Word Marketing Blog

What I Learned from My Internship

Well, this is it. The summer is coming to an end and I am finishing up my internship here at Word Marketing. I’ve been learning so much over the last three months since I started that in a way it still feels like I just got here. But before I go, I just want to take a few moments to reflect on my experience and talk a little about how some of my initial expectations differed from the real deal.

First off, marketing isn’t all about thinking up commercials and new advertising campaigns. There is so much more to it than that. It’s also about keeping the consumer engaged with your company or brand in a way that inspires trust and commitment. Everyday I was put in charge of updating a client’s social media pages with related bits of news and advice. At first glance it would seem like this is no big deal. I mean, most people probably don’t even bother to read any of the articles that I would link to the messages. That’s not the point. The point is that everyday or whenever they log on, they see the brand. They see that it is legitimate. They see that it is knowledgeable. Consumers can relate to that because everyone likes to see themselves as legitimate and knowledgeable. And when those consumers decide they are in need of that type of product or service, their first choice will be the brand that they perceive to know and trust, even if they’ve never even tried it before.

Secondly, I learned that writing is really only a small part of what advertising agencies do. There are so many other services offered and things to participate in such as brainstorm meetings, commercial shoots, and plenty of research. Anything that a client wants to do to promote their business, we would help with. From looking up phone numbers to finding toys to put into gift bags, we had it covered. It’s definitely a fast paced environment.

I would say I am certainly pleased with the experience I’ve gained from working here (especially when it comes to press releases) and I without question I will be able to use it in the future with whatever it is I end up doing. 

Facebook is Number One; It's Time to Embrace It

Anyone who knows even just a little bit about the Internet knows that Google has long been king. The web giant holds over 60 percent market share among search engines, and has been the number one website for years.

But something happened last week. For the first time in a long time, Google got beat.  It was by none other than Facebook.

Love it or hate it (and there are those that do hate it), Facebook isn't just where the world is going; it's where it is.  Facebook is no longer just a place where friends go to keep in touch with one another; it is where business people go to network and businesses go to keep in touch with their customers.

Where business communities used to get together at networking events and exchange stories, they are now being shared in real time online. Businesses are talking to your customers, and your customers are talking back to them. In a fast paced business world where information and engagement are vital, to not be on Facebook is to be out of the loop.

For those who haven't yet embraced Facebook, now is the time. If you are in the business community and haven't yet devised a social media strategy for yourself and/or your business, it's time to get started right away.

Social media (and Facebook) isn't the next big thing; it is the big thing. There is no way of knowing how long the social media revolution will last, and where consumers will frequent in the future, but there is no doubt where they are today.

Are you with them?

5 Steps to Building Your Social Media Platform

Social media is a way to build your brand, build customer relationships, gain referrals and more.

According to eMarketer Daily:

• More than one-half of Facebook fans and Twitter followers say following brands has increased their willingness to purchase and recommend them to friends
• Fortune 500 companies are slowly buy steadily taking up activities such as Twitter and blogging
• Marketers are spending more money on social media and planning to continue the pattern

If you haven;t yet started building a social media platform for your business, here are the five steps that will get you started:

1. Strategy - first answer the question "why do you need a social platform and what do you want to accomplish?" (keep customers informed, promote your brand, recruit, solicit customer feedback, etc.)
2. Planning - decide how you will execute the platform in order to meet your strategic goals
3. Organization - determine, based on strategy and company personality, the right mix of posting types, how often you will post and where you will get your content
4. Design - make sure your logo, photos, name and other aspects of your platform are high-quality, aesthetically pleasing and consistent with your brand; social media is part of your brand experience, so it's important to do it well and get it right
5. Posting - ensure postings are consistent and interactive; it's called "social" media, so it's essential you incorporate a social aspect that is not always all about you or your business

Social media is a great marketing tool with a high return on investment when done correctly, and can mean significant gains for your business.

The Value of Networks (Reed's Law)

If you want to truly understand the power of Social Media and Social Networking, you must first understand the value of building networks.

In my previous posts on the subject of The Law of Networks, we have covered Sarnoff's Law and Metcalfe's Law.

Computer Scientist David P. Reed, a renowned expert in the area of computer networking also conceived a law in the area of networks. Reed's Law, also called "The Law of the Pack" says that the value of the network grows more powerfully that either Sarnoff or Mecalfe would suggest through the formation of groups (which in turn give rise to communities) and the interconnections between them.

Compared with a network of 10 people, a network of 100 people that can talk not only with each other as they would under Metcalfe but also within groups of people is 2 raised to the 90th power. 290.

Reed's Law totally utilizes and leverages social capital on the net to maximize potential not seen before with networks built using Sarnoff's Law or Metcalfe's Law.

Under Sarnoff's Law, think TV, Radio, and most large centrally managed websites. The gain in value by attracting 10 times the unique members is 10X.

Now, consider your personal e-mail or your mobile phone which operate on bidirectional networks. I can talk to you while you talk to me and while Kelli talks to Anna. These networks follow Metcalfe, a tenfold member increase boosts their value by a factor of 100 compared to what it would have been for a simple one-way broadcast-style network.

Reed's Law adds an additional layer: groups.

Reed's Law speaks to the impact on network value by recognizing and supporting groups of members. This is the incredible power and value of social networks and social networking.

The Value of Networks (Metcalfe's Law)

If you want to truly understand the power of Social Media and Social Networking, you must first understand the value of building networks.

In my previous post, I explained the value of networks by using Sarnoff's Law.

In understanding each of these laws, the value of networks increase.

Metcalfe's Law was developed by Robert Metcalfe, a distinguished graduate of MIT and co-inventor of Ethernet and founder of 3Com.

Robert Metcalfe determined that networks that support communications between members, rather than as in Sarnoff's Law (one source to many), the value of the network grows as the square of the number of users. Now in this hypothesis, people can talk in both directions, and with more conversations occurring simultaneously.

Examples of Metcalfe's Law would include: A telephone, basic internet (email, not email groups). Essentially Metcalfe's Law states that a network of 100 people is roughly 100 times as valuable as a network of only 10 people.

Google Fiber Will Completely Change How We Consume Media

The Google fiber initiative is whipping communities and technology buffs into a frenzy. City officials and economic development types across the country are scrambling to put together solid responses to Google's Request for Information, all in an effort to persuade Google to choose their community as a test market for their experimental fiber optic network. Everyday citizens are coming together on Facebook pages to show their support for those efforts, including those of us here in Columbia, MO, where our Facebook page has over 4,000 fans as of this posting.

As Google's (or another company's) efforts ultimately become successful, we can't even begin to imagine the benefits that broadband speeds that are 100 times faster will bring. Dreamers will dream, and businesses will innovate. One thing that is certain is that it will completely change the way we consume media.

We are already seeing traditional media bypassed through YouTube and web-only channels, but most people are simply watching this content on their computers and not on televisions. The lack of quality in which these videos stream live on a big screen makes watching them undesirable.

Televisions are already being connected to the Internet, however, and faster Internet speeds will encourage that practice that much more. As we start depending on the Internet to deliver channels to us, and not cable and satellite, we'll start seeing more web applications that are specifically designed for television viewers.

We'll start watching content that would have never been picked up by traditional media outlets in the past, but that is now available simply because someone had an idea and the camera crew to pull it off.

We'll interact with our television shows more, through live streaming social media feeds that you can watch (and comment on) as the shows you are watching play live. (CNN recently did this online during President Barack Obama's State of the Union address).

Traditional television channels who fail to innovate will be cast aside. Those who do will thrive, along with new media options that do not exist today. How things will look 5 years from now are anyone's guess, but there has never been a more exciting time to be a media consumer.

Word of the Year 2009

Words are powerful.

They are communication containers of thoughts and feelings.Rudyard Kipling said that "words are the most powerful drug ever used by mankind."

I was reading a book on culture night before last and the author had a list of things which contribute to the establishment, culture and maintenance of a nation. These characteristics must be established and maintained for a nation to be maintained. His list is:

• Land and Territory
• Culture (Ideals)
• Values (standards the people live to)
• Language (common form of communication)

Language creates national unity. Language is the arranging of the communication containers we call words into streams of discernible ideas. Words and language are constantly evolving and changing. Over time, we manipulate the words and alter the language. Periods of history and events contribute to this also. "Gotta give props to you" would mean nothing to the person living in the 1940's. Why? Because "gotta give props to you is created in the future." Slang from the 1940's makes sense to us today. Words like "gobbledegook", "city slicker", "easy money", and "old hat" are common to us now because they were created in the past.

Our world is changing constantly as new technologies and forms of communication are being invented and utilized. In 2004, the word of the year was "blog".Last year, it was "overshare". Facebook has changed us in ways we won;t understand for a few years. Social media is having a tremendous impact on our lives. Some embrace it, some shun it, some are in denial.

The word of the year for this year according to Merriam-Webster? "Unfriend". The act of deleting or removing someone as a friend on a social networking site such as Facebook. Also in the running were "netbook", "hashtag" and "sexting".

Welcome to our language, "unfriend".

Isn't that an oxymoron?

 

It's a community, not a commune

More and more people over the age of 30 are discovering Social Media. Just last week a bunch of my high school friends all flocked to a post started by someone on their Facebook page about how they missed high school and all the things that went with it. Almost 50 of my old buddies posted memories, comments and jabs about the school, teachers and times. All of these people are over 40.

If you are over 40 and you mention "online community", be careful not to let your mind think of "communes" as they were in the 60's and 70's. Communes of these decades were typically counter-culture and hippie oriented.

An online community is a bunch of people interacting together. They interact via communication media such as newsletters, e-mail, IM and Social Media. Even though some of my friends had not seen me and maybe not even each other in over a decade or more, through our previous association, we were magically brought back together as an online community through the technology of Social Media.

Your Facebook friend roster is an online community, and if you are a user, you are part of all of their online communities. As Mr. Spock says, "Fascinating".

In online communities, some people stay low, preferring to be an observer, some are just beginning to engage and others are constantly adding value, while others are just adding while working out frustration of not being able to share before, they share too much, I guess we could call this ITMI (internet too much info).

Some people leave. Can you believe it? Some people will actually stop following you on Twitter or de-friend you on Facebook? Yes, they will. They are either annoyed or just disinterested. Hey, some people's interests change.Maybe the new wore off or they just don't want to make time for you anymore. They don't see the same value or participation in the community as you do.

As I told a client a while back, this is the way the world is going, will you go with it?

Communities are about connection.

A conversation leads to a connection and that connection is community.

The Social Media Question

So, are you ready to schuck all your traditional media because Social Media is now all the rage?

You might want to back up just a tad.

Lately I've heard conversations going on from managers, business owners and such that include concerns about "my ad agency does a pretty good job with my traditional advertising, but what about social media"?

In my humble view, your social media strategy should be part of your marketing and communications strategy.  I do not believe that social media should live in it's own silo.  A solid marketing department or agency will understand social media at its core and will work to involve the benefits into the overall strategy.  It's only a matter of time until the many opportunistic social media shops will either be weeded-out or acquired into larger entities.

Tweeting Men

In recent studies, women have been the prevailing dominant users of social media. In a surprise, according to a recent Harvard Business School study, men may be the driving force behind Twitter.

Women actually comprise a higher percentage of the users on Twitter (55%), men actually have more followers (15%). Even though they tweet about the same amount each day, an average man is more likely to follow another man than a woman.  A woman is 25% more likely to follow a man than a woman and the average man is 40% more likely to be followed by another man than by a woman.

Recently, Inside Facebook reported that most of the online social activity focused around women, and men follow content produced by women they know and do not know. Generally, men receive little attention from other men or women.

So there's around 300,000 Twitter users now and about 80% follow or are followed by at least one user. In other social network mediums, only about 60-65% of users have at least one friend. All you really have to do is do a search for one of your friends on Facebook, when the matches come up, look at all the people signed up under that name which have no friends connected to them.

Many people sign up for Facebook because someone has pictures they want to see and then they never use the Facebook account again.

Some other interesting things the study revealed is that Twitter’s usage patterns differ significantly from typical online social networks, where individual users tend to make more per-person contributions. On the other hand, a typical Twitter user contributes very rarely. Among Twitter users, the median number of lifetime tweets per user is one. This translates into over half of Twitter users tweeting less than once every 74 days.

Twitter helps me keep my Facebook status updates concise, since Twitter "tweets" can only be 140 characters long. I update both Twitter and Facebook simultaneously using Tweetdeck. We also use Twitter for business purposes by direct messaging each other using tweets rather than calling cell phones or texting. It's handy.