readily-available tools like search engines to comb the interwebs looking for mentions, tracking the story and seeing where it originated, but that takes time and time, my friends is money. That’s why, at Spring Creek Group, we work with, associate with, and generally pay attention to leading-edge companies that are solving those problems of tracking and analyzing the word of keyboard side to your online presence.
One of those groups of folks we always pay attention to are our old friends over at Meteor Solutions. Ben Straley, CEO of Meteor Solutions, was recently profiled in the Seattle Times. Here’s the nugget:
“Word-of-mouth is an organic activity. You can’t purchase it, for any price. When it occurs it can produce a fantastic boost for your brand.”
While you can’t buy word-of-mouth activity, you certainly can keep your finger on the pulse, and that’s what we do here. By keeping an eye on how a client’s messages are living on the social Web once they’ve cleared the press rooms, Spring Creek Group provides statistics and qualitative feedback that helps create and refine future marketing – ultimately, it’s money (and time) well spent.
Google Me, Baby
Thursday, February 26th, 2009
Everyone Googles. They were doing it before Merriam-Webster made it an official verb in 2006, with its addition to the dictionary. You can bet you’ll be Googled when applying for a job, bidding for a contract or even meeting someone for a date. That’s just the way the world works in the age of advanced search.
Designer Ji Lee, in his wacky world of design, (he’s the artist/designer who started the Bubble Project) took the inevitable and turned it into an idea for a minimalist business card. Where Patrick Bateman and his Pierce & Pierce cohorts compare shades of white and raised lettering, Lee’s card screams simply: Google me.
But, what if the recipient of the card does just that? What do they find?
Online reputation management (individual and company) is reaching new heights of importance with mouse cursors hovering over the search button. Are you ready? Is your company ready?
What if we Googled you right now? What would we find?
We know what our friends, clients and competitors find when they Google Spring Creek Group. Try it and find out for yourself.
(Original article at Geeksugar, syndicated on Gizmodo. Image from Please Enjoy)
Of Being and Twitterness: Can You Solve/Create an Existential Crisis in 140 Characters?
Tuesday, February 24th, 2009No one seems to know exactly why Twitter is so popular these days. Apparently though, the Times of London found some scholars that have taken notice of it, done a little research, and formed some not too positive opinions on everyone’s favorite micro-blogging service.
In a recap and analysis of these Twitter-focused studies, the gang at Valleywag points out that one prevailing theory is that the reason people use Twitter is because their sense of “the self” is not only woefully misguided, but also sadly underdeveloped.
The general breakdown of the studies mentioned is this: “You are not truly important. You think you are, and so you use Twitter to shoot off mundane messages about your daily life that reinforce your own inflated sense of self-worth. According to these folks, staying permanently connected with others reminds you are alive, providing you with a sort of “baby monitor” for your own existence. They don’t think this is a good thing.
So is using Twitter just a way for users to placate their egos? Or a way for us to commiserate with Ashton Kutcher about noisy neighbors? Or is the interaction provided by Twitter similar to most other interactions that people already have on a daily basis?
Did you go to Zoodango?
Friday, February 20th, 2009Well if you did, you did not see the Bachelor. Okay, maybe you did if you were able to stay into the late night hours – but we have to get up early and be productive here at Spring Creek Group.
That’s okay though, because fortunately we were still able to have a good time as we always enjoy eating, drinking and socializing – especially when it’s for a good cause. The launch party was attended by many local celebs and benefited the United Way.
It was quite the scene at the Ibiza Dinner Club – red carpet, photographers and a camera crew, which kept us all on our best behavior and looking quite smashing I must add. In addition to promoting the new local geo-search engine founded by James Sun (the guy from The Apprentice), the event also encouraged young people to get out and volunteer for charitable organizations like the United Way.
And of course, what’s a launch party/charity event without raffle drawings. In fact one of our own walked away with a pretty cool door prize – She won an authentic helmet signed by former Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren and a SeaGals calendar – which was later confiscated by one of our male employees.
To learn more about Zoodango check out zoodango.com. To learn more about volunteering visit The United Way.
Who Really Won the Big (Marketing) Game?
Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009According to Reprise Media, who just released their 5th annual Super Bowl Search Marketing Scorecard, there were a few ads that not only kept everyone entertained, but also seamlessly integrated themselves with online search marketing and social media.
One of the best in Reprise’s eyes was Cash4Gold.com, who used the universal appeal of Ed McMahon and MC Hammer’s golden parachute pants (as well as prominently featured URL’s) to drive searches to a corporate blog that featured imbedded YouTube videos for users to check out. Pepsi’s adoption of some well-known NBC characters in some of their spots, as well as their integration of Hulu.com and YouTube in others, was also deemed a success. E-Trade.com’s release of “viral video outtakes” through various social media channels prior to the actual airing of their ad did wonders to drum up interest and excitement in the spot.
While we agree for the most part with Reprise Media’s assessment of winners and losers, we’d like to nominate one more campaign to the list of effective and social media friendly Super Bowl advertisements.
Visible Technologies Rides the Wave (Report)
Friday, January 23rd, 2009We here at Spring Creek Group would like to extend a hearty “Congratulations!” to our friends and partners over at Visible Technologies on their rating as a “Strong Performer” in Forrester Research’s latest (and just released) Wave Report breaking down the strengths and weaknesses of various “Listening Platform” vendors.
The fact that this was the first year that Forrester Research decided to classify this particular category of vendor as “Listening Platforms” rather than its previous title, “Brand Monitoring,” speaks volumes to the fact that the market is really beginning to embrace just how important it is to use social media to not only monitor what’s being said, but also to directly engage with customers and become valued members of those conversations.
Although we’ve known about the goodness that is Visible Technologies long before we even officially partnered with them, it’s always a good feeling to know that other folks are starting to take notice as well.
Visible Technology’s press release on the subject can be found right here.
To get your hands on your very own copy of the Forrester Research Wave Report, you can download it here.
Visible Technologies and Spring Creek Group Partner to Deliver Robust Social Media Management and Engagement Solutions to Fortune 100 Clients
Wednesday, January 14th, 2009By BusinessWire
SEATTLE, BUSINESS WIRE –
Visible Technologies:
- Visible Technologies, an industry-leading provider of social media monitoring and engagement solutions, today announced a partnership with Spring Creek Group, an innovative online marketing agency. Spring Creek will offer its customers Visible Technologies’ social media analysis and engagement software platform, TruCast.
- The strategic alliance allows Spring Creek to extend the capabilities of its social media management (SMM) services by enabling clients to more accurately measure their online brand awareness and the effectiveness of their social media marketing programs.
- By deploying proven SMM methodologies and leveraging robust technology tools like TruCast, Spring Creek gives clients such as Microsoft the ability to track relevant brand conversations online, gain actionable marketing intelligence and engage with the social media communities that matter most to their brand.
- Spring Creek Group is an innovative online marketing agency that helps companies of all sizes improve brand awareness and increase site traffic through social media-based online marketing methods. Spring Creek helps brands connect with their customers via innovative social media marketing programs such as branded online communities, blogs and social networks that result in higher brand awareness, increased sales and deeper customer loyalty.
- Visible Technologies provides brands, including Microsoft, Panasonic and Hormel, the ability to bolster brand reputation, build revenue and measure the success of social media engagement. The company’s TruCast2.0 social media monitoring and engagement platform launched in May 2008.
QUOTES
- ‘Engaging with social media is not an option for marketers today ‘ it’s an imperative. Consumers are using social media like blogs, consumer-generated reviews and social networks to compare our products and determine what other people are saying about them. Working with Spring Creek Group and using Visible Technologies’ TruCast platform, we’re able to create social media marketing programs that actively engage customers in a dialogue with one another, and then track and measure the effectiveness of these programs to drive sales and build brand value.’ – Marty Collins, Microsoft Group Marketing Manager, Windows Interactive and Digital Marketing
- ‘Over the past 18 months we have been building our relationship with Spring Creek Group, working in concert with them to help industry-leading clients like Microsoft achieve their marketing objectives through effective social media monitoring, measurement and engagement.We look forward to replicating this success with current and future clients.’ ‘ Blake Cahill, senior vice president of marketing, Visible Technologies
- ‘Our partnership with Visible Technologies has proven to be a huge success helping companies like Microsoft launch, measure and optimize social marketing programs to achieve real business results. The TruCast software platform strengthens our established social media management methodology by allowing brands to easily monitor and track millions of simultaneous online conversations, articles and posts.’ ‘ Clay McDaniel, co-founder and principal of Spring Creek Group
SUPPORTING RESOURCES
- Listen to Marty Collins, Microsoft Group Marketing Manager, comment on TruCast
- Spring Creek Group
- Spring Creek Group Blog
- Visible Technologies
- TruCast
- VisInsightsBlog
About Visible Technologies
Visible Technologies helps companies listen and learn what consumers are saying about them online, and it enables brands to participate in the right conversations with the right influencers at the right time. With this real-time business insight and response, companies build relationships with customers, bolster their brands and grow revenue. Its innovative TruCast platform is the industry’s first complete solution for social media analysis and participation. Visible Technologies also helps brands and individuals manage and protect their online reputations with the powerful TruView’ search engine solution. For more information, go to http://www.visibletechnologies.com, or follow the blog at http://www.visinsights.com.
About Spring Creek Group
Spring Creek Group is an innovative online marketing agency that helps companies of all sizes improve brand awareness, increase sales, and drive site traffic through social media-based online marketing. Spring Creek Group is made up of experienced, skilled, and results-oriented online marketers with a passion for using the most innovative marketing tactics ‘ including branded communities, interactive content, and next-generation social networking’ to drive measurable business results. Members of Spring Creek Group draw on deep e-commerce and online marketing experience at companies such as RealNetworks, Microsoft, Amazon, Judy’s Book.com, Salton, and Disney Internet Group. The company’s clients include both local growing companies and nationally established industry leaders like Microsoft, Corbis and Paramount Farms. For more information, visit www.springcreekgroup.com www.springcreekgroup.com.
