Posts Tagged ‘seattle’
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.
SCG Out on the Town – TechFlash LIVE: Women in Tech
Monday, October 26th, 2009
A few SCG team members will be attending the first of its kind TechFlash LIVE: Women in Tech event this Wednesday evening at the W Hotel in Seattle. We’re looking forward to hearing a great line-up of panelists coming from a variety of technology fields, as well as meeting other women and leaders in the tech community.
We also can’t wait to see some of our friends and partners, including panel presenter Trish Dziko, executive director of the Technology Access Foundation – one of our key not-for-profit partners here at SCG, and several more women with whom we have worked closely in our marketing programs.
The Women in Tech initiative is something we strongly support, and we always enjoy attending local industry-related events. We hope to see you there!
For additional details visit http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/event/9691.
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.
Non-Profits We Like: Technology Access Foundation
Wednesday, March 25th, 2009Yesterday morning, the SCG team attended the 8th annual fundraising breakfast for one of our favorite non-profits, the Technology Access Foundation. TAF is an organization that was founded with a mission “to give children of color the tools to be inventors and creators of technology.” TAF exists side by side with educational resources that are already in place, and work to connect technological resources and education to those that need it most.
Aside from this breakfast serving as a way for donors to get to better understand the services that TAF provides, it also gave us a chance to listen to and meet some former TAF students and hear their success stories firsthand. There were several great speeches, including one memorable enough to serve as the introduction to a TAF-focused editorial in The Seattle Times.
The Technology Access Foundation is a wonderful organization, one that we couldn’t be prouder to be associated with. With educational budgets being slashed left and right, it’s good to know that there are groups like this dedicated to provide those resources to students, resources that otherwise might not be available. That’s also why it’s so important for the community to help them out.
Make sure you check out the Technology Access Foundation’s website to learn more about how you can help.
Good to SMC You Last Night
Wednesday, March 25th, 2009Another Social Media Club Seattle event, another great evening of networking and hanging out with like-minded, interesting people. Last night, a few of the SCG crew team rubbed elbows with Seattle’s social media movers and shakers at Capitol Hill’s Sole Repair Shop as H&R Block hosted the latest SMC Seattle event.
I know it was promised that @ronschott and @jeffdaviscourt would be working the door, but our services weren’t needed. A shame really, as we had already taken our SECURITY shirts out of their boxes and watched a security training video in preparation.
For full-bodied rundown of the event, click over to SMC Seattle’s blog. Thanks for the good times, great people and cold drinks. Hope to see you all at the next event.
Valuable PR Insights from Communique PR
Tuesday, March 24th, 2009We want to congratulate our friends Colleen Moffitt and Jennifer Gehrt at Communique PR for the launch of their practical and entertaining book, Strategic Public Relations: 10 Principles to Harness the Power of PR.
As Social Media Professionals will attest, simply taking a tactical approach to public relations is a waste of time and money, and effective PR is much more than just the development and distribution of a press release. Colleen and Jennifer provide 10 guiding principles to enhancing PR programs, and include stories and examples from Nike, Starbucks, Linden Lab (developer of Second Life) Alaska Airlines, Clearwire, Seattle Children’s Hospital, Cranium and Big Fish Games.
We hope you will check it out. We’re already waiting for the sequel.
SCG Out on the Town: In Which Spring Creek Group Discovers Its Love for Drew Carey
Friday, March 20th, 2009It’s been a tough time for sports in Seattle, but last night marked the start of something refreshingly great. Yesterday was the inaugural game for Seattle’s professional soccer (FOR BRITISH PEOPLE, “football”) team, Seattle Sounders FC. We here at Spring Creek Group, being fans of organized sports, yelling, and beer, were of course in attendance. Part-owner of the Sounders and full-time Bob Barker replacement Drew Carey kicked off the event with a rousing keynote address.
That is but one picture of the evening, but let us assure you, the following events happened: 1) The game resulted in a 3-0 (“THREE – NIL,” British people) Sounders victory. 2) The SCG Team had a wonderful and memorable evening. 3) An unfortunately headlined newspaper recap was written.
Welcome to Seattle, Sounders FC.
Associations
Monday, March 16th, 2009About Us
Our Team | Press | Philosophy | Ethics | Partners | Associations | Jobs
Soccer Mom Wisdom: Don’t Forget Your Scarf
Thursday, March 5th, 2009
In a city that’s seen its up and downs in sporting the last few years (mainly downs), a bright light is on the horizon – and it may or may not be the near-neon green of the new Seattle Sounders FC home kits.
As part of the build up to the opener against the New York Red Bulls on March 19, our friends over at Wexley School for Girls mounted a local awareness campaign that’s gaining some great attention and decorating our fair city.
So, if you’re out and about and see a scarf hanging off a tree, lamp post, bench, statue, or railing, say a little thanks to the team over at Wexley and start gearing up for March 19.
See you at kickoff.
About Us
Thursday, February 19th, 2009About Us
Our Team | Press | Philosophy | Ethics | Partners | Associations | Jobs
Spring Creek Group is a rapidly growing Social Media Brand Analytics, Strategy, and Marketing Services Agency located in the Emerald City – Seattle Washington. We are comprised of passionate and experienced marketing professionals, and we employ subject matter experts in all of the major categories of the social media Web.
Spring Creek Group attends and speaks at a range of events. Find out more on our press page.
Clay McDaniel,
Managing Director and Founder
Clay brings more than 10 years experience in consumer product and services management, new product development, and technology marketing to the Spring Creek Group team.
Prior to co-founding Spring Creek Group, Clay was the Senior Director of Product Management for RealArcade, the rapidly-growing casual games consumer digital media business at RealNetworks, Inc. Clay joined RealNetworks after 2 years at Microsoft, where he helped launch Windows XP in 2001 and drove national retail and online marketing plans for the company’s flagship operating system software product. Before moving to Seattle in 2001, Clay worked as a Product Manager for enterprise “middleware” software pioneer Vitria Technology; as a Corporate Business Development lead at the Whitney Museum of American Art; and as a technology project Consultant for the retail and telecommunications sectors at Deloitte Consulting.
Clay holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and an AB in Economics from Princeton University.
Clay also speaks at a wide range of social media and marketing events. You can find out about them on our press page.
Our Team
Our team at Spring Creek Group consists of a growing group of Project Leads, Analytics & Measurement Leads, and Engagement Leads. Our titles don’t map to traditional marketing and advertising agencies, because our services and business model are quite a bit different than typical agencies. We are organized from the ground up to focus on our clients’ needs and driving brand insights and awareness in the social media channel.
