John Porcaro

20 Tips to Start Marketing with Twitter

John Porcaro — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 23:17:00 +0100

Earlier today, I had a conversation with someone working with a small business to put together a marketing plan. She expressed some question about Twitter, and wondered how to get started using Twitter for marketing. While Twitter may seem like a more-frenzied version of the Facebook news feed, it can play an important role in participating in conversations about your brand, or raising awareness for your product or services. Here are 20 tips to help you get started marketing with Twitter. Journalists, industry pundits, celebrity and sports fans all love Twitter for its access to instant news. The people you care about are probably paying attention to Twitter. Get started! Create meaningful content that people will want to share. ReTweets (RTs) are good, but original content is so much better. Prepare to tweet 2-5X daily. Any less, and your tweets might not be seen. Upload a profile photo and create an image for the background of your Twitter Page. Nothing says “ignore me” like the Twitter Egg. Link to photos or videos to have them appear on your Twitter Landing Page. Do your recent images support your brand or tell a story? Use HootSuite or TweetDeck to manage multiple search words, hashtags, or accounts. Learn the Twitter lingo: RT, via, FF, DM, #, ^. Be sure to use #hashtags as often as possible. People follow #hashtags like they follow accounts. Many of the people you follow are watching who follows them, and will follow you back. Follow liberally. RT and mention others liberally. Many of those you mention will follow you back or reciprocate a RT. Make sure your mentions are relevant, or you’ll be seen as a spammer. When you post something that would be appropriate as part of an ongoing conversation someone is having, tag them in your tweet. It will appear on their Twitter Page, and they’ll see it in their “mentions.” Good to grow your audience, but don’t spam people. When you start a tweet with “@”, only those that follow you both will see it in their Twitter feed. However, it will show up on your Twitter Page. If you want all of your followers to see it, don’t start a Tweet with “@”—many use a “.” before an “@” followed by text. Make sure your tweets are short enough for someone to RT without an edit. Leave 10-20 characters free. Tweets with links get RT’d more than tweets without links. Give your followers something to click if they want more information. Say thanks for people RTing/linking/following. It’s polite, and they may thank you by following or RTing you more often. Find and follow influencers in your community and RT/share their content. You’ll show up on their radar that way. Participate in conversations happening online, and be sure to ADD VALUE. For Twitter analytics, try HootSuite, TwitterCounter, or TwentyFeet--all have free options. TweetReach will allow you to see how far your brand reaches for past few days. Free and low-cost reports available. Use a link-shortener. I like ow.ly, because it’s free, and because it’s so integrated into HootSuite. Twitter can be a great tool for marketers, whether your business is global, or just getting started. Jump in! What tips would you give someone contemplating Twitter?

What's the Fuss About Pinterest?

John Porcaro — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:19:00 +0100

Lately, Pinterest has been getting a lot of attention. Apart from gaining its 10 millionth user, it’s the new darling in the social media scene. Before passing it off as just another sharing site, consider this: Pinterest is driving more traffic referrals than Google+ Unique visitors to Pinterest increased 429% from Sept to Dec 2011 Referral traffic to 5 specialty retailers rose 389% from July to Dec 2011. For more interesting information, see Monetate’s Infographic “Is Pinterest the Next Social Commerce Game Changer?” Several brands are already using Pinterest. Food Network posts recipes and encourages their followers to share their ideas. ModCloth features women’s clothing, but also has boards related to style and trends. AARP has boards with quotes, ideas for good health, and “Movies for Grownups.” Whole Foods has lots of food ideas, plus holiday decorating tips, gift ideas, and ideas for your kitchen or garden. Oreck has boards they share that feature stunning floors, furry friends, and tips for the home. GE has archive photos, quotes from geniuses, and “Badass Machines.” SocialMediaToday recently published 100+ Brands on Pinterest. Social Media is so much more than maintaining a presence on Twitter or Facebook. How can you engage with your customer in ways that they engage with their friends? What can you provide that makes the conversation richer? For many brands, Pinterest is just one more way to stay relevant.

One Percent of Facebook Fans Engage with Brands

John Porcaro — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:14:00 +0100

Advertising Age published the results of a study conducted by the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute, that shows that only 1% of Facebook ‘Fans’ actually engage in meaningful ways with brands. According to the AdAge: Researchers for the institute looked at this metric as a proportion of overall fan growth of the top 200 brands on Facebook over a six-week period back in October and they found the percentage of People Talking About This to overall fans to be 1.3%. Does this sound the death-knell of corporate involvement with social media? Not at all. People engaging is a very proactive thing for a customer to do. It certainly requires more than simply opening an email or seeing a page with a banner ad on it. It goes beyond even clicking on a link. The research firm used “People Talking About This,” a measure that Facebook began using recently to allow pages to see how many people are proactively sharing, commenting, liking, or otherwise creating a story about you that their friends might see in their newsfeed. A key goal of your messaging is to have it seen and understood. Just like traditional “reach,” having your message appear to your fans on Facebook can be extremely valuable, and shouldn’t be discounted. Even though it’s a small percentage of your fan base, having fans who share your content can go a long way. Social media channels like Facebook give brands the opportunity to have their fans share brand messaging with their friends, something that’s difficult to do other ways. Brands should be clear about how much effort should go into encouraging fans to share content, and be realistic that it’s going to be a small percentage. Overall, it’s still better for brands to focus on reach rather than engagement. If you’re posting often, and you focus on providing useful content, your message will be seen by your fan base. And of course, the more engaging and interesting and useful your posts are, the more your advocates will be compelled to share.

Trust Grows in Social Media and Among Peers

John Porcaro — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 22:27:00 +0100

I look forward to Edelman’s Trust Barometer every year, where the PR giant surveys people around the world to determine whom they trust among businesses, governments, media, and NGOs. I found two things particularly surprising in this year's results, just released: Trust in Social Media rose 75%, and Trust in People Like Me rose 22% (while trust in a CEO fell 12%). Trust in Social Media The numbers of people that trust information they find within social media channels are fairly low--especially compared to Traditional Media--but the growth from 8% to 14% is remarkable. I don't think it's because people have more trust the medium itself. Rather, it’s because companies are taking social media channels more seriously. As companies dedicate resources to maintain a presence within social channels, and work to interact in ways that provide value, the information is seen as credible by fans and followers. Rather than using social media channels as just another way to broadcast information, brands are participating in conversations, listening to feedback, and making changes to the way they interact with customers. Trust in People Like Me In a relatively short time, there has been a massive shift in whom customers find credible. Just a year ago, 50% of people said they trust a CEO of a company, but only 43% would trust someone like themselves, and only 34% would trust a regular employee. Today, 38% of people trust a CEO, 50% trust a regular employee, and 65% trust someone like themselves. The change comes as people feel more comfortable sharing experiences about brands and products, and as carefully-crafted messaging coming from corporate headquarters comes across as inauthentic. The rise of social media as a way for people to share information about brands and products will drive more changes like these. Brands that make the investment to participate fully in social media channels see the benefits of greater trust among their customers, and greater evangelism among their brand advocates.

What Makes a Great Company?

John Porcaro — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 19:37:00 +0100

At the beginning of the year, a lot of employees are working through annual reviews and contemplating their careers. I’ve noticed there have been a lot of posts about what makes a particular company a great place to work. In 2011, Seattle Met Magazine named Metia one of the Top 20 Places to Work (and Play) in Seattle. So what makes a great place to work? Of course there are things that someone will naturally consider: competitive salaries, generous benefits, vacation and paid holidays, and annual bonuses. But beyond that, there are intangibles that can be just as important. Strong relationships built on trust, a culture of collaboration and innovation, and supportive co-workers are all extremely important. And ultimately, they lead to more productive and engaged employees. Gallup Management Journal reports that one of the dimensions for engaged employees is “having a best friend at work.” This may be surprising, but it points to the culture that a company can have. Do you have co-workers that trust each other? Do you enjoy the thought of heading into work because your friends are there? I consider myself lucky to be part of an agency where everyone I work with is focused on helping each other be great. Many of our projects are collaborative by nature—they require experts in account management, project management, design, development, testing, writing, analytics, and other consulting projects. The interaction we have makes our projects more creative, and makes everyone more efficient. And it makes being at work more pleasant, and a lot more fun. Even though the interactions we share while working on a project for a client may not be evident, we hope that they all have a sense that we love what we do, and we give it our best.

Social Media is More than Facebook and Twitter

John Porcaro — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 20:20:00 +0100

I was having a conversation with a colleague here at Metia recently, where he brought up a point that's hard to argue: Social Media is more than just Facebook and Twitter. While it may seem obvious, it's worth thinking about. Social Media, by its very definition, is about the Medium--and the medium is really only the vehicle that allows, or merely amplifies a social behavior. Social without Media still occurs, in the form of face-to-face word of mouth. Media without Social is simply a broadcast: one-way communication from a brand to its customer. By limiting the discussion of social media to Facebook and Twitter, we leave out every other social-sharing tool out there, including the other two "biggies:" YouTube and LinkedIn. You'll also leave out Google+, Flickr, FourSquare, Digg, StumbleUpon, Tumblr, Evite, Pandora, Spotify, Ask, and all kinds of blogs, forums, community sites, and even email and IM. Maybe it's outside of the scope of "media," but it's also important to remember that social sharing is still done the old fashioned way: word of mouth. Entrepreneur Magazine recently reported on a study done by Keller-Fay, that found that 91 percent of respondents' information about brands came as a result of face-to-face conversations or over the phone. Just seven percent of word-of-mouth conversations about brands occurs online. Marketers focusing only on Facebook and Twitter should re-think their definition of word of mouth marketing. I like the definition by the Word of Mouth Marketing Association: "WOMM - Any business action that earns a customer recommendation." You're doing word of mouth marketing whenever you do the following: Deliver better products and services Provide a great customer experience Follow through on excellent customer service Use advertising to create awareness and appreciation Mobilize brand advocates Engage with customers through social media How is your marketing earning a customer recommendation? http://www.facebook.com/MetiaSeattle

Top Ten Social Surprises of 2011

John Porcaro — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 20:56:00 +0100

2011 was a year of Social Surprises. From the land rush of Google+ to the meteoric rise and fall of Charlie Sheen. So what made this year so full of fun? Here is my list: 2011 Top 10 Social Surprises Charlie Sheen.March 2011: The world watched in awe as Charlie Sheen imploded, then exploded, and with the help of #tigerblood and Twitter captured everyone's attention like a deer-in-the-headlights-car-wreck. 5.4 million Twitter followers and 1.8 million Facebook fans have undoubtedly shared their opinions about the former Two and a Half Men with you personally. And even now, in December 2011, AOL reports that Charlie Sheen remains the top-searched celebrity on their service. #winning. Google+.If you didn't get your Google+ account within days of the June 28, 2011 launch, you no doubt got it soon thereafter. The site garnered more media attention than any other high-tech launch, and in just two weeks, had 10 million members. In four weeks, that grew to 25 million members, and currently has around 40 million users. Some are heralding Google+ as a success, and others are calling it another in the string of social media failures launched by Google (remember orkut, Google Friend Connect or Google Buzz?). Facebook Changes. Facebook rolled out some pretty significant changes this year. While some like Timeline are still coming, others have made their way into the zeitgeist of our Facebook experience. It seems like only yesterday that the Stream was rolled out, to furious users. With Google+ chomping away at Facebook's lead, they made some positive changes to Lists, adding additional privacy, and enhancing features like Photos, Subscriptions, and video chat. At the end of the year, it seems that Facebook is earning its reputation as the place most Americans visit online. Groupon's IPO. Okay, to be fair, GroupOn was in a "quiet period," the weeks after an IPO that they're not allowed to say anything that would affect the stock price. But in the weeks leading up to this Christmas, there's concern that online "deals" have become commonplace, and there's not much of a competitive advantage for GroupOn, compared to rivals LivingSocial, Google Offers, Eversave, Bloomspot, DealFind, FatWallet, LevelUp, and a bunch more. Businesses are finding that the loss leading deals aren't attracting the right kind of customers, and customers are becoming so used to the deals that they won't pay retail prices for things they know they can get deals on. Currently, GroupOn stock is trading below its initial public offering price, not a good sign of things to come. Email Lives On. Email is dead! Long live email! Despite the fact that email has been predicted to die much more quickly than it has, email remains a cornerstone of online activity. In August, Pew Research released the results of a survey of Internet users that shows that search and email remain the most popular activities online. A couple of things are striking: Email and Search are holding steady, despite those that think social media is leading to their demise. At the same time, Social Media continues its meteoric rise. Facebook Places goes nowhere. At the beginning of the year, there were predictions that Foursquare would be eclipsed by Facebook Places. But in August, Facebook announced that it was quietly killing the feature. Maybe killing is a strong word. The feature has evolved to be the way you tag an activity in Facebook, allowing users to say where they are, who they're with, along with what they're doing. In a surprising move, Facebook recently hired the team behind Gowalla, but didn't acquire the technology. Gowalla announced that they're shutting the service down in January 2012. Nutella. For the life of me, I still can't figure out why Nutella is in the Top 20 Brand Facebook Pages. I understand why Coca-Cola has 36 million fans, Disney is creeping up on 30 million fans, and Starbucks has 26 million fans. But it's still hard to guess why Nutella has 11.8 million fans. A few months ago, they finally began paying attention to their Facebook Page. They averaged a few posts a month until recently, and began to pick up the pace in August, but they remained one of the top brands on Facebook. Don't get me wrong. The stuff rocks. My daughter eats it like it's, well, Nutella. But for those who offer social media advice to brands, the only explanation is that a great product with a loyal customer base can do a lot of word of mouth marketing with or without the help of the brand. Arab Spring. The social unrest in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain,Syria, and Yemen, are all being fueled by the pervasive use of social media. Never before in history have people been able to work together to enact social change. It's true. The world is flat. Infographics. Ivan Cash did this topic justice, when he published the "Infographic of Infographics." Or if you're like Phil Gyford or ThinkBrilliant, you might just think it's a bit too much. Do you agree with VentureBeat, that " Infographics have jumped the shark?" Ya, me too. Social ROI stillnot defined. Social Media is not new. It has become a solid staple of marketing plans for every business. And nearly everyone understands that social media is an important part of how people share information. So how much is a tweet worth? How much should a company invest in getting someone to "Like" their brand on Facebook? What is word of mouth worth? Despite 74% of CMO's predicting 2011 as the year Social Media ROI would be defined, it's still a moving target. Our advice to clients? Start by mapping social media goals to organizational goals. Maybe it's sales, maybe it's customer retention. Or maybe it's awareness. Once you've defined exactly what you want to do, knowing whether you've done it through social media is a lot easier. 2011 has been an amazing year for those of us involved in social media. I'm proud of the work I've done with clients, and we've seen a lot of progress across all fronts. More than anything, though, I've seen that a lot of what we all predicted hasn't happened the way we thought it would. Bottom line: Stay flexible. Remain vigilant. 2012 will have even more surprises, good or bad. Need help riding the rapids of digital marketing? Metia has offices in Seattle, New York, London, and Singapore, and we have teams of designers, developers, analysts, and project managers to help create engaging brand experiences. We'd love to be a part of your plans. Hackathon Dallas tomorrow

Blog Jam

John Porcaro — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 17:39:00 +0100

Metia Seattle's Deborah Hanamura writes this article, offering tips to overcome a Blog Jam. It's been nearly twenty years since blogs first started showing up on the World Wide Web. In that time, they have evolved to gain a force and presence as powerful as traditional media, while demonstrating stronger staying power and a democratic outlet for individual perspectives. Blogs are often at the core of digital marketing and social media marketing efforts. Further, they can act as a hub of highly shareable content that can extend your brand and create stronger relationships with customers. How do you measure the success of your blogging effort? There are qualitative and quantitative measurements that you can keep in mind: Do hits to your website spike when you post content? Are the comments from a variety of readers? Did your content resonate? Was the sentiment of comments highly engaged? Are readers sharing and reposting your content via their own social channels? Metia helps clients produce stronger marketing content through blogging every day. We've put together a list of our favorite tips for good blogging: Do's Produce content that is well-crafted, informative, educational, and/or buzz-worthy. Make it clear right off the bat what a reader should expect to learn in your post. Apply your perspective to topics and produce content that is creative, personable, approachable, and user-oriented. Use Search-friendly terms in your blog. Blogs are great for SEO. When you share content, such as a favorite link, tell readers why it's important. Instead of saying "Check out this link," say "Here are some reasons why this link is great…." Keep it simple. Posts can be anywhere from 100 to 500 words. If you get much longer than that, consider breaking it up into two posts. Include images. People like pictures! Write an attention-grabbing headline. Write like you speak-competent, professional, and warm. Optimize for browsability. Use section headers, short paragraphs, and bulleted lists to make it easier to browse. Alert folks that your post is live via social media channels like Facebook and Twitter. Don'ts Be afraid to get started. You've got stuff to say, so say it! Post content with typos, readability problems, or bad grammar. Don't know where to start?Need some fresh ideas? Here are some blogging kickstarters: Begin with a series. That way you can have a topic that you go back to again and again. Invite questions from readers. Revisit old posts and provide an update. Write posts ahead of time-you can have posts in the hopper and ready to go so that you can take a break from blogging for a while. Get a guest blogger. Approach a colleague and ask them if to contribute something. What are your favorite blogging tips? What blogs do you go back to again and again? Let us know in the comments!

Thursday is World Usability Day

John Porcaro — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 22:26:00 +0100

Cassandra St. Louis sent a notice about World Usability Day, and I thought it was worth sharing: Thursday is World Usability Day. What is it you ask?... Well it's about making our world work better. It's about "Making Life Easy" and user friendly. Technology today is too hard to use. Now mobile phones should be as easy to access as a doorknob. In order to humanize a world that uses technology as an infrastructure for education, healthcare, transportation, government, communication, entertainment, work and other areas, we must develop these technologies in a way that serves people first. World Usability Day was founded in 2005 as an initiative of the Usability Professionals' Association to ensure that services and products important to human life are easier to access and simpler to use. Each year, on the second Thursday of November, over 200 events are organized in over 43 countries around the world to raise awareness for the general public, and train professionals in the tools and issues central to good usability research, development and practice. Microsoft and the University of Washington's Department of Human Centered Design and Engineering will be co-hosting Puget Sound World Usability Day event tomorrow 10 November at Microsoft Conference Center. It's from 12:30 - 5:45. Although we can't be there in person, we may view the event live starting 1:00PM at: http://msstudios-chan1.wm.llnwd.net/msstudios_chan1. There is no need to RSVP or pre-register for the event. Just take time in your busy day during the event to log in and watch for a wee bit. Shameless plug, but my good friends Amy Alberts will be speaking on Windows Phone Design called "Don't hate because I'm beautiful" at 1pm, as well as "Brave GUI: World Creating Graphical User Interfaces to Facilitate Natural User Interaction" by Dennis Wixon and Daniel Wigdor. So in the spirit of making our world work better, wish someone a Happy World Usability Day… --Cassandra

Consumer Preference, Analytics, and Bean Counting

John Porcaro — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 22:46:00 +0100

We recently learned that our current coffee provider isn’t going to service our area going forward. Despite the pleas of everyone to put a Starbucks franchise in one of our conference rooms, we were faced with looking for a new vendor. Our Seattle office is as serious about coffee as our London office is about tea, so we can't make the decision lightly. One of the vendors was here today, and presented several options. Because of our longstanding tradition of employee involvement in such crucial decisions, we allowed everyone to help make the choice. And because of our experience of gathering customer insight, detailed data-mining, and deriving actionable insight from analytics, we came up with a plan to do a blind taste test. So, what’s it going to be? Mild? Dark? Should we do a separate study to test tea (for our colleagues visiting from London)? And will we design an infographic to announce the results?

Drumming, Racing, and Learning Together

John Porcaro — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 22:23:00 +0100

Friday we held our annual company meeting and offsite. Everyone enjoyed the day hearing from our VP, Andrew Martin, and having some fun together. The morning began as we boarded a bus that headed toward Bellevue College, where we entered an auditorium to the sound of drums. Drum Café was there, to lead us through an activity where we all played along on our own drum, or other percussion instrument. The point of the drumming session was to show that we are all one when we tap into the pulse of what makes Metia such a great place: an underlying beat of persistence, dedication, and integrity, accented with our own creativity, passion, and talent. Andrew took the stage to give us an overview of the past fiscal year, and reiterated the success we’ve achieved working together to exceed the expectations of our clients. Just before lunch, we boarded the bus, and headed to K1 Kart Racing in Redmond. We had a blast racing for the best time, and got to do a couple of activities that were unexpected: racing moving a soccer ball around the track, and racing blindfolded while a coworker gave directions. After trophies were handed out, we headed to Wilde Rover, an Irish pub in Kirkland. The food and drinks were great, and we all enjoyed spending time together all evening. I hear rumors that the party continued after the busses left, but nobody will confirm any details… Big props to Sandi and Krystal and everyone else who worked so hard making the day such fun!

Customers Don't Like to be Ignored

John Porcaro — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 23:13:00 +0100

What experience do our customers have with our company? It's one of the first questions asked when developing marketing plans, and is a core part of determining what features to include in a product roadmap. In fact, many companies have initiatives that focus on solely on the customer experience. Companies commission research to determine brand attributes, target markets, even customer personas to refine their advertising. They spend millions across multiple channels to get their messaging out to potential customers. They focus their efforts on creating offers to get customers to purchase their product. For the most part, brands are used to talking to lots of people at once. Depersonalizing the customer experience has become second-nature to marketers. Speaking in one voice to an overall "target market" is taught in business school, and echoed in most communications we receive from companies. While TV or print ads may resonate, it's clear that they're meant to message groups of people. What's new to most people is the idea that they can talk to a brand. In the past, if a customer wanted to communicate with a brand, it required making a phone call (answered by an employee of the company) or writing a letter (usually followed up with a letter by customer service). What hasn't changed is that when an individual communicates with a company, they expect to hear back. Traditional advertising has been transformed by mobile, social, and digital interactive communications. And while today's communications channels may still feel impersonal to a brand, it feels a lot more personal to a customer. When a customer responds to a brand's advertising-by sharing it, commenting, or asking a question-it becomes a conversation. And if someone ignores what an individual says, it may turn an engaged customer into a cynic. Writing in the inaugural issue of F&B Magazine, Dave Kerpin asks if a brand should respond to every comment on their Facebook Fan Page. How do you feel when you get put on hold by a customer service department for a company you're calling? How angry do you get when you get disconnected from that company because your phone signal dies or someone accidentally hits the wrong button? Dave echoes something I firmly applaud: "It's not only possible to respond to every comment about you and to you on Facebook and Twitter, but it's advisable. And scalable." Don't ignore comments or questions on Facebook. All Facebook reports that only five percent of wall posts on brand pages ever receive answers. At the very least, a brand should take time to "Like" a comment, and should reply directly to questions and complaints. A real-live customer took the time to come to your page and type a question/comment. Spend a few seconds to say something. Don't ignore complaints on Twitter: Jay Baer reports that 70% of companies ignore customer complaints on Twitter. He goes on to offer the best reason for responding: Brands can turn lemons into lemonade. Every customer wants to feel heard, and if they have a complaint, just the fact that someone acknowledged it will keep them from complaining any further. While managing online communities at Xbox, I learned this first-hand. The loudest detractors can become the biggest fans. Don't ignore bloggers: Brand Pilgrim shows how online mavens approach talking about brands out of an altruistic sense of duty, fueled by passion. Bloggers may have credibility with customers unmatched by the brand, and they can actually help to redefine market dynamics. Better to have them on your side, then working against you. Don't ignore posts in forums:Many marketers consider forum dwellers to be confined to their own underground communities, and write off complaints as rants. But search engines see them as sources of unbiased information that customers click. Online forums can be a great place to build a loyal following, or a breeding ground for unresolved customer complaints by unhappy customers. Getting started participating in online forums is easy. Don't miss out on a critical moment of customer interaction by ignoring something a customer says. You'll find that the benefits will always be worth the investment.

Customers Would Rather Click on an Organic Link

John Porcaro — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 19:44:00 +0100

MediaPost's SearchBlog highlights a study conducted by GroupM, " From Intent to In-Store: Search's Role In The New Retail Shopper Profile," that shows that most searches begin with generic queries rather than branded terms. Maybe not too surprising, unless your brand is already a category favorite. Here's the interesting part: after conducting a search, buyers click 94 percent on organic links versus 6 percent paid. Woah! If your marketing has a search component (and it should), it better have a strong content creation strategy to earn organic search clicks rather than rely on paid clicks. There are a few things you can do to earn your spot in organic searches, but it all starts with creating compelling content. Focus on creating content that will be read and linked. Make sure to frequently post new content that will show up in search: Blog posts, Status updates, even Tweets Include keywords in post titles, and throughout the body of your posts Use meta tags on items published on your website Read more from Google's Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide

A URL by Any Other Name

John Porcaro — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 22:55:00 +0100

Was that .com? .net? .org? .us? Who knows? I was having a conversation with someone a few years ago about the future of the "domain name" business. At the time, she was proposing getting involved in the push to get .music listed as a top level domain, so they could get a piece of the lucrative domain name business. My take even then was that the domain name business would change fundamentally, as more and more people used search engines rather than memorizing or typing a web address. As I watch my kids use the Internet, I found something amazing. Theynevergo to a website directly. They almost always simply type the website in the search bar, go straight to Google, then click the site. With advancements in browser features, your web site auto-fills as you type, and it can bookmark frequently-used sites. More and more advertisements are telling people to "search 'our brand name'," rather than publicize a long URL. Now, an Experian study shows that search queries are becoming longer, as more people type in questions or statements. At the same time, one-word searches made up 25% of all searches, showing that people don't bother typing (or remembering) the extension, but rather going straight to the results of the one-word search. Source: Experian I don't have my home phone number, or even mobile numbers of close friends memorized, because I don't dial them, I just click on their contact icon on my phone. It won't be long that we won't need to memorize a brand's URL to get to their website. While we're at it, here are just a few well-known sites that don't use ".com" as part of their URL. t.co ImageShack.us Comcast.net Mozilla.org Slideshare.net Instagr.am Del.icio.us NOAA.gov Wikipedia.org Passport.net Zune.net Speedtest.net Craigslist.org Pandora.tv About.me Soundforge.net Who.is W3.org MTA.info Ping.fm Last.fm Justin.tv Blip.tv It's important to stay current on the latest digital marketing trends. What once was imperative can be less important now. At Metia, we work closely with our clients to understand their business goals, then design digital marketing plans that include creative websites, applications, and campaigns leveraging the latest email, mobile, social media, and analytics technology. Whether you own a dot.com, a dot.org, or a dot.whatever, let us know how we can help make your digital marketing reach your customers.

How Facebook Page Owners Can Adapt to Changes

John Porcaro — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 00:49:00 +0100

This week saw the launch of several changes to Facebook. While some users are bemoaning the Facebook changes, (there are web browser extensions that will block the new “ticker” from appearing), others like the new Timeline feature, and the ability to share activities that are coming in the next few weeks. It’s hard to argue that the changes will make the way brands interact with fans more important than ever. If you’re the owner of a Facebook Page, or you are thinking about creating one, here are a few things you should consider: Photos are bigger, and more important than ever. Think of ways to include photos that help tell your brand story while being interesting to fans. Peter Springett shares some ideas on his blog post, What Facebook photo changes mean for content. Because users can comment without liking the page, it’s going to take some extra effort to make the page worth liking. Is your content interesting? If you want your page to end up in the newsfeed, you should prompt existing fans to interact with your page beyond just liking a post. What can you post to get them to Share or Comment? Once someone is at your page, there is an option to see Friend Activity, from a tab on the page. Again, getting your fans to interact is important. Now that users can subscribe to popular or famous people they couldn’t Friend (like Mark Zuckerberg or Mari Smith), it ups the reach for influencers, so work to get mentioned by them if you can--authentically, of course. If you’re just getting started, you no longer need 25 likes to claim a Page name. Looking forward to the new Timeline feature, it’s clear that apps that use the open graph are going to get highlighted over Pages that someone likes. Consider how you can connect with your customers or fans socially using the open graph. As the race between Facebook and the rest of the social world heats up, don’t forget to keep an eye on Google+, Twitter, and your favorite social sites. And enjoy the ride!

Mobile Web or Mobile App? Consider Both.

John Porcaro — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 23:36:00 +0100

The marketing world is abuzz with the proliferation of mobile apps. So as a marketer, you might be tempted to begin building a mobile app for your brand. Before you open that PO, there are a few things to consider. You’ll reach a lot more people with a mobile website. Even though smartphone use is increasing, only 40% of US “feature phones” are smartphones that support apps. (Nielsen, Sept. 2011) More people use the mobile web than use apps. CEM4Mobile recently released a study of smartphone users (Nordic) that shows that 82% of the visits were to the mobile web, vs. 18% to apps. (CEM4Mobile Nordic, Sept 2011) HTML5 and CSS3 will make many of the cool features of apps available, like geolocation, offline web app support, gesture support, and the ability to access video and audio. A well-built mobile website can be supported across multiple platforms, saving development costs. Apps have some advantages that websites won’t: Users spend more time with an individual app compared to the browser, and return more often once the app is installed (CEM4Mobile Nordic, Sept 2011) Premier placement in the app marketplace will lead customers to your app A better user interface, specifically built for the platform it’s on The ability to easily bill back to a central marketplace, like iTunes The most important consideration is the experience you're creating for your customer. Is the purpose to make it easier to transact? To share your marketing message? To gain exposure for your brand? To support your customer? If you don't have a world-class experience on your mobile website, start there. If you do, look for ways to improve it, or consider investing in a custom app. Check out Metia's portfolio of apps, including AmazonFresh, ShowMe London, and TrainHound. We’re always looking for ways to make mobile work for our clients, from design to implementation. We'd love to make your marketing go mobile!

New Study Shows Why People Share

John Porcaro — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 22:04:00 +0100

Marketers are clamoring to measure every touch point of a marketing campaign. There are countless metrics to track, the amount of data you get back can be staggering. It’s never been easier to answer the question: “What do people share?” But few are asking “Why do people share?” The New York Times Customer Insight Group recently published a study called “The Psychology of Sharing.” This new study looks into the primary motivations people have, and begins to address how marketers can use that information to create more sharable content. Whether you’re creating websites, email campaigns, videos, mobile campaigns, or drafting product messaging, you should consider the primary motivations people have for spreading your message. According to the study, people share content: To bring value and entertaining content to others To define ourselves to others To grow and nurture our relationships For self-fulfillment To get the word out about causes or brands Is your content Helpful? Creative? Empowering? Useful? Entertaining? More importantly, what does the act of sharing say about the person sharing it? Does it make them more connected? More trusted? Does it make them look better somehow? Thanks to Richard Meyer’s for sharing on his New Media and Marketing blog. By sharing this research, I get a better sense that he’s a passionate marketing person who loves the challenge of marketing in an empowered consumer world… Need help creating digital content that carries your marketing messaging and still gets shared online? At Metia, we like to think of ourselves as digital craftsmen. Whether we're creating integrated email campaigns, or designing engaging mobile apps to make traveling abroad more fun, we can help!

Is Mobile Marketing Still a Niche?

John Porcaro — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 23:04:00 +0100

Pew Research Center just published a study on mobile phone use in the US. Marketing Charts published some useful charts, and pointed out some specifics. 83% of all American adults ages 18 and older own a cell phone. Of those, 42% own a smartphone, 35% of all adults. More than a quarter of all American adults—28%—use mobile or social location-based services of some kind. Almost six in ten smartphone owners (58%) use at least one of these services. Source: Marketing Charts So we know mobile use, and smartphone use in particular, are becoming more and more mainstream. And while it may seem obvious to anyone in the digital marketing field, it’s still right on the periphery of traditional marketers, many of whom might see it as a specialty. Changes happen fast. It’s already been two years since online advertising overtook TV advertising for the first time ever. And the head of Metia Seattle, Andrew Martin recently declared, “digital marketing is dead” (or at least thinking of digital marketing as separate, anyway). As marketers develop integrated communications plans, it’s important to think of mobile marketing as part of the overall mix. There’s lots to consider: From simple things, like how your emails appear on a mobile device, to strategies and implementation of mobile apps, check-ins, QR codes, SMS, location-tagging. At Metia, we love this stuff. We’re proud of mobile work we’ve done, like mobile apps for AmazonFresh, ShowMe London, and TrainHound. We’re always looking for ways to make mobile work for our clients, from design to implementation. We'd love to make your marketing go mobile!

Declining Blog Comments? We Are Here!

John Porcaro — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 19:51:00 +0100

In Horton Hears a Who, Horton is oblivious to the vast population living on a flower, until they exclaimed in unison: “We are here! We are here!” When I glance at the comments for this blog post, I hear a faint echo of that refrain, reminding me that the conversation continues, just not in blog comments. I’ve been blogging since 2003, when even the most mundane blog posts would get dozens of comments. Today, . I could blame a sparse audience, but looking at the blog stats, I see that the posts are getting read. In fact, some posts outshine others—even by as much as 20X—and yet they still get zero comments. I take some comfort knowing it’s not just me. Others on this site--and for that matter most blogs--are seeing the same thing. I could blame my writing, but even if I ask specific questions, I still get the same result—at least in the blog comments. So what can I blame? Facebook and Twitter, and maybe those pesky comment spammers, that’s what. Today, people have their own “outpost” where they can leave links, comments, and hold discussions. For that matter, most of the information they get comes directly into their news stream, including links to my blog posts. Bloggers often get “Likes” or “RT’s” of a link, where the friend/fan/follower originally found it. The good news is that unlike blog comments, any engagement gets included in that person’s stream, which can be seen by all their friends. BlogHer’s loraleechoate agrees, saying she has a “love/hate relationship with Facebook” for that exact reason. Even if someone wants to comment on a blog post directly, they’re often tasked with creating an account, or entering a Captcha code, because bloggers want to make sure they’re a human, not a spammer. Not exactly friendly. One way to overcome the problem is to use Facebook comments directly on your blog. Or like me, simply get used to the idea that your audience is listening, they’re just talking somewhere else. If you listen closely, you might hear the Who’s. “We are here! We are here!”

Social Media Laws and Regulations You Should Know

John Porcaro — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 00:02:00 +0100

[Update: The NLRB ruled on Sept 2011 that "workers can safely vent their frustrations about the workplace on social network"). (Source: Forbes:Tech) Go straight to jail! Do not pass Go! Do not collect $200! (Before I forget, I'll remind you that Monopoly is a trademark of Hasbro...). As social media becomes more prevalent, the possibility of using it improperly is causing policymakers to create guidelines and enforce compliance. It’s important to stay current on regulatory guidelines that govern your industry, and to have a solid social media policy in place. Here are a few agencies, codes, and regulations that have social media implications. This is (by no means!) comprehensive, and laws are always changing. How many of these were you already aware of? FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) If you work for a financial firm like a brokerage or bank, any communications with customers must be done carefully. Every firm that intends to communicate, or permit its associated persons to communicate, through social media sites must first ensure that it can retain records of those communications. A registered principal of the firm must approve all static content on a page of a social networking site established by the firm or a registered representative before it is posted. Firms must supervise interactive electronic communications in a manner reasonably designed to ensure that they do not violate the content requirements of FINRA’s communications rules Firms must adopt policies and procedures reasonably designed to ensure that their associated persons who participate in social media sites for business purposes are appropriately supervised, have the necessary training and background to engage in such activities, and do not present undue risks to investors. Firms must have a general policy prohibiting any associated person from engaging in business communications in a social media site that is not subject to the firm’s supervision. HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) If you work in healthcare, including a hospital, doctor’s office, or clinic, it’s important to keep customer information private. The HIPAA Privacy Rule protects the patient’s protected health information, which is “all individually identifiable health information held or transmitted by a covered entity or its business associate, in any form or media, whether electronic, paper or oral.” 45 C.F.R. 160.103 Don’t inadvertently share any patient information, like a cell phone photo that includes a patient, or a tweet that could identify someone that visited your clinic. Don’t invite customers to post personal information Don’t acknowledge a condition that a patient discloses, or defend a negative post when a patient posts something online. FTC (Federal Trade Commission) If you’re being paid to say something, it better be the truth, and it better be disclosed. Communications that feature a consumer and convey experience with a product or service as typical when that is not the case will be required to clearly disclose the results that consumers can generally expect. Material connections (sometimes payments or free products) between advertisers and endorsers – connections that consumers would not expect – must be disclosed. Advertisers and endorsers may be liable for false or unsubstantiated claims made in an endorsement – or for failure to disclose material connections between the advertiser and endorsers. The revised Guides also make it clear that celebrities have a duty to disclose their relationships with advertisers when making endorsements outside the context of traditional ads, such as on talk shows or in social media. FDA (Food and Drug Administration) The pharmaceutical industry has been regulating customer communication since 1906. If you communicate to consumers at all, you need to make sure you’re not overstating the benefits of a product. The FDA has been asked to offer specific guidance for social media participation, and though they’ve solicited feedback, they have yet to publish anything specific. Promotional statements can make claims about approved indications only. A company should neither overstate the benefits nor understate the risks. The manufacturer has responsibility for user-generated and third-party content that appears on a company-created site. US Copyright Statute Copy and paste much? Be careful not to borrow too liberally. Under the fair use doctrine of the U.S. copyright statute, it is permissible to use limited portions of a work including quotes, for purposes such as commentary, criticism, news reporting, and scholarly reports. There are no legal rules permitting the use of a specific number of words, a certain number of musical notes, or percentage of a work. Only the owner of copyright in a work has the right to prepare, or to authorize someone else to create, a new version of that work. Accordingly, you cannot claim copyright to another's work, no matter how much you change it, unless you have the owner's consent. NLRA (National Labor Relations Board) An employer can’t prohibit employee self-organization. An employer can’t create work rules, like limiting Facebook participation, if they keep employees from self-organizing. An individual employee can’t be prohibited from seeking to initiate, induce, or prepare for group action, or when the employee brings “truly group complaints to the attention of management.” Comments made “solely by and on behalf of the employee himself” are not protected. GINA (Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act) If you’re an employer, you need to make sure you don’t use social media to access information that could lead to discrimination. A company is not allowed to search social media with the intent of finding genetic information about an employee or potential employee. SOX (Sarbanes-Oxley Act). If you work at a public company, you might accidentally mislead investors by what you say. Make sure any financial information posted on your Facebook fan page, Twitter, website, etc., is updated to reflect material changes in financial condition and operations. Do not release financial information on social networking sites that you have not also published in a press release. COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act) If your product or service is marketed to children, you need to follow the COPPA laws set forth by the FTC. This is the main reason Facebook is limited to those at least 13 years old. If you operate a commercial Web site or an online service directed to children under 13 that collects personal information from children or if you operate a general audience Web site and have actual knowledge that you are collecting personal information from children, you must comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. An operator must notify a parent that it wishes to collect personal information from the child; that the parent's consent is required for the collection, use and disclosure of the information; and how the parent can provide consent. CAN-SPAM Act (FTC’s Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act) Think Facebook messages or posts aren’t covered under SPAM laws? Not so much. On March 28, 2011, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California held in Facebook, Inc. v. MaxBounty, Inc.1 that messages sent by Facebook users to their Facebook friends’ walls, news feeds or home pages are “electronic mail messages” under the CAN-SPAM Act. CFAA (Computer Fraud and Abuse Act) Organizing a grass-roots effort to flood someone with messages or comments is frowned upon. Sending too many messages to a person is considered computer fraud and abuse. State of Missouri Senate Bill 54 Besides not being a good idea, Friending your students is illegal in Missouri. No teacher shall establish, maintain, or use a nonwork-related internet site which allows exclusive access with a current or former student. Codified Ordinances of the City of Cleveland – Section 605.0091 Improper Use of Social Media Think before organizing that Flash Mob. In Cleveland, it’s Illegal to use Facebook and other social media to call together unruly crowds. California Juries Prohibited from Electronic Communication And one final reminder from California judges… Jurors are prohibited from using any form of communication or research about the case, including all forms of electronic or wireless communication or research. These are just a few ways well-meaning marketing pros can inadvertently cause problems for their company. It’s worth working with a professional firm like Metia (my employer, in case that’s not obvious!) to audit your online communications or help with creating a solid marketing strategy, to make sure you do pass go, and you do collect $200 (oh, ya, a reminder that Monopoly is a trademark of Hasbro).

Report Shows Email and Search Remain Strong

John Porcaro — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 20:16:24 +0100

Email and Search remain the cornerstone of online activity. Pew Research just released the results of a survey of Internet users that shows that search and email remain the most popular activities online. A couple of things are striking: 1) Email and Search are holding steady, despite those that think social media is leading to their demise. 2) Social Media continues its meteoric rise. If you don’t have solid plans in place to integrate social media into your email or web advertising, you’re behind the curve. At Metia, we love helping our clients create and execute digital marketing plans, including interactive websites, mobile apps, customer reference programs, marketing analytics, design, community building, and of course social media integration. Let us know how we can help you!

To Have, Hold, and be Facebook Friends

John Porcaro — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 00:37:00 +0100

I had the pleasure of attending the wedding of a very dear family friend, who happens to be under 25 years old. While the ceremony itself may not have changed a lot over time, the way people communicate about them has. The wedding invitations were sent over Facebook and Evite. The wedding registry was an online site where people could use their credit card. In fact, I don't recall seeing any wrapped presents. Nearly everyone had their mobile phone camera up during the ceremony. The ceremony was outside, and the music was being played by the best sound system available, the bride’s Prius. The photos were placed on Facebook, including some that were shared almost real-time. The ceremony itself was broadcast on UStream for those that couldn’t attend. The videos were also posted the same day on Facebook and YouTube. FWIW, my son stayed occupied during the reception by playing Angry Birds. The wedding was beautiful, and the couple looked happy (there’s photographic proof!). Looking back on my own wedding years ago, I’m certainly glad my constant look of terror wasn’t captured, or that my vows weren’t published online to come back to haunt me…

Increase Buzz by Optimizing for Social Sharing

John Porcaro — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 20:10:00 +0100

No matter what your business is, you should always be thinking about how your customers talk about your organization or product, and finding ways to amplify it. Whether you’re marketing a brand, a product, a service, or even if you’re a B2B, social media can help your business. Social Commerce Today did a story about how clubs and resorts are optimizing for social sharing. Great Wolf Lodge in the US is equipping guests with RFID bracelets, so they can post real-time photos to Facebook, without having to do anything. Last summer, my family was on vacation, and searched Trip Advisor to find a place where we could find a good deal on some family activities. Near the top of the list was a park called Hidden Worlds. Hidden Worlds is a small, privately-owned park pretty far off the beaten path. And the deal they had for a family of six couldn’t be beat. But what cinched the deal for me was the amount of positive buzz the place had garnered. Of course, I dissected the experience from a Social Media perspective, and found a few key things they did that helped them rise to top of the list, even though their massive competitors out-marketed them with traditional activities like advertising. They asked for the recommendation. It’s not enough to expect your customers to rave about your brand. If personal recommendations are important, ask for them. Hidden Worlds had signs in the lobby asking guests to post a review on Trip Advisor. During the orientation, they told us that they really appreciate us sharing. They have a photographer follow guests, and offer a DVD at the end of the day with dozens of high-res photos for about $25. Rather than charging a huge fee, they gave us a bunch of high-quality photos that they knew we’d share on Facebook or Flickr. On the DVD sleeve was the URL for TripAdvisor.com. Smart. They had a computer in the waiting room where people could check into Facebook/Twitter/FourSquare while they waited, or before they left at the end of the day. I didn’t check, but I bet they also had wifi available for free, for those with smartphones. Since we didn’t pay for data roaming or hotel wifi, this would have been a great time to check in to Facebook. Of course, we would be sharing where we were and what we were doing. Their website links to both Facebook and Trip Advisor. If there are social sharing sites that are important to your brand, feature them. A few things they could do to improve: Better presence on Facebook and Twitter. They could ask for Twitter handles, and @mention people at the park (with permission), or even post a photo or two. Better resort branding for the photos. No, nothing like a step-and-repeat throughout the park, but they could make sure that life jackets, harnesses, helmets, and vehicles bore the resort logo prominently. Discount for friends who sign up. Not sure if they do this, but they could offer some incentive for a personal recommendation. Next step: RFID bracelets. What can your organization do to generate more revenue-producing buzz? If you need ideas, we’d love to help. Give us a call to help create and deliver a world-class digital marketing experience for your customers.

US Founding Fathers Would Have Used Facebook

John Porcaro — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 23:01:00 +0100

Written communication to the public has been a practice since the written word began. But even the United States founding fathers probably would have used Facebook. In fact, Thomas Jefferson only communicated with Congress through written messages. The practice continued until the presidency of Woodrow Wilson in 1913, more than one hundred years later. Monticello.org reports: For his first annual message to Congress, December 8, 1801, Jefferson chose not to deliver it but sent his written message by his secretary, Meriwether Lewis. He continued this practice during his presidency and never appeared before Congress to deliver the annual message... Some claimed that Jefferson changed the procedure because of his aversion to public speaking and nearly inaudible speaking voice. From the Diary and Autobiography of John Adams: "Mr. Jefferson had been now about a Year a Member of Congress, but had attended his Duty in the House but a very small part of the time and when there had never spoken in public: and during the whole Time I satt [sic] with him in Congress, I never heard him utter three Sentences together." Image from monticello.org

Google+ Earns a 4 out of 10 (so far)

John Porcaro — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 20:42:00 +0100

Proponents for Google+ have been shouting its praises since they made it into the beta as long ago as two weeks. Now that it’s been open to the public for several days, more and more are using it, and the buzz has been steady. Now that I’ve been using it for a week (no longer a n00b!), I’m not as gung-ho about it as many of those singing its praises. On a scale of 1-10, I’d give it a solid 4. Despite my low score, there are some things I like about Google+. Here's how it stacks up out of the gate: Pros: Shiny object: The early buzz made it “the cool thing to have.” Getting in relatively early made it desirable, and pushed a lot of us to dive in and try it. Some—like Chris Brogan—removed all other social network properties and went with Google+ exclusively. Those that were buried in a Facebook newsfeed were now front-and-center in the Google+ stream. It re-engaged some in discussions that were muted on Facebook. Integration with Google properties: For those not entrenched in Hotmail or Yahoo or Exchange found it easier to migrate to Google+. With Google adding the black toolbar to its search page, or Gmail, or other Google properties, suddenly seeing notifications piqued the interest of users. +1: Seeing the +1 icon in Google search results reminded people about Google+, just like seeing the “Like this” button on websites did for Facebook. Circles out of the gate: Google exploited one of Facebook’s weaknesses, the fact that even though Facebook has the ability to define groups of friends and customize content to them, very few people actually set up Facebook that way. In fact, few realize the feature exists in Facebook. For those looking for instructions on setting up Facebook Lists, see my previous blog post on that topic. It's easier, and more thorough than you might think. Ability to follow anyone: With Facebook, unless you are accepted as a Friend of someone on Facebook, you can’t see most of what they post. In fact, the only way to see someone’s public information is to search for them in Facebook. Google looked at the popularity of Twitter, and its ability to let users follow anyone, and added that capability to Google+. Some nice features, like ability to edit posts: I expect that most of the features Google+ users like will be eventually copied by Facebook. As soon as Google+ began to tout Hangouts (multi-user video chat), Facebook rolled out video chat. Look for a back-and-forth battle of features in the weeks to come. So, what's not to like? Cons: Yet-another-social-network: Most important, those that find Facebook works for them—presumably most of its 70 million users—will need a very good reason to switch. Overcoming the incumbent is difficult when the barriers to switching are high. And with Facebook’s ability to match features quickly, Google+ will have a hard time getting more than early adopters to switch, or even straddle the fence of both social networks. No email: Pprobably one of the features to come in Google+, but I find the lack of the ability to send a message on Google+ frustrating. Of course, there’s Gmail, but it should be a lot easier to send information to a Google+ user that you know they’ll see, rather than having it lost in their Stream. None of my friends/family there: The biggest barrier is going to be achieving the “network effect.” With the majority of my real friends and family using Facebook, I just can’t walk away from it. So everything I post needs to be copied/pasted from Facebook to Google+, not exactly convenient. Lack of social graph integration: Facebook has links to everything I care about: LinkedIn, Twitter, Flickr, Foursquare, Tumblr, etc. I can post once, and know that what I want is being shared in my Facebook newsfeed. Until Google+ has the same functionality (which I’m sure it will), it’s cumbersome to post manually. Confusing mix of private/public: Google+ will work it out, but there’s still a lot of confusion about Following vs. Circles, why I’m notified when someone I don’t know adds me, why someone I don’t know can see my posts and comment, etc. Facebook has some of the same hurdles to overcome, but for now, it’s keeping people from embracing Google+. Lack of Fan Pages, Brand Pages, Games, Apps: Hate ‘em or love ‘em, people are used to seeing interaction from brands, and many enjoy the social aspects of Citiville or (groan) Mafia Wars. Google+ will undoubtedly catch up, but until then, many won’t want to give up their daily dose of Bejeweled Blitz, and companies will continue to invest in driving people to “Like” their Facebook Page. Weak Mobile Site: It's there, but it needs a lot of work. I'm thoroughly addicted to Facebook on my Android phone. [edit: Google+ just posted about features they're adding soon on their Facebook page] Overall, Google+ has some good things going for it. And of course, it’s still a “beta” program. Like any new social networking “shiny object,” we recommend that our clients jump in with both feet. For those that have other things to worry about, the fact that we’ve already dived in helps our clients rest easy that they’re not going to miss the next big thing. Interested in enhancing your brand or organization presence in Social Networking? We love this stuff, and we'd love to help!

Metia Elite Prepare for Warrior Dash this Weekend

John Porcaro — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 21:59:00 +0100

Members of Team Metia have been preparing for this weekend's Warrior Dash, to be held in Western Washington this Saturday and Sunday. As highlighted earlier in a video clip, the team has been tirelessly training to be at their physical peak. This extreme 3.5 mile race is touted as a mud-crawling, fire-leaping, extreme run from hell, held in the most demanding and unique terrain in the Pacific Northwest. The Metia team will take on punishing obstacles, push their limits, and celebrate their conquest at the finish line together. We posted some behind-the-scenes photos of the creation of Captain Metia, and a story-board draft of the Training Video for the curious among us. Metia is ready for the Warrior Dash. Are you ready for Metia?

Facebook Lists Keep Your Circles Close

John Porcaro — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 22:41:00 +0100

Everyone is talking about Circles, but Facebook Lists are a great way to keep things private and relevant. It's worth taking a little time to set up Facebook Lists to keep your Circle of friends, colleagues, and acquaintances separate. Just yesterday, I mentioned to a friend that I only have my Facebook Chat open to certain Lists, and she admitted that she didn’t know that was possible. Create ListsIf you haven't already, you can create lists under Account/Edit Friends. Think of the groups of friends you might have, and how you might interact differently with one group vs. another. I have Lists for friends, family, co-workers, people from my home town, and a couple of Lists I want to give limited access to. Add People to ListsFacebook makes it easy to add people to Lists. You can scroll through them one at a time, or you can let Facebook “Suggest” people to add to a List. I was surprised at how intelligently Facebook made suggestions for each List, based on who was in the List already. It quickly allowed me to fill up each List, even though I have a bunch of friends that weren’t in any Lists. Control What Each List SeesYou’ve probably heard about Facebook Privacy settings, but if not, you should take a little time to adjust the settings for each List. Look under Account/Privacy Settings. I have a couple of groups that I don’t want to share some information with, like a few of my kids’ friends that added me. For example, I block them from knowing what locations I check into. To exclude some Lists, select Customize Settings, then select “Customize” from the drop down list for each of the “Things I share” Select Some Lists for ChatOnce you have your Lists set up, it’s easy to narrow down those you want to Chat with. Simply turn off the slider switch to appear offline to some of your Lists. Share a status update with a ListYou might want to share some information with only some of your Lists. Under the update, select the lock icon, and if you want to exclude some lists, select Customize. Simple as that. Taking a bit of time to set up Lists can enhance your privacy, and make Facebook a more enjoyable place to be for everyone.

Metia Seattle Takes on the Warrior Dash

John Porcaro — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 18:25:00 +0100

17 of the bravest, strongest, and craziest people at Metia Seattle have joined forces to take on the Warrior Dash, July 16, 2011. This extreme 3.5 mile race is touted as a mud-crawling, fire-leaping, extreme run from hell, held in the most demanding and unique terrain in the Pacific Northwest. The Metia team will take on punishing obstacles, push their limits, and celebrate their conquest at the finish line together. To prepare for the race, each member of the team has been training. We created this video to offer a sense of the discipline, rigor, and fortitude required. Metia is ready for the Warrior Dash. Are you ready for Metia?

Financial Services Slowly Adopting Social Media

John Porcaro — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 21:29:00 +0100

Companies from American Express to Capital One and Farmers Insurance have already garnered more than 1 million Facebook Fans, and companies like Fidelity Investments, Charles Schwab, and Vanguard are active on Twitter, with thousands of followers. Amy Kester from our Metia, NY office just wrapped up the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) Technology Conference. She writes a blog post summary about the event, noting that the topic of using Social Media was featured at the conference, but many there still think it’s not worth investing in social media. She quotes a recent report from Gartner that found that there is a major disconnect between senior executives and the CIO on where they see social media having a role and providing ROI. At Gartner's 2010 Symposium/ITxpo in Cannes, France, 90 percent of the participating financial services executives agreed that, "social media is a waste of time and financial services providers shouldn't invest in this." In a recent Forbes article, Tom Groenfeldt writes about how social media is being implemented in finance—carefully. Because of heavy regulations, financial firms are limited about what they can and can’t say. It may stop those without a solid plan from starting in social media. In fact, the Washington Post reports that half of financial advisers haven't figured out how to mix social-media tools into their marketing strategies. But things are changing. The Globe and Mail’s Matthew Wilson tells how Morgan Stanley is implementing social media slowly but surely. He writes: ”Morgan Stanley has started to allow its employees to use social media. Starting this month, it will allow employees to use both LinkedIn and Twitter as modes of communication to connect with customers. The initiative comes from heavy demand on both the customer and employee side, and Morgan Stanley is now the first major financial firm to allow this, as most other firms are still grappling with the compliance side of how to properly use these tools.” “Many firms are also asking if people really do want a “community” where they can talk online about mutual funds or upload videos on financial strategies. There is no doubt that customers are interested in the traditional one-way flow of information that comes from financial institutions in various forms that discuss recent trends, news and updates. But many firms are wondering how to create a two-way channel of communication with customers and whether that is something people want.” Other firms like Vanguard are figuring it out. The Washington Post reports that they had twelve workers spent three months blogging, posting and tweeting part-time on social media sites to figure out the best way to use each. As a consumer of financial services, I’m surprised that marketers at the big financial companies are questioning the move into social media. But customers make decisions about their finances, and they move their business from one brand to another, even if the barriers to entry are high. It’s not always sexy. It’s not always fun. Rod Brooks is the CMO at PEMCO, a regional insurance company here in the Pacific Northwest. He says it best: “Insurance is a product that people don’t understand, don’t want to buy, and when they do buy, they don’t want to use it.” PEMCO has found ways to show they understand their customers, to connect with them, and to join in conversations they’re having. Some financial services companies realize that being involved in the conversations that consumers are having is important. And they are learning to navigate the murky waters of regulation to find things they can say to customers. Here are a few that have taken the first step (some more than others): Capital One: Facebook (1,538,091 fans) Twitter (1,389 followers) USAA: Facebook (168,223 fans) Twitter (16,447 followers) ING Direct: Facebook (47,464 fans) Twitter (17,547 followers) E*TRADE: Facebook (45,208 fans) Vanguard: Facebook (19,462 fans), Twitter (11,737 followers) Fidelity: Facebook (14,461 fans) Twitter (9,602 followers) Charles Schwab: Facebook (14,126 fans) Twitter (4,288 followers) Merrill Lynch/BofA: Facebook (3,733 fans) Twitter (371 followers) Morgan Stanley: Facebook (5,911 fans) TD Ameritrade: Facebook (368 fans) Twitter (1,008 followers)

Top 100 Brands That Make Sharing Easy (or not)

John Porcaro — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 22:06:00 +0100

Marketers spend millions of dollars carefully creating, testing, and distributing marketing messaging. Every time someone visits a company website, an impression is made. Companies are getting better at listening to the voice of the customer, and they’re finding creative ways to grow mindshare. That’s why it’s so surprising when companies ignore one of the best ways to reach customers: generating word of mouth among social networks. Every day, I visit websites that don’t have a “Share This” button on an article, news story, web app, or blog post, and it’s starting to frustrate me. When I find something interesting, newsworthy, compelling, or funny, my first thought is to post it on Facebook. Making it drop-dead simple to share makes sure that I follow my natural instinct of sharing. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and most blogging software all have tools to make sharing easy. So when companies don’t implement sharing tools into their website, it can turn a positive experience into a negative one, and leave customers thinking the company doesn’t want them to share, or that they expect them to do the work of copying, pasting, and linking for them—not the thing they want to convey to today’s avid networker. Who are the worst offenders? Of the Top 100 Brands according to Millward Brown's Brandz Report for 2011, 19 don’t have a Facebook presence at all, and even more of them don’t link to a Facebook page from their website. Several of those that are active in social networks still don't give users an easy way to share content from their website. Here are 3 sites that do it right, 3 that should do more, and 3 that haven't started yet (that may surprise you). Doing It Right Starbucks Starbucks does a great job making sharing easy. Whether it's an article on the main page, a promotion, or a popular coffee, users are prompted to share on Facebook and Twitter everyplace they visit. Coca Cola Coke knows how to create compelling content that consumers love. At every turn on their website, users are invited to "Like" the information on Facebook, prompting thousands of customers to share the information in the newsfeed to their friends. Home Depot Home Depot lets users get product information from their inventory, which they can Share on Facebook. Could Do More Old Spice Old Spice links to the Facebook main page, but there's no way to “Share” a link to a page or promotion. Nintendo Nintendo joined Facebook on June 15, welcome! Nintendo links to their Facebook page on most pages of their website, but they don't let users share content that they find on the website. A shame, especially considering how active videogame customers are. NissanUSA Nissan publishes a polished, interactive site with carefully crafted messaging. The site prompts users for their Zip Code to make sure you can see what's available locally. Nissan prompts users to follow them on Facebook, but once you get to information about a car you like, there's no way to easily share it. Need to Get Started! Apple Apple may be one of the most-valued companies, and among those that spend them most on advertising, but they aren't taking advantage of fans who love their products. With no official Facebook presence, and no way to share information from their site, they leave it to their fans to manually link to content from their website. IBM Maybe the software giant thinks their customers don't care about social media, but they leave money on the table by not making it easy for evangelists to share information they find on the website. Vodaphone For a company that relies heavily on word of mouth, they don't make it easy for site visitors to share what they find. Marketers: Don’t miss out on the opportunity to have your customers evangelize the content you’ve created. Once you’ve created compelling content, encourage sharing, and make it easy to share by including a “Share This” button at the top or bottom of every page of content. Do you need help with your Social Media strategy or implementation? At Metia, we love this stuff, and would love to help.

Facebook Can Improve Employee Morale

John Porcaro — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 22:42:00 +0100

One of the hidden benefits of Facebook is that it can actually improve employee morale for your organization. We just created a Facebook Page for the our agency, Metia, Seattle. For now, it’s quite new, and it’s used primarily by employees. One of the key benefits I’ve found is that I’m getting to know people across the organization much better than I would otherwise. Consider it the “virtual office cooler,” where I can see what people are doing across the company. Better, I can see who is interacting, and add them as friends on Facebook. Once they approve my request, I can learn a lot more about them. And it gives me an easy way to strike up a conversation, to someone I might not talk to otherwise. The end result is that it makes everyone at work better friends, which can improve the morale of the office. Pretty powerful stuff. There are a couple of ways that a company, large or small, can use Facebook to help build camaraderie among employees. Set up a Company Page. Chances are, you’ll want a Page on Facebook sooner or later. It’s a great way to get employees talking, and it can offer a place to highlight your organization to employees, clients, customers, or prospects. Set up a Private Group. This is a great option if you want to keep discussions private. Each employee will need to be “invited” by someone, but once they join, conversations, Likes, links, even photos can be shared privately, without worry that customers or potential clients will see that LOLCat you just posted. No matter which option you choose, go ahead and get started!

Social Media 301 Conference Recap

John Porcaro — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 18:27:00 +0100

I recently attended Social Media 301, a conference put on by Fresh Consulting. The meeting was action-packed, and featured some amazing speakers, including Brian Solis, from Altimeter Group and author of the best-selling book, Engage!, and Eric Weaver from Ant’s Eye View. There was a lot of great information, and just like the agenda promised, it delved deeper into the nuances of social media, moving far from 101, even 201, to the advanced-degree earning 301. If You’re Not Tweeting, You’re Not Paying AttentionLooking at the audience, it was clear that this was a connected bunch. Everyone had their laptop open to Tweetdeck or HootSuite, or they were using their iPad or smartphone to stay connected during the session. Mike Whitmore, President of Fresh Consulting quipped that if we were actually looking at the presenters on stage instead of our laptops, that we probably weren’t really paying attention. Social Media AnthropologistsMike also suggested that we are all Social Media Anthropologists, rather than Social Media “experts” or “gurus.” I really like that concept, especially since I’m a bit of a science geek. The Key Points, Brought to you by TwitterBecause I was Tweeting most of the conference, I’m able to share my “notes,” all less than 140 characters. Enjoy! KeynoteBrian Solis (@BrianSolis), Author, Speaker & Marketing Executive, Altimeter Group, gave the keynote presentation. His session was amazing, and I found it invigorating and inspirational. Some key points from the keynote: Nobody stops to "Follow us on Facebook" when they see it in an ad Don't use social media to placate customers, provide real customer service. Social Media forces you to Compete in the Moment for Relevance Customers are no longer "The Audience," we are now Stakeholders in the business. Powerful! Brands are not created. They are co-created with customers. Does your marketing message match what people are saying about you? Social Media isn't just listening, it's got to go back to changing the customer experience--fundamental shift Advanced Social Media strategy is to make every division socialized to change the customer experience To compete, to reach "social" customer, you must be in their "stream," in their "attention dashboard." There is a difference between "traditional" consumer and an "online" consumer. Market to both. Even more advanced than online consumer is "connected" consumer. Reach them in their social stream. Connected consumers don't go through the traditional marketing "funnel." Businesses are building SM programs, but customers don't engage with companies to feel connected Fifth Marketing "P" is People We don't go out to find product information, we expect product info to come to us through LIkes and Unlikes. To reach connected consumer, you have to show up in their newstream 5-8 times. How do you do that? Monitoring should be a full blown Command Center (photo): http://on.fb.me/l0XaaR The universal sign for engagement "@" Engagement is defined by how a brand and consumer connect and interact within their network of relevance Monitoring? Or "listening" (taking action, responding, changing)? Transmedia storytelling opens entry points where consumers become part of your story How to be an expert? Create, post or share compelling content. Better to reach 15K than 1M Use Twitter as communication outpost, not home base. Short lifespan (1 hour). Don't measure 3 F's: Fans, Followers, Friends Social Media = Actions, Reactions, Transactions. Social Inside the EnterpriseThere was a panel on using Social Media within an Enterprise, led by Brent Dance (@brentdance), Co-founder of Fresh Consulting, featuring Liza Sperling (@lizasperling), Director of Corporate Relationships, Seesmic, Tac Anderson (@tacanderson), VP of Digital Strategies, Waggener Edstrom; Maria Ogneva (@themaria), Head of Community, Yammer; and Daniel Rasmus (@danielwrasmus), Strategist and Author. Lots of value going to conference, networking with others, then bringing back expertise to the entprse Most of us work in dysfunctional companies, FB allows for better connections within companies When people connect internally because of SM, they function better as a company. TRUE! SM within org can build bridges between silos (won't quite tear them down) SM tools within enterprise won't work if company doesn't have a good social foundation "Culture first, process second, tool third." Culture eats Strategy for breakfast There is no "best way" to use email, just like no best way to use SM tools Still need community management within the org, internally. Seed conversations. Enabling the org is different than empowering the org to use process/tools Find advocates, create champions, then reward behavior. Others will adapt to established behavior With SM, execs will lose power, and socially connected lower in org will gain power. The Business of StorytellingJeff Dance (@jeffdance), Founder, Fresh Consulting gave a talk about the value of storytelling. 1) Engage, 2) Tell Your Story, 3) Take Action Internet complexity makes us crave meaning and simplicity. Storytelling. SM has evolved from presence, to plan/engagement, to creative content Coke video: "Border" http://bit.ly/kNHM9y Your name can tell a story. Your logo can. Your About Us page should. You SM presence must. Release the stories of your organizatoin... they are the DNA of your social relationships Your story can be weaved across web properties. Get it right first at your Tell your video on YouTube, Infographics, Slideshare, Campaigns, Causes, Amazing story by Nike for the Girl http://youtu.be/cW13EVwJr-E Creativity matters. Don't outsource it to just anyone. A Regional, Challenger Brand Being A Little DifferentRod Brooks (@NW_Mktg_Guy) V.P. and Chief Marketing Officer, PEMCO Insurance, took the stage to talk about integrating SM across your brand marketing. Keep the customer first. Big Hairy Audacious Goal: Never have to advertise for a lead again Pemco starts every meeting with a customer story. People don't understand Insurance, they don't want to buy it, they don't want to use it after they buy Quoting Andy Sernovitz: Advertising is the cost of being BORING Pemco created "enabling" SM Guidelines, Pemco uses website, Twitter, Microsite, Intranet, YouTube, Pemco gives half its homepage website to voice of the customer. Late to Facebook because they didn't want to use FB without knowing WHY Know Your Talkers, Give them Something to Talk About, Make it Easy to Share. Don't just look at obvious, find the "edge" Rod's blog: seeingtheedge.com, rodbrooks.com Creating Interactive & Creative Social Media CampaignsRoss Asdourian (@groovechomp), Interactive Producer, Banyan Branch, and Jeff Daviscourt (@jeffdaviscourt), Account Director at Banyan Branch Interactive Social Campaigns take media to work, video, quizzes, polls, games Campaigns have costs, might not work, set realistic goals. FB Levels: 1) Have Page, 2) Welcome Page, 3) Interactive Tabs YouTube Levels: 1) Channel, 2) simple Vids, 3) scripted Vids/How To's, 4) Hi-Qual vids, 5) Great Unknown How to videos are the most watched product videos. Keep them under 3minutes Creating vids 1) Create presence 2) Associate content 3) Publish How-Tos 4) Comm qlty for niche 5) Go off brand Managing Organizational Reputation via Social MediaCory Edwards, @coryedwards Director, Social Media & Corporate Reputation, Dell Corporation Success starts with listening and engaging in direct conversations. Michael Dell "gets it." Command Center gives Biz Intelligence, Actionable insights, incident monitoring, knowledge about customers Dell "YouBooth" lets customers video themselves answering Q's about Dell experiences To build an Online Influencer program, Go beyond virtual reputations. Nothing replaces F2F Dell's Customer Advisory Panel (CAP) is an in-person event for influencers. CAP brought in some people who HATED on Dell. Measuring ROI w/ Social MediaElizabeth Houston (@elhoust), Global Events Social Media Manager, Comsys for Cisco ROI Types: Increased Engagement, Reduced Costs, Higher Revenue, Deeper Loyalty, Awareness, P2P WOM What leads to Higher ROI? Involvement, integration, channel integration, crowdsourcing, incentives, innovations Maximize ROI? Clear plan/goals, integratn, central location, monitor, track, SEO, call to action, aud needs, patience Cisco reduced costs by $61 million by engaging with customers via online community Cisco "Virtual Launch" 1/6 of cost of live event, plus saved carbon emissions = to 42K gals of gas Retail Distribution: Telling our stories ourselvesGary Wicks (@boeingairplanes), Web Strategy, Boeing Commercial Airplanes talking about Boeing's Journey into Social Media. Boeing Gary Wicks. Boeing is eliminating its sales force and transitioning 100% to social media. #humor Why is Boeing involved in Social Media? Reputation Enhancement and Engagement Boeing aborted takeoff video, for publishing to enthusiasts. WOW! So cool!!! #epic video from @boeing -> 747-8 RTO (watch it and see the brakes glow) http://youtu.be/am392XmYBps Friday in the Factory. Picture of somewhere in the factory. 500+ responses weekly telling story about social media lesson. Kid sends picture. Company sends form letter. "First we ran in a circle & said 'what do we do what do we do?' & responded: 'We can do better." Putting a Face(book) on your Business.Dan Anderson (@DanAnderson), Emerging Media Manager, T-Mobile USAT-Mobile Average time spent on mobile web ~ 2.7 hours per day says @dananderson. 45% of them posting on social sites. Thumbnail image matters. Pique their interest. Tips: Keep it short, SEO Matters, Post content when users are active, i.e.,.in the evening. Tips: Use an image with every FB post. Posts 1-2 sentences per post get highest mobile Tip: Link to YouTube. Most phones support YouTube, but many don't support Flash (which FB uses). Don't forget text messaging Influencing the InfluencersSara Lingafelter (@theclimbergirl), Social Media Specialist, REI In a few years, leadership went from are we sure about local SM to how fast can we do it? REI has a "coaching" system that allows for mistakes, even in SM "at what point do we start to think of SM as a utility, like a phone bill" Life is between the trapeze bars. Love that. Working in social, she doesn't have to leave any part of her at home. LOVE THAT 5 ways to drive measurable impact with socialTom Vaughn (@TomVaughn), Social Media Global Practices Director , Microsoft WW Marketing Excellence @Windows using @BazaarVoice to run ratings and reviews. Awesome. 1) Highlight Authentic Customer Voice. 2) Take advantage of Social API's. 3) Solve Customer Issues 4) Show how you've listened to make products better. 5) Compare Social Interactions with Other Marketing @Microsoft has 1B customers who hv 60K questions every mnth. @microsoft responds quickly using MVPs Creative/Engaging ContentPanel led by Heidi Miller (@HeidiMiller), Chief Conversation Officer at @spokencomm, and featuring Jessica Northey (@JessicaNorthey), SocialMediologist; Sarah Austin (@pop17), Founder of Pop17; Kati Chevaux, Content Editor, Cozi; and Angel Djambazov (@djambazov), Managing Editor and Co-Publisher for ReveNews.com. Jessica Northey "If you're not interesting, I can't help you." (humor) Keen shoes gives its employees 36 hours paid to have a "recess" wearing their outdoor shoes, hiking, rafting, walking @pop17: Most of the user-submitted ideas are pretty bad... Kati Chevaux If your goal is to engage with your customers, quality of content isn't as important Jessica Northey How to be interesting: Read, travel, communicate with customers, participate in cultural activities. The Engagement JourneyEric Weaver (@Weave), Vice President, Digital Strategy, Ant’s Eye View SM Hurdles: No one has time, Everyone is distracted, Trust harder to come by, Expectations ridiculous, so much noise SM Strategy is like a cellphone strategy or a newspaper strategy @KEEN looking forward to sharing more examples of the "Recess Revolution" this year. 5 stages of Engagement: 1) Old School, 2) Dabble in Silos, 3) Operationalizing, 4) Real Results, 5) Full Engagement align dashboards to business objectives, not marketing. Can't go wrong that way! How do you start the journey beyond Twitter? Know there is one. Communicate, educate, plan beyond your department Is a "Like" really a hand-raise? An opt-in? Not really $60K spent on a tradeshow can generate only 60 leads. Better to use money to better socially engage. Forgotten benefit: GOOGLE LOVES ENGAGEMENT Decision-making is 95% emotional, 5% rational This "salty" video alone may be worth the $300 ticket to this conference :) http://youtu.be/AYTkn1w8HUI#smc301 'Customers don't want to leave their friends (Facebook) to come over to your lonely dotcom site.' Great session, worth the time and money. More pictures in my Facebook gallery.

Should You Create a Facebook App?

John Porcaro — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 20:20:00 +0100

Remember all those apps that were so popular on Facebook a few years ago? All the “in” kids were super-poking, sending Mafia Wars invites, and pasting your profile picture into the meme of the week. Apps aren’t dead and gone, but everyone’s tolerance for signing up for apps on Facebook seems to have slowed down. AllFacebook.com looks at the most popular Facebook apps based on Monthly Average Use (MAU). There are some games that are popular (CityVille, FarmVille, and Texas Hold Em), but most of the apps people use are utilities of some sort. Interesting to note that the three top game apps, CityVille, FarmVille, and Texas Hold Em are all declining week after week. So should a company consider building a Facebook app to help build their brand? Like most things in marketing, the answer is “it depends.” It’s not enough to build a mini-game with your name on it, and hope that it will spread like wildfire. No matter how clever, or how fun your game is, if it’s not Angry Birds or Bejeweled, it’s going to have a short life, and it’s not going to get passed along. Remember the Golden Rule of Facebook: If it’s not about the user and their friends, it’s going to be ignored. Facebook is all about social connections, sharing interesting information about those in your social circle. Any app you build should be social at the core. It should: Enhance the social status of the user. Facebook is all about me. I arrive at my newsfeed, and spend most of my time there. Unless something catches my eye about my friends, I’m not going to leave my newsfeed. Does your app make me look cool? Or fun? Or smart? Or funny? Be worth sharing. Even if it’s all about me, I’m not so narcissistic that I’m going to think something only about me is going to fly with all my friends. Include my friends, and it becomes a different story. Is your app full of advertisements? Is it cheesy? Is it clever? Does it make me want to tell my friends “hey, check this out!” Be easy to share. Facebook makes apps easy to share. But don’t make me pick a list of friends to spam, or jump through a bunch of hoops. Liking your app, and letting me choose if I want to share it in my newsfeed should be enough. This week, Intel released an interesting site that’s getting a lot of buzz. The Museum of Me pulls photos and status updates from your Facebook account, and compiles a video that “explores a visual archive of your social life.” It enhances the social status of the user, because it’s all about the user. It highlights the person’s life, in a visual, fun way. It’s worth sharing, due to its cool factor. If features the friends of the user prominently, so they’re more likely to take a look. It’s easy to share a few photos, in fact the web app creates a photo album of a few shots from the video, and automatically posts them to your wall. Clever. Unfortunately, it doesn’t currently create a video you can easily share. Maybe that’s version two. For the full effect, take a look at the app yourself, or check out the video I captured and posted.

Make Your Facebook Page Posts Count

John Porcaro — Thu, 26 May 2011 18:42:00 +0100

You run your company’s Facebook Page. Every day or so, you stare at the screen, as it literally taunts you: “Write something...” Here are a few things to keep in mind as you come up with the next post: Value, value, value. Why would your customer want to read what you just published? Would you share what you just wrote, in a conversation with a friend? In the exact words you just posted? Be human. Facebook is one place where it’s okay to write the way you speak. In fact, it’s expected. If your post sounds like a press release, it’s going to get ignored. Create an editorial calendar. Whether you’re posting something humorous like Skittles, or newsworthy, like Microsoft or Playstation, or exclusive inside info like Windows Phone or They Might Be Giants, taking time every week or two to list out post topics in advance can help. We help clients define their goals, come up with relevant post ideas, track down the content and relevant assets, and help write the posts. Keep it short. If what you have to say can’t be scanned in a newsfeed, nobody is going to stop to read it. Think headline, not tome. Link to an image, a video, or a location with more information. If it's all text, it's easier to skip over. Try a few different things, and gauge reaction. What do you think will get your customers to “Like” what you wrote? Think about what you like reading. If you link to an advertisement, don’t expect much interaction. People didn’t “Like” your page because they don’t see enough of your ads. Here’s a smattering of posts from my newsfeed this morning, and what I was thinking as I scanned them: Already saw the commercial. Don’t want to enter a contest. Ignore. I follow soccer, but not enough to keep track of the international teams. Would love to win a ticket to a game, though. Maybe click. Never heard of him. Seems totally random. Ignore. Spoiler! Regardless, I either already know who won, or don’t care. Ignore. Weird. The game’s been out for months, why would I want to buy a bundle? It did get my attention, though, and the attention of 8,000 people. Ignore. I trust Mari, she’s always spot on with her commentary and insight. I might not care that Google is revealing a mobile payment system, but if Mari thinks it’s newsworthy, I’m willing to give it a read. Click. CUUUTE. Reminds me, I need pictures of my kids. And her studio is just down the road from where I live. BTW, I “Liked” her page because a friend of mine had pictures of her kids done there, and pointed me to the FB page. Who says FB Likes can’t drive sales? Click. Interesting. Newsworthy, and current. Click. Free, formerly unpublished music from a band I love. Sweet!!! Click. Kind of fun. Cool graphic from another fan. Browsed. Snooze. If all they are going to do is offer ads for upcoming shows, I'm not interested. Unlike. They left out “grab something from the dirty clothes pile that’s not too dirty.” Click to Vote. Do I care? Maybe. Maybe not. Okay, probably not. Ignore. Cool, quirky. I like, along with 22,703 others. Click "Like" Okay, you’re welcome. Skip. Bonuses like what? I might just have to click, if it’s exclusive content for a game I’m anticipating… Click. What's your favorite brand page, and what do they post to make you interact?

Writing Employee Reviews

John Porcaro — Fri, 20 May 2011 21:29:00 +0100

Today I had my first employee review at Metia. After having almost 40 semi-annual reviews at [another company], and giving hundreds of reviews for employees on my team, I learned the nuances of writing reviews in a corporate environment. Today's meeting was quite pleasant, and I consider myself really lucky to have friendly, supportive co-workers, and a great boss (despite his insistence on having our TPS reports done Monday at noon, like it or not). In 2004, I wrote a post about writing reviews at my “Mktg@MSFT” blog, and did a follow-up in June 2008. I'll consider doing another update to these posts after I have a couple more Metia reviews under my belt. For your reading pleasure, I republish my original posts. Employee Reviews Revisited (June 2008) Four years ago, I posted about Employee Reviews. In the meantime, I've done another 8 reviews, including one that I'm working on as I speak. I've moved groups, changed bosses, added more employees. The review model has changed somewhat dramatically in the past few years. As I look back, some of the advice is the same, but some has changed. More to the point, I've changed. I've been much more involved with our management team, I've often been in frank discussions about employees performance, and I've taken a peek behind the HR curtain and seen things that prompt me to update my tips for completing your own employee review. Here are a few more tips that have held true for (at least) the past four years: Doing your job really well will make you mediocre. A few years ago, Microsoft moved to a model of having all employees create agreed-upon "Commitments," a set of objectives, goals, and accountabilities, prior to the new year. The review process at the end of the year lists your Commitments, and you and your manager both have a chance to give feedback on how you did over the past year. For most people, your commitments probably look a lot like your job description. If they don’t, they probably should. Key point: You were hired to do a job. You’re being paid to deliver results that are worth a lot of money to the company. Your reward for doing everything you committed is collecting your paycheck. If you didn’t add value beyond what is expected, you shouldn’t expect exceptional rewards. Even if you worked 80 hour weeks, sacrificed your personal life, and brought donuts in every morning, doing what’s expected isn’t enough to warrant a raise or a big bonus or a promotion. What will get you an exceptional bonus or a promotion? Exceeding expectations in ways that add value for the company. A key point in one of my favorite books, The 5 Patterns of Extraordinary Careers, is that you should do your job in 80% of your time at work, and spend 20% of your time doing the job you want next. Seth said it best: Safe is Risky. By the time you write your review, it might be too late to really influence impressions. This is especially true if you wait until the last minute, like I do… Not only are opinions formed over the entire year, but there may be cases where promotions/bonuses/rewards are decided before your review is ever read. It shouldn’t be the case, and Microsoft is trying hard to make sure that things are done far enough in advance to avoid this, but just to be sure, make sure your manager knows about your value to the organization long before your review is due. Be visible. This is one of the hardest areas for me, and I’ve learned the hard way how not being visible can stall your progress. I love my job so much, that I get a lot of satisfaction from seeing things I’m working on come to fruition. I’d rather work independently to avoid roadblocks or approval processes that slow things down. I value flexibility over accolades, and sometimes, in the crazy world of Social Media/Community, explaining things takes longer than just doing them. I have to admit that it’s easier to give a good review to an employee if I know what they do every day. And as a leader in the org, it’s hard to fight for one employee’s advancement in the organization if I don't understand their value. True confession for me: I’ve been told in the past by co-workers that they don’t understand what I’m working on, and I thought that was okay, because it didn’t involve them. Fair enough at a co-worker level. What I didn’t think about is that the leadership team, as a group, was deciding if I should be promoted, or if I should get an exceptional review bonus. Ooops. I can only imagine the conversation: “Who is John? I’m not sure I’ve ever worked with him. I’m not sure what he does.” Blank stares around the room. Not a scenario I ever want to have played out, ever. Moments are more important than hard work. Speaking of the leadership team meetings, I’ve been in quite a few of them lately. I’ve found that all the conversations and the resulting decisions (like promotions or bonuses or awards) come down to memorable moments. Imagine this scenario: “Who should we pick for employee of the year?” “I like John. He’s a hard worker. I’ve never seen him come in late. And he only took one week of vacation.” “Well, I like Alex. I was in a meeting with him last week, and he took charge of a sticky situation, and explained how important Social Media is in a way I’d never thought of.” “I agree. And once, we were under a deadline, and he jumped in at just the right time and offered help that changed our program from a failure to a success.” “I had one of my employees tell me how much they appreciate Tony’s ability to pull a team together. I’ve never heard anything but good things about him.” “I’d like to suggest Alyssa. A few months ago, I asked him for some feedback on a project my team was working on, and she came back with three solid ideas that we hadn’t considered, and saved us thousands of dollars. She’s really smart.” I could go on, but you get the idea. Make every interaction you have count, especially with senior managers. If you’re only in a few meetings a year with your VP, you have more to lose by keeping your mouth shut than any risk you might fear of saying something stupid. Make sure you’re prepared, practice if you need to, but don’t ever go into a meeting where you don’t make a solid, hopefully memorable contribution. Whom do you work with, especially at the leadership team level, that wouldn’t be able to come up with their own “moment” where you made a positive impression on them? You’ll do more for your career by focusing on creating that opportunity than you will doing a great job in isolation. Ask for the promotion before your review. This might be more general advice than review advice, but in my experience as a manager at Microsoft, I have to admit to trying just a little bit harder to get an employee promoted when they’re open about bringing it up throughout the year, during our regular one on ones. It gives me a chance to give them feedback without the fear of offending them, since they brought it up. It also puts me in a position where if I gave them advice, and they followed it, I feel compelled to fight to get them promoted. I can only hope my current team doesn’t read this advice and use it against me… Don't sweat the small stuff. There may be things, even in your commitments, that you didn’t do exactly like you thought. If something didn’t matter to you, and it didn’t matter to the rest of the org, chances are that it won’t matter to your manager. And if you overdo the documentation, adding pages of metrics/status updates/feedback, your manager might only skim through your review, and miss the good stuff you really want him/her to read. My MO (YMMV) is to skip the details, and only type out details that strengthen the overall message you’re presenting to your manager. At the same time, if there was a big commitment you missed, don’t forget to bring it up. I wrote a bit about that in the previous post four years ago… Employee Reviews(June 2004) I just hit the "send" button on my annual review. Always nice to get it done. We won't have our "numbers" and our official "review meetings" for another two months, but half the work is looking back on the past year, and being accountable. This is my 28th review document I've submitted at Microsoft. Over the years, I've learned a thing or two about how reviews are done. Mind you, every team is different. But here's my advice for someone going through a formal, documented review process: Take time to reflect. I’m pretty introspective normally, and I spend a lot of time with my employees talking about performance and career paths, but for those that don’t spend much time, this is a good chance to really think back on how things have been going. Carve out a full day to do your review. Take it seriously. Think of your review as a living resume. At Microsoft, potential employers can (and usually) look at your review before offering to interview you. This is a great chance for you to go beyond your job description and resume to list what you’re good at, what your struggle with (and how you’re addressing it), and what your development plan is. Be thorough. I’ve written reviews both ways (just get it done in one-two pages, and go on and on in ten pages). I’ve found that the more I’ve thought out what I’m good at and how I’ve met my objectives, the more my reviewing manager is influenced by what I write. Sometimes it won’t change the actual review score, but it will change the tone of their comments back. Remember the living resume point above. Besides, short, terse reviews set the tone of ambivalence—NOT the message you want to send to your manager at review time. Go with metrics. If you have good measurement, show it. If you can show improvement in an area, document it. If you’ve built things that didn’t exist, list them out. Make it about YOU. This is the one time in your life to be ego-centric. Only use “we” when it’s appropriate, and take credit for things you should. Mostly, talk about WHY you got the results you did. Don’t say “I launched the tool on time and under budget.” Say instead, “because of my focus on meeting deadlines, and by providing leadership to the team, we avoided slipping the product on two occasions. At one point, when a four-week slip was imminent, I gathered the team together, and discussed all our options. I led several discussions that uncovered three alternatives, and after some research, we implemented an option that actually avoided a four-week slip.” Don’t worry too much about missing an agreed-upon deadline. Stuff happens, and everyone changes focus and makes tradeoffs. The best advice is to monitor your agreed objectives/commitments, and adjust them throughout the year. But if you didn’t, don’t’ worry about telling the story. Explain why you changed priorities, and make it a positive (I weighed the options, and the best business decision was to focus on the other project). If you just blew it off (“I forgot”), that’s another story… Don’t forget the “extra credit.” Many of the most important projects for your career are extra credit. Or sometimes things you did outside your job led to you improving your performance. Write about the volunteer committee you were on. Or a memorable conversation with a Director or VP. Or your experience mentoring. Or your improvement in your attitude or your ability to take criticism. It’s all fair game! If there’s something negative to say, bring it up yourself. If there’s an elephant in the room (something you “hope” your manager might forget about, but doubt she will), bring it up. Talk about how you struggled with it. Talk about what you did to fix it. Talk about what you’re doing to improve. You can spin it in a much better light than they will if they have to bring it up in their comments… Sometimes mistakes can be the best thing. I once went into a review dreading a review, because I’d really failed meeting my targets (in this case, a number of attendees at a seminar). I explained to my manager what I did to fix the problem, and how I knew it wasn’t going to happen again. I fully expected a low score on that review goal, and he ended up giving me a very high score. He believed (like me, and many managers) that excellence performance isn’t about not making mistakes, it’s about how you manage things when you fix them. Realize that half the equation is perception. More in some orgs. The review “formula” might say a 4 (on a 1-5 scale) means someone “Consistently exceeds position requirements and meets all objectives. Results achieved is exceptional, relative to individuals at similar levels.” In fact, you might have exceeded all your objectives, and had noteworthy accomplishments. The key here is “relative to individuals at similar levels.” In some companies or organizations, even if you’ve done a great job with measurable objectives, and even if you’ve exceeded them in every way, those that set and approve your rating might have a perception that doesn’t match the scale. If they think you’re not adding value, or if you’re considered by them to be in the “bottom third” of the org (performance wise), you won't get a top-third score. Your written comments in the review will often be too late. Don’t sweat the review. I once had a manager that said on a 1-10 scale, nothing at work should give you a 1-2 experience (really bad) or a 9-10 experience (really great). I like that advice. Besides that, if you’re really stressed out about a review, the review time isn’t the time to do anything about it. If there are things that you’re worried about, address them early in the year. Absent that, don’t be afraid to talk about problems with your manager. Most are there to help you, and they look good if you look good (in fact, they look bad if you look bad, so often managers will downplay problems to their management, especially if you’re actively working on improving). Ask your manager to edit some of their negative comments. Some might never consider it, but many will tone things down (once they’ve made their point in writing and in the one-on-one session) if they’ve been too forceful or pointed in their comments. At least take the opportunity to add your own comments to respond to theirs. Don’t let a negative example just sit there for your next potential manager to read. Don’t put it off until the last minute. Here’s one I learned just last night, as I opened the review for the first time (in preparation for today’s 5PM deadline): I’ve been incredibly busy to start with. But on top of that, part of me didn’t want to face the fact that I knew I’d missed at least one key commitment. I often dread doing my review, thinking I’ll be overwhelmed with how little I’ve accomplished. But EVERY SINGLE TIME I’ve finished up a review, I see how much I’ve accomplished. I feel more confident, optimistic, and secure that I’m doing the right things for the right reason. My most important audience is myself.

SMB Seattle: Using SMS in Mobile Marketing

John Porcaro — Wed, 18 May 2011 19:13:00 +0100

Mobile marketing can be complicated. You're dealing with an ever-changing format, and customers can be reluctant to opt into a marketing campaign using their mobile phone. We all get enough spam on our PC, it seems the last place we want interruptions from companies is on our phone. But savvy marketers are finding ways to use mobile devices in ways that customers actually appreciate. This morning, I attended the Social Media Breakfast, with Derek Johnson from Tatango. He shared a lot of interesting information about using SMS as a part of a local marketing campaign. Derek gave a case study of New York Pizza and Bar, a local pizzeria from Bellingham. They’ve found a lot of success using SMS opt in and mobile marketing using SMS to send coupons once a week. Some things he highlighted during the presentation and case study: Focus on getting people to opt in, rather than give them an “instant” coupon. That way, you don’t cannibalize purchases from the current visit, and you get permission to contact them going forward. Customers get 1,215 emails a month, and 150 SMS messages a month. SMS messages are opened 90% of the time, vs. somewhere around 5-10% of emails. Redemption rates of SMS much higher, too: 5-10% vs 1% email. Most SMS messages are opened within 4 minutes. 9% of customers use Twitter, yet 72% of customers use SMS. Customers get 9,100 Tweets a month, yet only 150 SMS messages. 50% of customers use Facebook, 72% use SMS. Use Facebook, Twitter, and email to get customers to opt into SMS messages. A good SMS campaign can be tricky to pull off, you have to constantly gauge cust response. Key to effective SMS messages: provide immediate value, make it time-limited. Key to avoiding SMS spam: opt-in from phone only and easy opt-out reminders. SMS spam is one of the worst things because it's permission based. Be vigilant about monitoring replies for "no's". How do you get people to opt in to SMS? Use short codes w/ call to action, wherever their eyes are ask for opt-in, QR codes. SMS marketing is still nearly 100% spam free due to opt in state. Open rate is thus also nearly 100%. Here at Metia, we work with clients who are sending thousands of text messages a month. I've found that following some common sense practices like these, that SMS marketing can have a major impact on meeting marketing goals. Thanks to all those that Tweeted during the presentation, making it much easier to create the list above: @JAMurdock, @LRiosSalazar, @Ann_TerriAnn, @colleencar, @SMBSeattle, @heidimiller, @MikeWhitmore, @kalynkinomoto, @LRiosSalazar, @tacanderson, @JaimeVogt, @RebeccYoshitani, @kevandt, @Jeffinseattle33, @RPRSeattle, and @KoverStory. Here are the slides from Derek's presentation. SMS Marketing Seminar View more presentations from Tatango

The Facebook to Company Value Index

John Porcaro — Fri, 13 May 2011 21:05:00 +0100

So, how many of the Top 20 are only in the Top 20 because of their marketing muscle and already-devoted fans? Ferrero Rocher and Nutella are in the Top 20 almost in spite of themselves--they didn't really do anything unique other than set up a page and let fans join. Today on my Facebook wall, Nelson Rodriguez made a good point about the Top 20 Facebook Consumer Brand Pages: An interesting question here is what the average total ad/marketing spend is for the top 20, versus say spots 200-250. In other words, how much are these a reflection of pitch perfect social media strategy, and how much are they a result of the overall brand strategy? ... Also, except for Facebook and Youtube, the rest of those brands I've known as household names since I was a wee lad. It's the bitter puzzle of social media - which you can even see on Youtube with the music videos dominating a lot ...of the views. The power of these democratizing technologies would be more clear if the top spots weren't the same old brands and content from "old media". Even with Twitter, you tend to find that the "top players" tend to have tons of cross-media access and exposure. Doesn't lessen the importance of this "new conversation door" literally ripped into the sides of corporate marketing plans, but it calls into question their magic bullet powers. I didn't find a report of advertising spent by company, but I did find the Top 100 Brands and their brand value, from Millward Brown's Brandz Report for 2011. I included fans from company official pages, but I didn't account for sub-brands; for example YouTube isn't included with Google, and Xbox isn't included with Microsoft. Dividing the number of Facebook fans by the brands value (in millions) gives a nice ratio of the number of fans per million dollars--not particularly useful, except as an index to judge success on Facebook relative to other companies. Based on this, there are a few surprises: Red Bull clearly outshines any other beverage, based on its market size. Starbucks leads almost all other consumer brands, including beverages, technology, autos, clearly they're doing something right. ZARA and H&M outshine Target, Walmart, and other retailers. Coke and Pepsi are very close, when you account for each other's market value Honda clearly outperforms Nissan and Toyota (though lags luxury brands) Subway is indexed at 3X McDonald's American Express indexes 18X Mastercard and >36X Visa It's a surprise that Apple and Nintendo continue to have no official presence on Facebook. # Company Value(mill) Facebook Fans Fans/Value Link to Facebook 35 Facebook 19,102 40,198,823 2,104 http://www.facebook.com/facebook 93 Red Bull 9,263 18,543,117 2,002 http://www.facebook.com/redbull 72 Starbucks 11,901 21,863,973 1,837 http://www.facebook.com/Starbucks 38 Disney 17,290 22,719,515 1,314 http://www.facebook.com/Disney 86 ZARA 10,335 8,897,110 861 http://www.facebook.com/Zara 62 H&M 13,006 7,027,164 540 http://www.facebook.com/hm 6 Coca-Cola 73,752 26,715,579 362 http://www.facebook.com/cocacola 65 Target 12,471 4,360,654 350 http://www.facebook.com/Target 81 Nokia 10,735 3,356,942 313 http://www.facebook.com/nokia 57 Nike 13,917 4,332,340 311 http://www.facebook.com/nike 54 Subway 14,306 4,372,165 306 http://www.facebook.com/subway 63 Pepsi 12,931 3,933,535 304 http://www.facebook.com/pepsi 25 BlackBerry 24,623 6,591,730 268 http://www.facebook.com/BlackBerry 30 BMW 22,425 5,480,811 244 http://www.facebook.com/BMW 50 Mercedes Benz 15,344 3,053,627 199 http://www.facebook.com/MercedesBenz 15 Walmart 37,277 5,672,125 152 http://www.facebook.com/walmart 66 Porsche 12,413 1,609,131 130 http://www.facebook.com/porsche 4 McDonalds 81,016 8,237,358 102 http://www.facebook.com/McDonalds 56 Honda 14,182 1,030,704 73 http://www.facebook.com/Honda 85 Sony 10,443 677,267 65 http://www.facebook.com/Sony 58 Intel 13,904 818,605 59 http://www.facebook.com/Intel 45 Budweiser 15,952 813,948 51 http://www.facebook.com/Budweiser 82 Ebay 10,731 538,923 50 http://www.facebook.com/eBay 40 American Express 17,115 620,524 36 http://www.facebook.com/americanexpress 89 Home Depot 9,877 329,001 33 http://www.facebook.com/homedepot 13 Verizon 42,828 1,344,342 31 http://www.facebook.com/verizon 95 Tim 8,838 257,996 29 http://www.facebook.com/TimOfficialPage 2 Google 111,498 2,966,759 27 http://www.facebook.com/Google 71 Hermes 11,917 305,102 26 http://www.facebook.com/hermes 32 Gillette 19,782 445,622 23 http://www.facebook.com/gillette 88 Nissan 10,072 222,870 22 http://www.facebook.com/Nissan 14 Amazon 37,628 830,847 22 http://www.facebook.com/Amazon 7 AT&T 69,916 1,448,210 21 http://www.facebook.com/ATT 27 Toyota 24,198 383,191 16 http://www.facebook.com/toyota 67 Samsung 12,160 131,255 11 http://www.facebook.com/SamsungUSA 44 Cisco 16,314 165,239 10 http://www.facebook.com/Cisco 19 T-Mobile 29,774 274,413 9 http://www.facebook.com/Tmobile 76 Telcel 11,558 100,959 9 http://www.facebook.com/telceloficial 5 Microsoft 78,243 627,835 8 http://www.facebook.com/Microsoft 18 HP 35,404 271,303 8 http://www.facebook.com/HP 64 BP 12,542 56,220 4 http://www.facebook.com/BPAmerica 74 O2 11,694 48,745 4 http://www.facebook.com/o2 73 FedEx 11,759 46,709 4 http://www.facebook.com/Fedex 22 Oracle 26,948 97,532 4 http://www.facebook.com/Oracle 36 Orange 17,597 61,963 4 http://www.facebook.com/orange 46 Loreal 15,719 48,589 3 http://www.facebook.com/loreal 75 Telecom Italia 11,609 33,462 3 http://www.facebook.com/TelecomItalia 49 Accenture 15,427 43,268 3 http://www.facebook.com/accenture 23 SAP 26,078 68,623 3 http://www.facebook.com/SAPSoftware 26 Lous Vitton 24,312 62,215 3 http://www.facebook.com/pages/Louis-Vitton/195408098273 55 Colgate 14,258 33,729 2 http://www.facebook.com/ColgateSmile 60 MasterCard 13,543 31,610 2 http://www.facebook.com/mastercard 21 Movistar 27,249 63,350 2 http://www.facebook.com/movistar.es 77 Santander 11,363 25,293 2 http://www.facebook.com/bancosantander 34 Proctor and Gamble 19,350 33,088 2 http://www.facebook.com/proctergamble 31 Tesco 21,834 33,192 2 http://www.facebook.com/tesco 69 Standard Chartered 12,033 18,093 2 http://www.facebook.com/standardchartereduae 94 Aldi 9,251 12,474 1 http://www.facebook.com/pages/Aldi/154601105730 87 Scotiabank 10,076 11,508 1 http://www.facebook.com/scotiabank 28 HSBC 22,587 21,935 1 http://www.facebook.com/pages/HSBC/9501297391 92 Bank of America 9,358 8,767 1 http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bank-of-America/32316911614 47 Citibank 15,674 12,229 1 http://www.facebook.com/citibank 84 US Bank 10,525 7,076 1 http://www.facebook.com/usbank 17 UPS 35,737 20,911 1 http://www.facebook.com/ups 9 Chinamobile 57,326 31,922 1 http://www.facebook.com/ChinaMobileHK 61 Petrobras 13,421 5,904 0 http://www.facebook.com/fanpagepetrobras 70 Siemens 11,998 4,922 0 http://www.facebook.com/siemenselectrodomesticos 98 Bradesco 8,600 2,206 0 http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bradesco/170971049602363 16 Wells Fargo 36,876 6,474 0 http://www.facebook.com/wellsfargo 48 NTT DoCoMo 15,449 2,319 0 http://www.facebook.com/pages/NTT-docomo/35721468232 10 GE 50,318 5,279 0 http://www.facebook.com/GE 99 Sberbank 8,535 797 0 http://www.facebook.com/pages/%D0%A1%D0%B1%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B1%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BA-%D0%A0%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%81%D0%B8%D0%B8/109613502441507 29 Baidu 22,555 1,586 0 http://www.facebook.com/pages/Baidu/8096389511 100 Goldman Sachs 8,439 493 0 http://www.facebook.com/pages/Goldman-Sachs/121388362246 39 RBC 17,182 621 0 http://www.facebook.com/rbcroyalbank 20 Visa 28,553 958 0 http://www.facebook.com/visa 37 Bank of China 17,530 530 0 http://www.facebook.com/orange#!/pages/Bank-of-China/35438715152 53 Icici Bank 14,900 432 0 http://www.facebook.com/pages/ICICI-Bank/130104117002121 42 TD 16,931 332 0 http://www.facebook.com/pages/TD-Ameritrade/331220677901 91 China Telecom 9,587 5 0 http://www.facebook.com/pages/China-Telecom/116590348407193 1 Apple 153,285 NO 3 IBM 100,849 NO 8 Marlboro 67,522 NO 11 ICBC 44,440 NO 12 Vodaphone 43,647 NO 24 China Construction Bank 25,524 NO 33 China Life 19,542 NO 41 ExxonMobil 16,973 NO 43 Agricutlral Bank of China 16,909 NO 51 Shell 15,168 NO 52 Tencini 15,131 NO 59 Carrefour 13,751 NO 68 Chase 12,083 NO 78 PetroChina 11,291 NO 79 Nintendo 11,147 NO 80 MTS 10,883 NO 83 Ping An 10,540 NO 90 Itau 9,600 NO 96 Barclays 8,760 NO 97 China Merchant's Bank 8,668 NO

The Top 20 Brands on Facebook

John Porcaro — Fri, 13 May 2011 00:34:00 +0100

What are the Top 20 Consumer Brands on Facebook, and what are they doing to be so popular? In March, I posted a link to a presentation I gave, featuring the Top 20 Brands on Facebook. I recently checked out the status of the Top 20, and found a few things changed. I weeded through the Facebook games, celebrities, music artists, TV shows, movies, and one-word topics, I updated the presentation to include the current Top 20. Since March, a lot changed. The new Facebook page design was rolled out. And in the Top 20, Disney overtook Starbucks, iPod disappeared from Facebook altogether, and Call of Duty: Black Ops, adidas Originals, and Xbox replaced Victoria's Secret Pink, Dr. Pepper, and Disneyland. The current Top 20 brand pages (according to AllFacebook.com) 1 Facebook 40.0 million2 YouTube 33.1 million3 Coca-Cola 26.6 million4 Disney 22.6 million5 Starbucks 21.8 million6 Oreo 19.2 million7 Red Bull 18.5 million8 Converse All Star 17.3 million9 Skittles 16.5 million10 Converse 16.1 million11 iTunes 14.1 million12 PlayStation 13.9 million13 Pringles 13.1 million14 Victoria’s Secret 12.9 million15 Windows Live Messenger 12.7 million16 Ferrero Rocher 10.5 million17 Monster Energy 10.3 million18 Call of Duty: Black Ops 10.3 million19 Nutella 9.8 million20 adidas Originals 9.5 million21* Xbox 9.0 million For your browsing pleasure, I present the latest and greatest Top 20 Facebook Brand Sites. Enjoy! Top 20-facebook-brand-sites-2-(metia-inc-may-2011-john-porcaro) So, What can we learn from the Top 20? Use profile photo and featured photos effectively Create well-written, conversational status updates Create custom offers that visitors find valuable Share inside information and unique assets Feature user-generated content Make sure content maps to brand campaign Acknowledge your biggest fans Invite visitors to “Like” your Page Link to online and offline events 1 Facebook 40.0 million 2 Coca-Cola 26.6 million 3 Disney 22.6 million 4 Starbucks 21.8 million 5 Oreo 19.2 million 6 Red Bull 18.5 million 7 Converse All Star 17.3 million 8 Skittles 16.5 million 9 Converse 16.1 million 10 iTunes 14.1 million

How Do You Define Social Media?

John Porcaro — Mon, 09 May 2011 18:32:00 +0100

Heidi Cohen writes a post gathering to 30 definitions of “Social Media." There’s some interesting insight given by several leaders in the social media space. For me, it’s pretty straightforward: Social Media are simply conversations taking place online. It can be a Tweet, a Check-in, a Facebook “Like,” or an uploaded photo or video shared among friends. Conversations about brands are taking place, and brands can choose to be part of those conversations, or not. As for the 30 quoted in Heidi’s post, they describe social media as a channel, PR, actions, marketing tool, platforms, user-generated content, digital content, interaction, information, locations, conversations, services, online technologies and practices, tools and toys, online text, pictures, videos and links, digital content-based communications based on interactions, applications aggregating users, media channel, evolution, revolution, contribution, information within online communities, objects or tools that connect people in dialogue or interaction, and the new Wild, Wild West of Marketing. How do you describe social media? More importantly, how are you participating?

23 of the Fortune 50 Quick to Tweet Back

John Porcaro — Fri, 06 May 2011 19:28:00 +0100

Mark Walsh at MediaPost writes an article about an interesting test of Big Brands’ use of Twitter. Sarah McFather at IQ looked at how the Fortune 50 companies use Twitter, and how responsive they are to interaction with customers. Of the 50 companies, they sent questions to 34, and 23 responded. What did they learn? Clearly label your purpose. Are you tweeting from the main company account? Are you focused on publishing news? Or specifically focused on customer support? Let your customers know what they can expect in your account description. Microsoft's Customer Support describes itself as the Official account for Microsoft Customer Service, and lists its hours of operation. Make it abundantly clear who you are when you reply. Leaving a message from the main account seems impersonal, and can send the wrong message to a customer. Sign your name, or leave your initials, so your customer knows there’s a human behind the response. Xbox Support leaves a list of customer service names and initials on the background image of the page. Keep the tone light and friendly. Your customer will take you more seriously if you don’t sound like you’re sending an automated response. Don’t be afraid to let your personality show through. Wells Fargo shows photos of its support reps, and addresses customers personally and cordially. Be as quick as possible in your responses. While you may not monitor your Twitter account 24/7, you can set it up so you’re notified when someone asks a question. Twitter will send an email or text when you get a DM or your company is mentioned. Tools like CoTweet can send a message when your company comes up in a conversation, and can help with workflow. GM Support was the quickest to reply--in just minutes--according to the study. For goodness sake, respond! In Twitter, nothing feels worse than being ignored. If you have a customer service department that’s not monitoring Twitter, now’s the time to get them on board.

Metia Listed in Seattle Met's Top Places to Work

John Porcaro — Tue, 03 May 2011 23:14:00 +0100

We're all proud to be working at Metia, and we certainly consider it one of the best places to work in Seattle. But it's nice to have that destinction recognized by others! Seattle Met published its annual survey, The Best Places to Work, and Metia was listed in the Top 20! MetiaWhat They DoFrom offices in Kirkland, Singapore, New York, and London, Metia designs digital marketing strategies for companies such as AT&T, Microsoft, and EA Games, helping to promote their businesses through social media, web marketing, email campaigns, and more. Perks, Praise, and Play Annual days off: 39. Metia pays 100 percent of medical, dental, and vision premiums. Free on-site gym. Staff lunches, chili cook-offs, happy hours. Wii bowling competition. Lounge with Ping-Pong table and TV/DVD player. Tuition reimbursement. Bonus. Stock options. “Exceptional performance is rewarded with additional time off, and spot bonuses or gifts at management’s discretion.” What the Boss Wants Initiative is encouraged and awarded. Reasons to Love This Job “Our employees enjoy a culture that embraces true work-life balance, not just the promise of it. We believe in fostering a learning environment in which we can continuously grow and develop skills and competencies.” Read the entire article on Seattle Met's website.

Jury Duty can be so UN-social

John Porcaro — Tue, 03 May 2011 22:19:00 +0100

I just got back from six days of Jury Duty. I’m so grateful that my employer supports its employees that are serving on Jury Duty. Here in Washington, companies must allow employees to serve, but aren’t required to pay its employees while they’re on Jury Duty. The current compensation for jurors is $10 a day, so the fact that Metia pays its employees while they serve on Jury Duty is just another reason it’s on the list of the Best Places to Work in Seattle. Something struck me while I was serving last week. The whole process was so counter-intuitive in the age of social networking. Cartoon (c) 2009, from Dave Wagner, dotProblems. First, jurors were selected completely at random, and then one-by-one, the pool of 50 selected was whittled down to 14, as each lawyer asked questions pertaining to the case. It sure seems like the whole process of sitting in a room with 50 people could have been done using demographic and historical information. The state knows the size of my family, if I’m involved in law enforcement or have family that is, and if I’ve ever been a party to a similar case. While not everyone is as “social” as I am online, they could do a quick Google search to see public information that could more completely let each lawyer know if I’d help or hurt their chances as a juror. Second, as jurors, we had to sit through two and a half days of testimony, without asking any questions, or giving any feedback. The hardest part was the instruction that we not talk about the case while we were hearing it, even with the other jurors. For those days, we had to listen, we could even take notes, but we couldn’t react, or really process any information except by ourselves. The other jurors, even the judge and attorneys were complete strangers, even though we spent all day with them. Third, we were sent to the jury room to deliberate. For three days, we poured over the evidence, and the notes we took, but we were told not to do any research on our own. We had our cell phones, but we couldn’t use them to Google information that might have helped (or hurt) our deliberations. At one point, we were given an 8-inch thick binder of phone records, but when we asked the court clerk which numbers were the defendant’s, and which were the plaintiff’s, we were told “to rely on our memory or notes.” Frustrating! I felt like I was caught in an episode of Criminal Minds or Law and Order: SVU. Finally, as the judge dismissed us to deliberate, we were instructed not to discuss the case with anyone outside of the jury deliberation room. Every day, he repeated the same instructions: “Do not discuss the case with anyone outside the jury room, and don’t use any kind of social media: Facebook, Twitter, or MySpace. Don’t text or Tweet anything.” Funny to hear a robe-frocked judge talking about “tweeting.” It made me smile every time. It was so difficult not to explain anything about the case to anyone. My kids would ask how things were going, and I had to be vague. I couldn’t even let co-workers know how long it would be, or whether we thought it would be a day, a week, or a month. As someone used to keeping friends and family updated using Twitter and Facebook, I seemed strangely disconnected about something that I wanted to discuss/debate/decide. I imagine that the system used by the courts will evolve over time, but it was clear there is a digital divide. And for the record, we found the defendant not guilty...

Acknowledging Your Fans with Social Media

John Porcaro — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 20:56:00 +0100

There’s a fine art to participating in an active discussion in a way that will actually build traffic. The most important thing you can do is to know who is influential among your audience, and then find ways to personally engage them in your marketing efforts. Of course, you can add them to your PR lists, and invite them to conferences and events. But if all they get from you are press releases and media kits, you’ll find your messaging lost among the noise. One fun and inexpensive way to engage influential customers is to personally acknowledge them online. Acknowledging your fans online works, because it cements the relationship they have with your product or brand, and it can make them an even more passionate advocate. It gives them something to talk about among their community, shining the spotlight on them, and your brand, at the same time. Lots of companies know the best conversations are those that seem authentic, spontaneous, and personable. Target has 4.2 million Facebook fans, but still takes time to recognize a good idea submitted in comments by a customer. This shows they’re listening, and that there’s a human behind the Facebook Page. The Old Spice Guy made micro-videos cool. In a video case study, Wieden + Kennedy demonstrates the strategy behind the popular advertisement, and the series of 180 videos made for those that responded to Tweets sent by the brand, generating 1.4 billion impressions over six months. Recently, Wolfgang Puck has been responding to people who are Tweeting, or checking into the restaurant on Foursquare. Using a handheld camera and without doing any editing, this type of video can be done inexpensively, and almost instantly. In another example, EA responded to a customer who found a glitch in the Tiger Woods video game, and posted a video online showing the animated Tiger Woods walking on water. EA responded with a video, which ended up getting more than 5 million views on YouTube. Of course, sometimes you just need to acknowledge that you’re part of the community yourselves. At a previous job, I led a team that created a series of simple videos to celebrate popular videogames that were launching. While it didn’t get millions of views, it did give the community something fun to talk about. You don’t have to use video to make an impression. I’ve worked with companies that use executives or celebrities to engage with influencers. Whether it’s participating in a podcast, inviting popular community members or bloggers to press events, or just recognizing their contribution, acknowledging your most passionate fans can make a big difference. For example, a well-known executive recorded a one-minute greeting to send to a popular online community that was celebrating an anniversary. It took almost no time, and the executive was happy to help. As you develop your strategy for engaging in social media, look for ways to be part of the conversation by acknowledging your fans. It can be the difference between speaking at your customers, and speaking with them. Need some idea? We love helping our clients come up with fun, effective ways to meet their product or brand goals.

The 5 Best Free Twitter Tools

John Porcaro — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 18:05:00 +0100

Twitter makes it easy to connect with colleagues, co-workers, clients, and customers. The Twitter client is pretty robust, but there are a few free tools that help make Twitter easier or more fun. I did a bit of digging around to find some tools that help visualize Twitter connections, and it reminded me realize just how rich the Twitter data can be. Twitter is not only changing what data they make available, they’re also changing the features they offer themselves. There are features coming up, like analytics, that will make some of today's popular Twitter tools obsolete. In fact, I found that several of the tools that existed just a year or two ago are no longer available. Of those that have survived the test of time (so far), here are my favorites: TweetDeck This is the client I use on my desktop, and on my phone. I love that it shows multiple columns, lets you monitor and post from multiple accounts (including Facebook), helps keep track of mentions and DMs, and makes it easy to follow hashtags, lists, or search terms. TweetReach TweetReach provides detailed metrics on how many accounts received your tweets, how far your message has traveled, and who is influencing the conversation. Indispensable if you want to show how far your Tweets can go, based on your followers, and the followers of those that retweet or mention your brand, product, or campaign. The last 50 tweets are free, for more, you can buy a monthly subscription, or pay for a standalone report of the last 1500 tweets for only $20. ManageFlitterA great tool that shows who hasn’t posted in at least 30 days, who isn’t following you back, who doesn’t have a profile pic, and who is trending towards quiet or talkative. Not that I'd ever unfollow anyone... MentionmappA tool that shows a map of mentions. Each user is connected to the people and hashtags they mentioned the most in recent tweets. Click a node to explore its neighborhood. TwiangulateA similar tool, but even more detailed is Twiangulate. See the biggest or the most influential followers of any two or three Twitter users, as well as mutual followers and mutual friends. Keep an eye out for even more interesting and useful Twitter tools as developers dig deep into the Twitter API. And if you use a Twitter tool that you love, I'd love to hear about it!

A Marketer’s Guide to Optimizing Facebook

John Porcaro — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 21:10:00 +0100

It’s a dream come true. Facebook Pages gives every marketer a brand new destination for customers! There are no hosting fees, no setup costs, no new design to create. It’s quick, painless, and in minutes, you have loyal customers visiting your site and sharing with friends. Why didn’t you do this whole “Social Media” thing earlier? Donning my "well-intentioned but sometimes misguided marketers" hat, I offer a handful of social media marketing suggestions I've occasionally heard, but would never suggest. To optimize your strategic marketing framework, enhancing goodwill and driving profitable revenue to enhance your brand reputation with consumers and suppliers from all demographic and psychographic segments, here's what you need to do to create a Facebook Page that might win you a Marketing Award! Choose a name that meets your corporate legal guidelines. Be sure to spell out the brand name and keep (R)’s and (C)’s prominently featured. Upload a logo. Hint: if you can’t find an approved logo, go to Google Images search, and find a logo that someone has used online. Don’t worry too much about photos. They’ll get populated as you upload logos, or when customers tag your company in their photos. To save time, link to your Twitter account or Blog. If you don’t have a Twitter account or Blog, find a feed for your company Press Releases. (They’re great, because they’re usually in ALL CAPS to get attention, and they have (R)’s and (C)’s prominently featured). Check your Facebook Page at least once a week. If there are any negative comments, ignore them completely, or delete them. To get people to Like your site, send an email out to co-workers, friends, and family telling them to “Like” your Page. If you have a website or email newsletter, put a link to your new Facebook Page at the bottom. Don’t make it too prominent, or else you’ll end up having people click on the link that doesn’t count as a call-to-action, and that will hurt your CTO rates or corporate website traffic numbers. Most marketers agree that a text link at the bottom of the email is sufficient. Remember that your site is the definitive place for your consumers, so make sure everything you say is scripted in advance, and has been run by legal. Don’t respond to questions or comments, because it will make you look like you haven’t got everything figured out. Make sure all of your links go to your website. It doesn’t help your website’s traffic stats if people only talk on Facebook. Always be professional. Don’t try to be funny, and never admit that you did anything wrong. Many people have gotten fired for saying something in public about their company that wasn’t part of an approved press release. To help Search Engine Optimization, use words like “premium, optimization, consumer, quality” as often as possible. To make sure your metrics are consistent across all your brand’s web properties, track Page Views, and don’t worry about things like “engagement.” To increase Page views, consider a sweepstakes or coupon to get people to your Facebook Page. Make sure all your best content is behind a “Like-gate”, so nobody can see anything valuable unless they “Like” your page. To save money and time, consider a contest that randomly picks someone who “Likes” your page. Or run a contest where you have fans upload photos and you pick the best one. People especially love making videos, so you should consider crowd-sourcing a video contest. To make sure it doesn’t reflect badly on your brand, have consumers use pre-selected clips. And make sure they sign a release giving you all rights to use the videos in your marketing. You can save some time creating a compelling Facebook Page if you re-create your entire website, and put it into a Tab on Facebook. You might consider having every link go back to the actual website, instead of trying to host it on Facebook. Even though 90% of the time Facebook users spend is on their own newsfeed, your goal is to get them to visit your Facebook Page, or better yet, your website. Since you can’t control what’s being said about your brand, do all you can to keep conversations on Facebook to a minimum. If you're building a custom-built app, make sure that the app only carries your approved brand messaging. Focus groups show that consumers love your messaging, so you shouldn’t have to resort to gimmicks. For example, you could have fans vote on which of your TV advertisements are their favorites, or you could create an app that puts a picture of them inside your logo. Be creative, but don’t forget your job is to convert consumers to meet your sales objectives! Don't try to shoe-horn Facebook into your tried-and-true advertising plan. 500 million people don't use Facebook to visit brand Pages! What are you doing to make your Page work? How do you make sure your brand is welcome in your Fans' newsfeed? How do you become part of the conversation?

Does Anybody Really Get Social Media?

John Porcaro — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 23:35:40 +0100

Gary Stein wrote an article last week on ClickZ, “Nobody Gets Social Media… Yet.” Worth a read. Gary highlights a few things that I’ve heard come up in recent conversations. The article brings up three mistakes we’re making in Social Media: We use motivational statements instead of mission statements We are fixated on ego-centric measurements We forget that social media is media I completely agree with the article, and at the same time, I know I’m guilty when it comes to making these mistakes. In conversations I’ve had in the past week, I’ve talked about how important it is to have genuine conversations with customers, and how powerful that can be. I’m usually quick to follow that up with the fact that social media lets one-on-one conversations achieve a greater scale because others are watching. If conversations on Twitter or in Facebook couldn’t be seen beyond the individuals who participate, those channels would be extremely limited to marketers. As a marketer, I usually default to “reach” as the definitive measure. But reach doesn’t tell the whole story, and it leaves out the role of influence or passion or relevance or targeting, and it misses offline word of mouth completely. Still, it’s a number that most marketers will start with, because that’s the way it’s been done for so long, and it’s all we have to compare it to. For what it’s worth, most marketers don’t actually believe TV spots or print ads are viewed by tens of millions, just like most people don’t believe every one of your followers will actually see your Tweet. When it’s all said and done (or Tweeted), each conversation needs to lead to a customer taking action. If the “medium” you choose is working, you’ll see results. It’s either going to be worth doing, or it isn’t. The trick is finding ways to accurately measure the effort and the result. As Social Media evolves, so will our ability to measure both. With that, will come rigorous scrutiny. Bring it on! The biggest mistake we can make is to become complacent in our efforts. To be successful, we need to be clear about how we use social media, and just as importantly, why we use social media. In the meantime, I’d love the formula for the definitive value of a Facebook Like and a Re-Tweet. Is that too much to ask?

Use Lists to Tame Twitter

John Porcaro — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 20:27:00 +0100

How do you keep up with Twitter when you follow more than a handful of people? If you’re like me, you created a Twitter account, you followed all your friends and the companies you work with, and then you sit back and watch your Tweet stream flow by. Your sister posts a link to a blog post. A company you follow re-Tweets links to a whitepaper. A co-worker posts notes from a meeting, and a friend talks about last night’s game. Charlie Sheen says something about Tiger’s Blood and WINNING. You see a few @reply’s and random comments without context. The more you follow, the more Tweets fly by. To make sure you see the tweets you really care about, create a few Lists. Twitter clients like TweetDeck and HootSuite make following lists easy. When I come back from a meeting, or finish up working on a project, I pop over to see what’s happening. At a glance, I can see what's being said by everyone I follow in one column, and the Tweets from co-workers in another. I’ve set up a few lists to keep things I need to know easy to get to. Co-workers (Metia-people) My LinkedIn connections Search term “Social Media” List of client contacts Personal list of my friends Other Dad Bloggers Xbox Community You can also follow Lists others have made. Listorious is a widely-used tool that lets you find lists to follow. In fact, Listorious publishes the Top 140 Lists, a good place to start. One nice feature of Lists is that you don’t need to follow a user to add them to a list. Pretty handy if you want to read a user's Tweets but not see their messages in your main timeline every day. For more information, check out How to Use Twitter Lists from Twitter.

Customers Don’t Think Your Facebook Page is a new Home for Them

John Porcaro — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:23:00 +0100

You created a Facebook page, you offered a deal for customers to "Like" the page, and you bask in the glory of Facebook Fandom. Now, even though you post new content all the time, you see very little interaction, and you just don't see the impact on the bottom line. Facebook just isn't worth it, you think. Paula Rosenblum, Managing Partner at Retail Systems Research, is working on a social media benchmark study for retailers. She publishes some baseline thoughts on how retailers are integrating Social Media into their overall marketing. She makes a point that’s worth reiterating: “…consumers don’t generally expect retailers’ social media pages to be a “home” for them. They have their support systems, thank you very much, and what they want from most product purveyors is good prices and notifications of deals.” Good advice. If you have a Facebook page, or a blog, or a Twitter account, make sure you know your customers well enough to deliver the right information to them. Showing up isn’t half the battle. In fact, it might be worse to have a lot of customers Like your page if you’re perceived as ignoring them. Rosenblum posts some tips that are useful for retailers. From Social Media for Retailers: Playing the Right Part in the ‘Virtual Village’: You’ve gotta be there. Period. … Hold Your Expectations in Check. … Encourage customer reviews and engagement. … Remember that things are changing crazy fast. Be agile. … Never be presumptuous. … Make it Win-Win. …

Social Media Web Analytics Meeting

John Porcaro — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 00:30:00 +0100

Thursday, a few of us attended the Web Analytics Association meeting, held on the Microsoft campus. The focus was on Social Media analytics, and there were people from all over the Seattle area attending to hear the latest in this ever-changing field. Blake Cahill of Banyan Branch gave a keynote, highlighting the current state of Social Media analytics. He reiterated that measuring social media is in its infancy, but it’s entirely possible to measure it using today’s tools. There may be a lack of standards, and even disagreement on what to measure, but if you tie it back to the same measures you have for other activities (reach, referrals, etc.), you can tie it to ROI. Facebook Analytics, YouTube Analytics, and tools like HootSuite make it easy to track social media activity. Foursquare Analytics are testing a feature that can even help retail shops track local weather to see how it affects check-ins. He presented a couple of case studies, and reported that Windstar Cruises found that social media accounted for a 7% increase in traffic to their website, and Facebook was among the top 5 referring sites. Gilt Groupe tracked the amplification of a “deal” they offered, and found that unique deal mentions directly attributed to sales. Blake finished up by offering five key tips: Determine KPIs Measure Integrate Social Media and web analytics Analyze Be flexible and change as needed. Good advice for those just starting out, or to those deeply entrenched in social media. A panel of local experts was assembled to answer questions, moderated by Anil Batra (POP). The panel included Blake Cahill (Banyan Branch), Mike Rich (comScore), Warren Sukernek (Alterian), Shauna Causey (Nordstrom), Cory Toedebusch (Microsoft Windows), and Bradley Young (Meteor Solutions). Lots of good questions were asked (you can find many of them Tweeted at #measuresea). 90% of sentiment tracking is “neutral.” How do you tackle the "90% neutral" challenge with sentiment analysis? You need to eyeball the sentiment stream initially, and then "train the tools. To make it scale, do sampling, and automate category keywords carefully. You can't escape "training" the system. Can you pull out SM analytics to measure against campaign? Yes, though you might not always want to. Meteor reported that when the tracked activity all the way through sales, they found that 1% shared the information through social networks,but that 20% of the traffic came from that 1%. They also found that that 20% made 2-4X the purchases than the others. Pretty valuable 1%. Can analytics be applied to fundraising? Yes, as long as you’re realistic with your goals. United Way did a test with a goal of 50K impressions. They found they made only 10K, but they got a lot of tweets that resulted in significant TV news coverage. What are the important metrics to track using Social Media? Depends on what you count. Social Advertising (track impressions); Social Mktg to fans (track awareness or brand affinity); Earned media (track activity by influencers). What are the most APPROPRIATE metrics for your goals. No metric fits all social. The hard part is figuring out which metrics are right for you. Anyone have one view of all analytics? Not really. Be careful that you don't create new metrics, but rather tie back the metrics to current KPIs if you can. Social media is in a stage of nascent emergence, the same place websites were 15 yrs ago. Brands are trying to figure out which metrics matter to them, so for now, stick to the ones that your org already cares about. Current tools working? Or a new breed on the horizon? There is no one tool, find those that work for your org. Bigger tools are snapping in social measurement, find paid or free tools. Might be better to build your own to pull in Twitter or Google, rather than pay for one. What are some free SM tools? Google alerts, Bing alerts, HootSuite, SociaMention, SM2. Expedia tracks Likes and Referrals from Facebook. What else should be tracked? If you can, track sales through ad links and promotions. One major online advertiser measured the impact based on content, which, how, where shared. They found that for sports, video did best; for politics, text was best. For more information, feel free to contact Olga Spaic, Metia's Director of Analytics, who helped set up the event. (photo by Jess Estrada)

Manchester United Facebook Case Study

John Porcaro — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 22:59:35 +0100

Being a bit of a soccer fan, I loved watching this case study on how Manchester United uses Facebook as part of their marketing to fans. Can't wait to see MAN UTD come to Seattle to play the Seattle Sounders in a friendly match this July!

Send a Message from your Facebook Page

John Porcaro — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 22:32:00 +0100

If you’re the admin of a Facebook Page, you can send a message to all your fans. Not saying that it's the best way to interact with fans, but it’s one more way to reach those that have “Liked” your page, and it might reach some that your Wall posts don’t. A user will see your message in the “Other Messages” section of Facebook, a place reserved for messages sent by Pages, or by someone who isn’t a “Friend” or “Friend of a Friend.” To send a message, click on Edit Page, then Marketing, then Send an Update. For more on the new way Facebook is handling messages, check out this video. Not everyone has the new email yet, but it’s coming. So now, if you want to send me an email at johnporcaro@facebook.com, I'll actually see it. It might take a while, since it'll end up next to all the other Updates I haven't read yet.

What's the Point of Foursquare, Anyway?

John Porcaro — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 22:10:00 +0100

Recently, someone asked me "Why would anyone use Foursquare?" I recall that when I first heard about Loopt around 2006, I had the same reaction. Why does anyone care where I am. Isn’t that just a little, uh, stalker-ish? Foursquare reports 6.5 million users, calling themselves a “location-based mobile platform that makes cities easier to use and more interesting to explore. By “checking in” via a smartphone app or SMS, users share their location with friends while collecting points and virtual badges. Foursquare guides real-world experiences by allowing users to bookmark information about venues that they want to visit and surfacing relevant suggestions about nearby venues.” Loopt, with 5 million users (available in the US only) describes itself as “ the best way to connect to people and places around you, … to discover the world around them, and find and enjoy the friends, places and events around them right now.Gowalla launched just a year ago, and already has 1 million users. Gowalla calls itself "a social travel guide that makes it easy to keep up with friends, share photos, highlight your favorite places and discover the world around you. ... When you do, you'll pick up unique pins and rewards, adding to your Passport along the way."Facebook Places is quickly gaining traction by seamlessly integrating with Facebook on mobile devices, and with services like Loopt and Foursquare. Facebook Places "allows you to see where your friends are and share your location in the real world. When you use Places, you'll be able to see if any of your friends are currently checked in nearby and connect with them easily. You can check into nearby Places to tell your friends where you are, tag your friends in the Places you visit, and view comments your friends have made about the Places you visit. Use Places to experience connecting with people on Facebook in a completely new way." And they recently added “Check-in Deals,” to sweeten the pot. Why do people check into apps like Gowalla, Loopt, Foursquare, or Facebook Places? To let their friends know, real-time, where they are so they can get together. To update their social status, to say “I like this place,” or “I went to this place.” Exactly the same reason you’d talk to friends about what you did over the weekend. To generate conversation, to find common interests, all that ooey, gooey social stuff. To find somewhere to go based on where they are right now. To leave recommendations and reviews. To save money when coupons or rewards are offered by local merchants. Why should you care about “Location-based” Social sites like Foursquare, Gowalla, or Facebook Places? If you own a business, especially one that benefits from walk-in traffic, having accurate, compelling information available for potential customers is important. And whether you’ve claimed your business or not, it’s likely that customers have already checked in, left comments, photos, or tips for others. Here are a few things that you should consider: Log into each of the popular services, claim your business, and see what’s being said about you. Make sure your information is up-to-date and accurate. Monitor feedback from your site and answer questions. Encourage users to check in and post reviews. Offer discounts that users will see when they’re nearby. Offer discounts to people who have checked in often, or the first few people who check in every day. Use Analytics offered by Facebook, Foursquare, and others to determine if you are meeting the goals you have for these social sites. Business-specific links for more information: Facebook Places - Foursquare - Loopt - Gowalla - Google Places Need help with your social strategy, local or global? We'd love to help make achieving your marketing goals a match made in, uh, location-based heaven.

Seattle Given A+, in Top Socially Networked Cities

John Porcaro — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 21:10:00 +0100

Men's Health did a study using Facebook and LinkedIn users per capita, plus Twitter usage and a smattering of other measures to come up with the most socially networked US cities. Does it surprise you that Seattle was given an A+, and is listed among the top 10? Most socially networked1 Washington, DC A+2 Atlanta, GA A+3 Denver, CO A+4 Minneapolis, MN A+5 Seattle, WA A+6 San Francisco, CA A7 Orlando, FL A8 Austin, TX A9 Boston, MA A10 Salt Lake City, UT A- See the rest of the list at Men's Health finds the most socially networked cities in America. For those of you in El Paso, or my old stomping grounds of Fresno, feel free to follow @metiaSEA and @johnporcaro on Twitter. And while you're at it, you have permission to finally dump your Friendster, Geocities, and MSN Spaces accounts...

Don't Diss the Customer - Respect Matters

John Porcaro — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 17:34:00 +0100

I’m passionate about Social Media—we can connect with individual customers like never before, and more importantly, customers now connect with us. With the emergence of Social Media tools, we can see the impact of that connection with real feedback, from real customers, in real-time. When a customer contacts us directly, and we respond with a comment or answer, it impacts the individual, and builds a stronger relationship. Social Media is so powerful because it greatly magnifies that impact. Authentic interaction resonates with everyone following the conversation. Others vicariously feel the effect of each personal interaction, and internally respond just as if you were having the conversation with them. It’s very different from traditional advertising, and it’s much more powerful. “Like” much? Today, SmartBlog on Leadership shares seven critical ways managers can show respect to their employees: Recognition, Empowerment, Supportive feedback, Partnering, Expectation setting, Consideration, and Trust. I think the same points can be used to demonstrate respect for your customers and community members online. So how do you show respect in Social Media? Recognition: Thank those that participate or offer useful suggestions. Acknowledge contributions from individuals. Empowerment: Offer resources for the community, so they can be seen as leaders in their own communities. Supply assets, insight, and unique opportunities for your most active customers. Supportive feedback: Encourage those that are helping grow the community. Partnering: Allow community leaders to share the spotlight, and encourage active partnering. Be helpful. Expectation setting: Let community leaders know how they can help, and what they can expect from you. Establish community guidelines, and be consistent. Consideration: Be human. Show empathy, concern, and think about how your words online will affect all your customers, not just the one you're responding to. Trust: Show individuals and community leaders that you trust them, and they’ll trust you more in return. Thinking about customer interaction this way might take some getting used to, but just like relationships at work or at home, mutual respect is the foundation of a great relationship. Are you doing enough to show respect in your Social Media efforts? Metia helps its clients build a stronger Social Media presence to achieve overall marketing goals. Whether you're just getting started and need a good framework, or you need help monitoring, measuring, engaging, or building community programs, we can help. We promise to show you the utmost respect... image brentwood uk

Strategies to Get the Second Click (Retail Online Integration magazine)

John Porcaro — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 18:08:00 +0100

An article I wrote for Retail Online Integration magazine's ROI Report was published today. Would love to hear your thoughts! Strategies to Get the Second Click Online retailing is becoming increasingly sophisticated. Marketers have access to information about every aspect of customer interaction: number of website visits, time spent on the site, email open and clickthrough rates, conversions, and purchases. With today’s sophisticated analytics, marketers can fine-tune their messaging and offers to optimize results and move beyond a simple first-click visit. ... The second click comes when a visitor to your site chooses to "Like," comment, share or rate the content. These second clicks, often presented as personal recommendations or referrals, are the most trusted form of advertising. When a visitor recommends your content to their friends and family, your message is organically woven into conversations your customers and prospects are having online. More importantly, this is happening in channels that are extremely hard to reach through traditional advertising. ... Read the rest of the article at Retail Online Integration.

Do Ethics in Business Matter?

John Porcaro — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 17:46:00 +0100

Today, the Ethisphere Institute named Microsoft (a Metia client) to its list of its 110 most ethical companies, along with T-Mobile, Zappos, Salesforce.com, Adobe, Symantec, General Mills, PepsiCo, Starbucks, and about 100 others. The company judged the applicants on Ethics and Compliance Programs, Reputation, Leadership, Innovation, Governance, and Corporate Citizenship and Responsibility. As a former long-time Microsoft employee, and as an employee of an agency who works closely with Microsoft, I’m proud to see that Microsoft made the list. Why does it matter? I’m a firm believer that all aspects of business come down to trust: a customer relationship is based on a simple transaction: they trust you that your product will be worth the money they give you. If that trust is ever broken, because of a bad experience, or a faulty product, or a misunderstanding, they won’t return. And once a company, product, or brand earns a reputation of mistrust, it’s nearly impossible to repair. Most companies don’t look at its customers as individual human beings who make a conscious decision to trust the company. They make decisions based on broad stereotypes or carefully crafted demographic groups or generalized personas. But in reality, items aren’t bought by 18-34 year old urban-dwelling women. Purchases are personal, based on discussions someone has had with friends, or after taking time to really find something that’s best for them. Every action someone takes, whether it’s in the context of marketing, sales, or setting up a play date for your kids, either supports or erodes trusting relationships. Why does it matter? Because a company that has a strong ethical foundation is going to do the right thing for its customers.

What the Top 20 Facebook Brand Pages are doing right

John Porcaro — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 21:00:00 +0100

[EDIT: This presentation was updated in May 2011: The Top 20 Brands on Facebook] Today, I gave a presentation to a group outlining the current Top 20 Facebook Brand Pages. In this brief slideshow, I take a look at the current Top 20 Brands (as of March 2011), and briefly show one or two things each is doing well. Top 20 Facebook Brand Sites (Metia, Inc., March 2011, John Porcaro) There are a few things these brands are doing right, that earn them a place in the Top 20. Invite visitors to “Like” your Page: If you're not, you're missing the chance for future conversations with customers Create well-written, “human” status updates: The more conversational, the more likely what you say won't be ignored. Create custom offers that visitors find valuable: Think value in terms of the customer, not soley what you think is valuable. Share inside information and unique assets: Often you have access to information, photos, videos, or items that customers would love to access. Share! Feature user-generated content: Invite your customers to join your campaign. Create “sharable” apps that are social by design: Apps created for a social site should be social at the core. Make it easy to include their friends. Make sure content maps to brand campaign: Facebook isn't the place to go rogue with your brand. Tie it into your overall marketing for best results. Create an emotional connection: People come to Facebook for social, emotional reasons. Tap into that if you can. Acknowledge your biggest fans: Highlighting your biggest fans is a low-cost way to super-charge their advocacy. Engage across your online properties: Tie into your website, your mobile site, your apps. Be consistent for more powerful impact. Link to online and offline events: Events are a way to keep your brand top-of-mind, and keeps a reminder in your customer's Facebook newsfeed. Enhance the offline experience online: Offer hints, tips, FAQ's, to make their offline experience better. Whether you have a few Fans, or millions, there's probably more you can do to engage your customers using Facebook. If you manage a Facebook Page for your business, we would love to help make your Facebook Page outstanding. Top 20 source: AllFacebook

Facebook Page Admins: 3 Things To Do Today!

John Porcaro — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 18:17:00 +0100

The new Facebook Page design was rolled out yesterday. Now that your Page has the new design, you need to do a little housekeeping. There are several things you should do to make your Page work for your brand, but there are a few things you should do immediately. Take 3 minutes to do 3 things today: 1) Check your photos. Now that photos are more prominently featured, you have a chance to make a visual impression. Make sure they support your brand. Admins can hide photos, so if the wrong photos are featured, keep hiding them until you find the right ones. The last five tagged photos are featured (or the last five photos if none are tagged), and displayed in random order. Tag the five photos you want on your Page with your Page name. Keep in mind that if someone tags your photo with your Page name, that photo will show up—make sure you monitor your Page regularly! 2) Feature the right “Liked” Pages. Look at your “Liked” pages and feature the ones you want shown. Your Page will randomly display other Pages you’ve Liked, but if you want more control, you can choose which Pages to feature. (Edit Page/Featured/Add Featured Likes) 3) Sign up to receive notifications when someone interacts with your Page. If you’re just getting started, quick response to questions/comments will reinforce interaction. (Edit Page/Your Settings/Email Notifications) I’ll wait while you make the changes… Welcome back. Now, if you have more than 3 minutes to spare, here are a few more things you should do: Add Featured Admins. If you’re comfortable featuring the people behind your Page, your Page will seem more personal. Check with the Admins before featuring them, to respect their privacy. (Edit Page/Featured/Add Featured Page Owners) Check your Page category. Now that your Page’s “category” is shown, it’s more important to make sure it’s right. You can change the category, something you couldn’t do previously. (Edit Page/Basic Information/Category) Make sure your Profile Photo works in the new size limits. The image limits have changed, from 200x600px to 180x540px. (Edit Page/Profile Picture) Change Wall Posts to “Only Posts by Page” if required. Page Walls now default to posts by “Everyone”--a good idea to encourage interaction with your Page, but your posts can get buried if you already have a lot of activity. (Edit Page/Manage Permissions/Wall Tab Shows) Enable Profanity Blocklist and add terms to block. This will help clean up comments that show up on your page. (Edit Page/Manage Permissions/Profanity Blocklist, Moderation Blocklist) “Hide” any posts that appear to be spam, or that shouldn’t belong on the Page. “Like” affiliated Pages, if your Page could benefit from the association. Comment as your Page. To extend the reach of your Page’s presence, comment as your Page on other Pages. Make sure your comments are relevant and add value, so you’re not seen as spamming. (Account/Use Facebook as Page) Remove duplicate “Admin” profiles you’ve created. If you’ve created a separate personal profile on Facebook to keep your personal and work activities separate (many Page admins have), you should consider removing your work profile now. Facebook terms of use specifically prohibit creating more than one profile. Regularly switch to Admin view and check out your Page newsfeed. That way, you can see what’s being posted by other Pages you’ve Liked. Take part in the conversation to have your Page show up in the newsfeed of another Page. (Account/Use Facebook as Page) Upload new photos regularly, and take time to properly tag them. This will make your site seem more current, and gives the added benefit of extending the reach of your Page when you tag other Pages or users. Alright, your Page should be looking much better now. If you still have a little time, here are a few things that are worth doing. Create a Welcome Page. If you haven’t already, create a Welcome page that specifically prompts first-time visitors to “Like” your page. Getting a visitor to Like your Page is the most important thing you can do. It’s the best way to begin interacting with your customers, and puts your brand into their newsfeed when they interact with your Page. (Edit Page/Manage Permissions/Default Landing Tab) Use all the space allocated to your profile image. This “real estate” can be extremely valuable, and offers you the chance to feature the latest brand campaign, offer, or product features. Treat it like a banner ad for your brand. (Edit Page/Profile Picture) Dive into the new analytics. Take some time to familiarize yourself with the new analytics that Facebook just rolled out. (View Analytics) Rethink automatic posts to your Page. If you link to an RSS feed to pull in blog posts, consider doing it manually to make the posts feel more personal. Facebook pulls in the title of the blog post as the title of the Wall post, then adds the title of the blog post again, along with the default image of the blog post. This can result in a Wall post that duplicates the titles, and often the brand image. This not only wastes “above the fold” real estate, but makes your Page seem impersonal. Facebook Pages can be a powerful tool in your marketing toolbox. Are you getting the biggest bang for your buck? If you're just getting started, or need to fine-tune your Facebook presence, let us know how we can help.

Don’t forget the Relationship part of CRM

John Porcaro — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 18:32:00 +0100

Somewhere along the way, marketers forgot about the Relationship part of Customer Relationships Management. Neil Rosen at MediaPost wrote an article called How Did We Lose the R? It got me thinking about customer relationships in context of CRM. When the phrase Customer Relationship Management was coined, it was the name given for the system of keeping track of customer contacts. CRM systems do a great job profiling a customer, tracking sales, even monitoring activities like emails opened, or offers accepted. But the term “relationship” is used to describe a virtually one-way relationship, one based almost solely on monetary transactions. It would be hard for me to describe having a “relationship” with someone where all I did was make a purchase of some kind. I don’t have a “relationship” with my grocer, or my banker, or even my favorite brand of soda (though I’m undoubtedly in their “CRM” system. I feel like I have a relationship with a few brands, mainly because I know the people behind them, or because I identify myself in part by the use of their product. I have a relationship with Xbox, because I helped build the brand for the company, and I took pride in my affiliation with them. I have a relationship with Golazo, a sports energy drink, because I’m friends with the founder of the company, I watched the launch closely, I feel some affinity with their brand attributes because I’m actively involved in soccer. I feel like I have a “relationship” with these brands because they’ve given back to me. They’ve shared a part of what they are with me. They treat me like I have something to offer them, other than my wallet. And in return, I give back to them in more ways than simply buying their product. I recommend them to friends. I purchase more than I would otherwise. I go out of my way to stay current on their offers, their news, and their promotions. I’m an evangelist for them, because the affiliation makes me feel better about myself. Over the years, CRM has evolved to become more and more sophisticated. We have opportunities today we didn’t have five years ago, to really understand customers, to customize content, to target customers with pinpoint accuracy. Today’s CRM systems allow for pinpoint targeting. Analytic systems help find your best customers, and tracks their lifetime value. And with the touch of a button, you can send just the right message to the right customer at the right time. Sophisticated CRM systems can do some amazingly powerful things. But unless you have marketers who look at customer data intelligently, and create messaging and campaigns with craftsmanship, the best tools won’t perform any better than the old databases from years ago. To really manage relationships with your customers, you need to do a few things well: Know Your Customer. Use analytics to segment your customers into groups that are small enough to be relevantly different, but large enough to viably allow unique content creation. Understand them at a human level, why do they consume your product or service? What need does it fulfill? Treat each customer with Respect. Fight the urge to think of customers impersonally. Each person made the decision to purchase something from you, or chose to spend time learning about your product. Your customers trust you, start to trust them back. Build a meaningful Relationship by adding value. Sometimes telling a customer about your company, product or service is valuable. But not usually. Give your customers something to talk about, something worth sharing. Be interesting. Be unique. Be authentic. Track the relationship over time. Whether it’s Customer Lifetime Value, or Net Promoter, or Engagement, track your relationship individually, and as a whole. Set goals to enhance engagement, to grow referrals, and to increase CLV. Developing relationships takes time, but the effort you put into it will make your customers more loyal, and will strengthen your brand. I’d love to hear your thoughts about developing relationships. What have you done to enhance the relationship you have with your customers? Was it worth it? CRM image by freeimageslive.co.uk - creator

Helping Kids Be Safe Online

John Porcaro — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 19:55:00 +0100

Allface.com releases a report today claiming that half of 12-year-olds in the US are on Facebook. They reiterate a Pew study done in 2009, showing that 46% of 12-year-olds use social networks, then make the assumption (which I tend to agree with) that the numbers have increased in the last two years. Facebook’s official policy states that a user must be at least 13. The policy to disallow children under 13 stems from a law passed in 1998 called COPPA, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. It mandates that a website cannot collect any personal information of a child under 13 without a parent’s permission, and without making it very clear on every page what the information will be used for. The law is far-reaching, and the FTC is serious about enforcing it, so social networks not designed specifically for children simply don’t allow users under 13. The FTC has created information on Children's Online Privacy” pages if you want more information. As a father of “tweens,” and I think it’s important that my kids are able to stay in touch with their mother and me, and with each other. Each of them has monitored access to the Internet, and each of them has a cellphone. Some parents have asked me why anyone under driving age needs a cell phone, especially one with all the features a smartphone offers. Part of it is because I’m such the gadget geek, and rather than them always asking to use my phone, it made sense to get them their own, so they can play music, games, text, and surf the web. Part of it is so I can keep better track of them--the cellphone plan I have has good parental controls, from limiting the time they have access, to creating a white, or black list of who they can call or text. I haven’t set up GPS tracking, but the capability exists, and I’m sure I’ll find it useful once my children are more mobile. Whenever I bring this up, I hear comments that decry the lack of communications skills of today's youth. Kids today are communicating in ways that make adults’ heads spin. It’s second nature to be texting, posting photos, and going online to see what their friends are up to. And even though it may seem like they're communicating less than we did when we were kids, I argue that they are actually communicating more, it’s just done differently. When I was 12 or 13, I had to wait for my sisters to get off the phone to call my friends, and if their sisters were already on the phone, all we’d get was a busy signal. To get a little privacy, I'd take the 12 foot long coiled chord, and stretch it as far as I could to talk in the coat closet so my sisters wouldn't overhear me. I remember getting walky-talkies for Christmas one year, and spending hours chatting with my brother in the room next door, or with a friend who lived down the road. My big sister’s boyfriend had a CB radio, and I was fascinated with the concept of being able to communicate with anyone over the airwaves. Now, I think it’s a nice touch when I get a text from my daughter that says “I love you,” or “good night,” even though they might be down the hall. It’s particularly comforting when they’re not at home. And even though I don’t hear their voice on the phone, I do hear their voice coming through when I read the text, and I feel just as connected. There are lots of good tools parents can use to help keep their kids safer online. GetWise has an outline for an “Internet Use Agreement.” Get Game Smart offers advice on keeping kids safe playing games online. SafeKids.com publishes A Parents Guide to Facebook. It's probably not a question of if young kids will have social network accounts, it's more a question of when. Parents should make sure their kids are safe online. And businesses online should be careful how they market to them. If you're a parent of kids who are online, what are you doing to help keep them safe? What tips can you share?

Five Takeaways from the 2011 Summit on Customer Engagement

John Porcaro — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 19:57:00 +0100

This week, a few of us attended the 2011 Summit on Customer Engagement, formerly the Customer Reference Forum. There were two tracks of presentations, for Customer Reference Programs, and Social Media Interaction, so even though I just started at Metia, I was right at home talking about Social Media, and its place in programs used in large enterprise companies like Microsoft (my former employer and Metia client). Customer References are an important part of the sales cycle for products or services that are sold into enterprises. When a company (like Microsoft, a client of Metia) is hoping to sell its products into an enterprise, they look for specific case studies of successful implementations in similar environments. By having a case study, white paper, or video testimonial from a customer, they can feel better informed before making a complex or expensive purchase. Companies that provide software or services to large enterprises need a way to find customers willing to become a reference, and write, produce, get approvals, and publish case studies as part of ongoing sales cycle. We sponsored the annual Summit because Metia has teams in London, Seattle, and Singapore that manage all aspects of Customer Reference Programs; from writing, localization, producing videos, or implementing a robust database system, to managing the workflow and publishing the studies online. Find out how Metia can help you with your Customer Reference Program. This year's Summit on Customer Engagement featured senior-level speakers from companies like Microsoft, Intel, Cisco, Hitachi Data Systems, Siemens, and Xerox. All of them had fascinating examples to share of successful programs and some things they learned along the way. Here are Five Key Takeaways from the 2011 Summit on Customer Engagement: Social Integration Grows Your Audience Social Media is everywhere. It's not so much an additional part of working with customer stories, it's integral to them. Customers are talking online. Big companies may have private forums for their influencers to share their experiences. We heard about online events, password-protected forums, and private communities where companies, and customers can speak freely. But we also heard stories of influencers that were found online, in community forums, using Twitter or Facebook. Successful companies use social media to listen to their customers, share information with the community, and participate openly with blogs, Twitter accounts, public forums, or Facebook pages. The role of people involved in Customer Reference Programs is changing. Social Media makes everything that customers do more visible, and if done correctly, can vastly increase the reach and impact of customer stories. The line between customers featured in references, and Influencers and Evangelists are blurring significantly. And when a potential customer is investigating a software or service, the information they gather doesn't stop with carefully crafted RFPs and professionally written testimonials or case studies. They may stumble upon user forums, YouTube videos, community sites, or learn about solutions in conversations online and offline. Leverage Case Studies for More The companies that have the most robust programs, Cisco, Salesforce, Microsoft, and others, all look at their influencer programs holistically. They integrate all aspects of marketing, sales, and support to create programs that find and support influencers. They then leverage the best customer evidence from their customer reference programs. PR appreciates good stories, marketing can promote interesting uses of their products, customer support can point customers to people who have solved problems they might be having, and even the customers like to share their experiences. Develop Good Relationships Finding customers to share their reference for a case study can be daunting, but if you don't already have a good relationship with your most vocal customer, you can start small. Become involved in your customer communities. Learn what their pain points are. Help when you can. When a customer goes out of their way to help others, recognize their contribution. Whether your program is formal, or you simply have an advocate on your team who is already participating with your customers online, relationships are based on a healthy balance of give-and-take. Don't take too much, or give too little. Involve C-Level Executives Customer Reference Stories might not be the sexiest thing a marketing or sales team produces, but it could be! Well-told stories from sincere, authentic customers can be magical. I'm not talking about glossy TV ads or over-produced videos. A good story can play a part with PR, with marketing to advocates online, in CRM, and maybe even advertising. Consider creating a council of co-workers from groups across your company, and work on gathering the best stories from PR, Sales, and Support. Your work may be more valuable if you create it with a broader audience in mind. Use the Right Tools for Social Measurement, Database Systems, and Project Management Lots of folks we talked to are overwhelmed. Managing a Customer Reference Program is a tough job. It requires a strong mix of skills, including project management, customer interaction, excellent writing, cross-group collaboration, and a good deal of creativity, patience, and persistence. There are tools out there that can simplify the process. Social listening tools like Radian6 can help you identify influencers. A good enterprise reference manager database can help with workflow (Metia has a good one that we customize for customers). And of course there are firms like Metia that can help with project management, writing, producing videos, publishing, even localization customer stories and case studies around the globe. We have teams that love working with companies doing CR programs. Whether you need a little help in a crunch, or you're starting from the ground up-give us a call, we might be able to help. Xerox's Laura Ramos shares her thoughts on her blog, B2B Marketing POSTs, Live from the Summit on Customer Engagement 2011 Edition and Summit on Customer Engagement 2011, Day Two. "Why does an event like this attract over 180 participants, and about a dozen sponsors, during these times? By speaking to the key issues that business executives worry about. Need proof? The IBM Global Survey of 1500 CEOs showed that "reinventing the customer relationship" is one of the top 3 issues concerning top executives. CEOs know that social media gives buyers more control over the message and dialogue, and company leaders need more advocates to help spread the good word in burgeoning social channels where buyers turn. CEOs also see great value when their teams involve customers in product development, marketing, and support functions to spur new levels of innovation and to get better intelligence on what the market wants and needs." I enjoyed spending time with so many folks I met, Bill Lee from the SCE, Rhett from Intel, Mark and Bobby from Microsoft, Robin from inEvidence, Dana from Percussion, Eric, Keri, and Tena from Projectline, Elise from Salesforce, Polly from Ariba, Wally from SAS, Chrissy from Sybase, Erica from HDS, Kristin and Michelle from Dell, Cynthia from HP, Deborah from Citrix, Alecia from Infor, Millicent and Jeff from Wells Fargo, Valorie from Amdocs, Jeanne from Lexmark, Alisa and Jeanette from Cisco, Heather from incontact, Diana from EMC, Nadia, Janet and Lisa from RIM, Moria from Compellent, Laura from Cornerstone, Maria from NetApp, Sean from Red Hat, Laura from BigSky, Jill and Josh from Boulder, and Laura from Xerox. Finally, I collected a few of my favorite tweets from the #2011SCE stream (some of them were my own), to give you a flavor of the sessions. And I posted some pictures on my Flickr account. Enjoy! Influencer Mktg Panel #2011SCE: Don't blog case studies yourself, have product team who are already blogging feature customer stories. Influencer Mktg Panel #2011SCE: How to convince C-level to adopt SM? Small steps. Build on success. Don't "boil the ocean" Influencer Mktg Panel #2011SCE: Working with community? Let people know how they helped. Be responsive. Listen. Let go, don't fret. Influencer Mktg Panel #2011SCE: Hester: Objectives first, specifics later. Start the dialogue, build organically. Influencer Mktg Panel #2011SCE: Starting with Influencers? Eduljee: Start with WHY, not HOW. Be strategic, don't just jump in. Ifluencer Mktg Panel #2011SCE: How to find Influencers? Hester: Influencers can change, sentiment shifts often. Pay attention. Influencer Mktg Panel #2011SCE Wally Thiessen @SAAS Canada: Infl. Mktg is engaging customers at grass roots to evangelize to their company Live From the Summit On Customer Engagement, 2011 Edition #2011SCE: http://t.co/baQcC7T #2011SCE. Hearing 17% to >40% deal acceleration using customer references to close deals. #2011SCE The benefits of the roundtables are exceptional: personal relationships with C-level executives, better strategic direction. #2011SCE The auto roundtable includes 24 C-levels from all the major auto companies. Including Siemens and non-Siemens customers. #2011SCE In the auto industry, Siemens has crated roundables (for executives), councils (for decision makers) and forums (implementers) RT @inEvidence: #2011SCE. Great tip just overheard ' create a map with the geotags of your case studies'. We're going to try this :o) #2011SCE To infiltrate industry groups: sponsor, get involved in standards work, help create standards that relate to the work you do. Important to recognize the fabric of the industry you're looking to penetrate. How do decision makers make decisions? #2011SCE Best practice for display of customer content on a corporate web site: http://www.salesforce.com/showcase #2011sce #2011SCE Cleveland State U made their OWN video about its green efforts, with the help of Xerox (unknown to Xerox). Highly effective. @lauraramos "Customers are more willing to participate in videos than written case studies" #2011SCE #2011SCE Laura Ramos showing the current Xerox campaign. Good affiliation marketing and it's lovely; part of repositioning Xerox #2011SCE People were 2x more likely to download a case study when they visited Xerox's interactive real business: http://bit.ly/dtd3fB RT @nadiastolfi Retain, Acquire, Develop = RAD. I just thought that was rad. #2011SCE < it is pretty rad, isn't it? #2011SCE Xerox also uses video to tell the story of how it is no longer "the document company." A great and funny ex: http://bit.ly/gcius7 if you've no idea what the Monks commerical was #2011SCE http://www.digibarn.com/collections/movies/digibarn-tv/xerox-monks/index.html #2011SCE . . . they also include pdf transcripts because these are found by search engines. #2011SCE Xerox uses such customer videos and video case studies on its website, which get more hits than traditional pdf's . . Xerox customer videos get 2x interaction than case studies #2011SCE #2011SCE . . . and they also get video of attending customers responding to what they're hearing. Flip cameras are fine for these. #2011SCE Xerox prof services is also using video to feature its thought leaders, such as Patty Calkins, and lets people interact with her. Salim Ali @SAP #2011SCE: Orchestration 3 C's: Content (Curation), Cadence (Message Delivery), Conversation (Enga... http://bit.ly/h9DAv4 #2011SCE How SAP harvests communities for references: They created a contest: "describe your innovative use of SAP Interactive Forms." #2011SCE Partners can be a big help in seeding conversations--they love to engage new audiences of potential customers. #2011SCE Map your audience, seed the community, harvest leads and references. This is easy conceptually, difficult to organize. #2011sce: metrics for the community are tied to the 'health' of the community. It's nt just how many members, how much content etc Identify external AND internal consumers of your customer evidence. #2011SCE Salim Ali @SAP #2011SCE: Orchestration 3 C's: Content (Curation), Cadence (Message Delivery), Conversation (Engage/Deliver) Find best match between customer & activity, nominate customers for awards, build relationships w sales teams #2011SCE Salim Ali @SAP #2011SCE: Community Seeding: 1. ID Evangelists, 2.ID VIPs, 3.Engage Members, 4.Engage Audience RT @johnporcaro: RT @lauraramos: #2011SCE - My summary blog post on today's event. Great event! http://bitly.com/hqmdxl #2011SCE Mark Eduljee @Microsoft : unless u have a relationship, don't ask people in your community to be a trad cust ref. #creepy? #2011SCE Mark Eduljee @Microsoft MVP Program: Listening correctly requires time, resources, exec buy-in. It's a commitment. #2011SCE Mark Eduljee @Microsoft: Listening Output Giding Principles. Right info, right time, right source. System should weed out noise. Monitoring v listening in social media: bulk data v actionable insights #2011sce #2011SCE Karen Newman from Siemens 'account managers were tasked with providing three references each to kickstart the programme' #2011SCE Mark Eduljee @Microsoft: With Influencers, focus on: Pre-Release, Innovation. Release: Loyalty. Post Release: Knowledge. #2011SCE Mark Eduljee @Microsoft: Who are MS MVPs? 4,000 Influencers from 99 countries, based on product competency http://bit.ly/19vC8J #2011SCE Mark Eduljee @Microsoft: Give Access to Connectors, Listen to Critics, Status to Creators, Tools to Collectors #2011SCE Mark Eduljee @Microsoft: Online, there are: Connectors, Critics, Creators, and Collectors #random milk & oj are the most consumed beverages on the microsoft campus. fabulously healthy! #2011SCE #2011SCE sitting w/mark eduljee from microsoft. check out the blog http://www.markeduljee.com/ I posted some pix from #2011SCE on Flickr: http://bit.ly/eo9W0Y. @JeanetteG @Cisco #2011SCE: What's next? Social connection to sales, Social CRM. Lots of data, how to tie SM into sales. @JeanetteG @Cisco #2011SCE: Workflow allocation? SM jobs like digital strategist, also make SM part of more people's jobs. @JeanetteG @Cisco #2011SCE: check out @Cisco's CTO, @padmasree. She's popular, and now part of comm plan @JeanetteG @Cisco #2011SCE: ROI? Start with cost reduction story, then Share of Voice, Sentiment, via @Radian6, then # of leads @JeanetteG @Cisco #2011SCE: Doing a ton of @uStream video chats, lots of blog posts, video podcasts, Tweets. #2011SCE Good data is key, kept in a centralized repository. @JeanetteG @Cisco #2011SCE: How do you balance Twitter use? Block out check in time, use desktop tools like @Radian6 @JeanetteG @Cisco #2011SCE: Everyone who contributes @Cisco has someone responsible to monitor their SM policy adherance @JeanetteG @Cisco #2011SCE: Keys: Map listeng journey, set goals, optimize SM presence, embrace video, build engagement team, be transparent #2011SCE The new strategy ? Unify reference activities. Build a scalalbe global infrastructure. Promote to sales, marketing and exec suite. @JeanetteG #2011SCE: @Cisco updates via Video Blog,. They asked Q's of John Chambers via Twitter, and answered Q's on blog in real time. @JeanetteG #2011SCE: Polls enhanced interaction. 50% of subscribers to event participated in poll, 84% of them liked Cisco at end of event #2011SCE Pascale Royal presents on how Citrix turned its ad hoc buckets of customer reference activities, into a focused, strategic effort. @JeanetteG #2011SCE: Twitter Support: Heard Tweet, Request Info, Gather Info, Forward to Support, Thank customer @JeanetteG #2011SCE: @Cisco Support Community saves $61 million by handling support in community @JeanetteG #2011SCE: 5 Customer Engagement Journey Stages: Traditional, Experimental, Operational, Impactful, Fully Engaged. @JeanetteG #2011SCE: Active listening: Monitor, Measure, Engage (@Cisco uses @Radian6) @JeanetteG #2011SCE: Half of traffic was through social media, so Cisco created a "social media" hub. socialmedia.cisco.com. #2011SCE Panel Discussion: References take time, and risk is high. Lighter touch, micro-reference get you started, Slow build. #2011sce: sales reps want to hold their customers close to the chest and nt share with marketing-- what are thy afraid of? #2011sce: co-market with sales to recruit and entice customers to be references and create a win-win scenario Hearing a lot of social media = pushing content through digital channels @ #2011SCE . Wanting to hear more about engagement & metrics #2011SCE: Panel discussion: Time spent on References, Customer Advisory Boards, Social Media? 25/50/25, 10/80/10, 60/20/20 #2011sce: Laura Ramos, develop the content so it's easy to consume, across different channels. As usual she's right on. Laura Ramos, Xerox #2011SCE: Tell the story, don't make it all about you. Focus on problem/results. RT @lauraramos: #2011SCE Customer reference mgrs need 2 think about how 2 deliver info & create engagement via smart phones & tablets. Retain, Acquire, Develop = RAD. I just thought that was rad. #2011SCE Asim Zaheer @ #2011SCE: On targeting: tailor messages to customer. Does it help to Retain/Acquire/Develop a customer? Asim Zaheer @ #2011SCE: On integration: It's fundamental to involve all parts of Mktg, Cust Ref, Marcomm, Corpcom, PR Asim Zaheer @ #2011SCE: Find Value for Customers, SImplify Messages, Provide flexibility for customers, Focus on moving the sales process Asim Zaheer @ #2011SCE: In Social Media, don't create more noise, there's a lot already. Be credible, community is cynical #2011SCE Find out where your audience is, engage them there with credible, useful information, determine what the business impact is. #2011SCE What about social media? How do you capitalize on this, without being just another lemming? (following the crowd) #2011SCE HDS does not give incentives to customer speakers. Getting professional visibility is more than enough incentive. #2011SCE HDS organized live events at 40+ cities globally. 9000 customers reached. Industry leaders speak, including HDS & customers #2011SCE HDS uses marketing-content creation tool from 3d party firm, TechValidate. This generates powerful data on customer benefits. Asim Zaheer @ #2011SCE: Make Customer Advisory Panels less about you, more about them. Get them to talk to each other #2011SCE The "voices of the customer" piece included customer reference programs, executive advisory boards, User forums, and new tools. Asim Zaheer @ #2011SCE Big decision makers might not be watching videos, aren't on Facebook. Find out where your customers are. #2011sce: understanding your customers, know their priorities- people, time, money is what HDS has learned frm their customers. Asim Zaheer #2011SCE BDMs care about their people, the time of IT staff, money Asim Zaheer #2011SCE: To Change: Leverage customer base, aggressive brand, simplify message, direct customer outreach, integrate sales/mktg #2011SCE Asim Zaheer, VP Product Marketing is talking about how Hitachi Data Systems went from "best kept secret" to "top of mind" #2011SCE Is the term "customer reference" outdated? After listening to Tom Wong, I'm beginning to think so. #2011SCE SFDC uses a facebook-like interface to attract participants-and engage with them-AND allow them to engage with each other. #2011SCE More people are using social media (facebook, twitter, LInkedin, youtube, hulu) than are using email--they're moving to the cloud. Think of strategy where social lives #2011SCE Tom Wong at #2011SCE Shift from Cloud 1 (Pull, Click, Desktop) to Cloud w (Facebook, feeds, touch, location)

Get the Second Click, 10 Questions to Ask to Make Content More Sharable

John Porcaro — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 18:33:00 +0100

Every good online marketing program closely measures the impact on customer behavior. The first thing to measure is the reach of your brand message, so the measure that most marketers pay attention to is “the first click.” Getting a customer to engage with your marketing program is essential to moving them forward in your sales cycle, and there’s no better place to do that than your web page, where you control the message. Lots of marketers think the job ends there. The customer came to the site, and interacted in some way. Perhaps they even “opted-in” to receive more information, or purchased something while they were there. But even then, the job isn’t done. If your website, digital ad, Facebook page, or blog post isn’t getting “a second click,” you’re leaving one of your best marketing tools unused. Everything you produce online should actively prompt a customer to “Share This.” There are lots of ways for a customer to share: forwarding an email, sending a link to a website, or telling a friend about an experience they had with a product. Beyond purchasing, the most powerful action a customer can take for you is sharing your brand’s content on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn. By sharing something you publish, they are using their influence to spread your brand message to dozens—even hundreds—of their friends online. So as a marketer, everything you create and publish should be “Sharable.” Getting the “second click” is extremely powerful: Put your message where customers are. Your brand is placed into Facebook or LinkedIn newsfeeds or Twitter streams, the places people pay attention to, even when they ignore your advertising, direct mail, email, or PR. Reach the unreachable. One customer can spread your message to hundreds of people, exponentially expanding your reach. And in many cases, these are customers you couldn’t reach any other way, because they haven’t seen your ads, “opted in” to your messaging, or visited your site. Pinpoint targeting. A customer usually forwards your content to people he/she thinks will be interested, making the content accurately targeted to potential customers. Enhanced trust. The forwarded content carries with it the reputation of the customer, which can dramatically enhance the perception of your brand, and the likelihood that your message will be received. Longer campaign life. If the content is sharable, the residual conversation can last longer than the initial launch, extending the life of your campaign. As you create your messaging and pay to publish it or send it, make sure it is “Sharable.” Here are 10 questions you should ask before clicking Publish: Is it something your customer will think is worth sharing? Will sharing the content enhance the reputation of your customer because it’s funny, useful, or poignant? Does the content carry your brand message? Have you made it easy to share, by creating links to Facebook, Twitter, or bookmarking sites? Are you using the best of the Social Graph, like Facebook’s “your Friends like this” rather than a static link? Are you publishing content using a Creative Commons license that allows for sharing? Do you ask for feedback and comments when practical? Do you use a call-to-action, asking your customers to like, comment, or share your content? Do you follow up your original post with answers to questions, more information, or feedback? Do you have a measurement plan that looks at engagement and customer recommendations? How do you make your content “Sharable?” What results have you seen when you create content with making it “Sharable” in mind?

#Twitter @Acronyms FTW, PRT

John Porcaro — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 23:26:00 +0100

I was re-Tweeting a post today, and noticed it had a symbol I’d never seen used in Twitter before: the ^ symbol. Because of my overwhelming obsession to understand the nuances of l33t-speak, I spent a little time searching to see if it had any special meaning. Turns out the folks on the Twitter account for Windows use it as a signature, an idea I really like. Adds some personality to a corporate account, especially if it’s run by more than one person. While I was searching, I ran across several posts that list out the top acronyms used on Twitter. Twitter also has its own official Glossary, but the most complete list I found was from "Top 50 Twitter Acronyms, Abbreviations and Initialisms" from digiphile. FYA (for your amusement), I’ll list out a few Twitter acronyms I use most often: @ used to reference a user. This one becomes a clickable link to the user’s profile, and sends them a notice in the @Mentions section of the Twitter client. It can also be used to mean “at” in its literal sense. # Hashtags have a special place in Twitter. They were created as a way to categorize messages using keywords. Clicking a hashtagged word will take you to a search of all the instances of that hashtag on Twitter. People often use hashtags to keep track of topics they’re interested, so using a popular hastag (like #socialmedia or #lolcat) may land your Tweet into a discussion you want to participate in. Hashtags are sometimes used as witty commentary, such as #whydidtheysaythat or #shakingmyheadindisbelief. RT ReTweet, another official term used by Twitter when someone forwards a Tweet someone else wrote. D using a D before a username will send a Direct Message. Using D sends a private message to the account of the person signified immediately. You can only send DM’s to people who are following you. That explains why @justinbieber doesn’t answer me back… DM Direct Message, as in DM me for more info. FF Friend Follow. Sometimes, people will list out the people that they suggest you follow. A good way to find new conversations you might to join. OH Overheard, used to quote something funny or interesting you overheard. MT Modified Tweet, similar to Partial ReTweet. Shows you modified the original Tweet you are forwarding. RE Sometimes used to mean “Regarding,” or In Reply To. Just like you would use it in email. via Not an official acronym, used literally to show where the Tweet or news you’re quoting came from. Via @johnporcaro would show where the original Tweet or news or story or blog post came from. Especially helpful if the Tweet has been reTweeted several times, it can clean up all the @usernames. A few terms are new to the scene: PRT Please ReTweet, and more recently Partial ReTweet. You might want to use Partial ReTweet (PRT) if you edit someone’s Tweet before forwarding it. I find that I often have to edit a Tweet because it won’t fit in 140 characters, especially when you add @usernames and #hashtags. HT Hat Tip, when you want to acknowledge something someone said. CX Correction ^ Used before a signature, to distinguish an author of a shared account. Tweets by the shared Windows account might be written by ^KD or ^JAS I also use a few 1337 terms in my Tweets, that most gamers and techies will know. 1337 (meaning "elite," pronounced “leet”, eleet, rand sometimes referred to as leetspeak) is its own animal. It evolved from the olden days of BBSs (bulletin boards) and MMORPGs (massively multiplayer online role playing games), when people had to type everything. Some terms were also used by haXors to thwart systems that blocked use of certain words (for instance, by using symbols that look like letters, i.e., @$$). A few 1337 terms I occasionally use in Tweets: N00b Newbie, used to mock someone who is new, or not part of your crowd. PWN (or pWn or pwn3d) “own” or “completely own,” when you’ve bested someone, you “own” them, or if you’re a hacker, you “own” their computer. This comes from a common misspelling of owned (the p is next to the o on the keyboard). FTW For The Win, as in “He scored that last point For The Win!” I conjure up an announcer at a close tennis match, FWIW. FTL For the Loss, a not-so-widely-used spin on FTW. +1 I agree, as in "add one more to the list" or "increase your level by +1"). From RPGs (role playing games) where you earn powers or abilities as you progress. W00t! Woot, or Woohoo! A geeky cry of joy. Also a “backronym” for We Own the Other Team.” Of course there are tons of acronyms used in Tweets, IMs, emails, and status messages. You're probably familiar with widely-used terms like LOL, ROFL, ROFLMAO, FWIW, IDK, AFAIK, BTW, B/C, BR, F2F or FTF, FYI, FB, FML, FWD, FUD, FYA, FYI, IMHO, IRL, J/K, <3, LMK, LHU, NSFW, OMG, RTF, RTFM, STFU, TMI, TTYL, TTYS, WTH, YMMV, YW. If not, make it a game to see if you can figure out what they mean. :-) ^JP

The New Facebook Pages Design

John Porcaro — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 23:29:00 +0100

NNHVB5MPWSVR Facebook recently rolled out a new design for Pages, the profile used by brands or products. You may notice that some brands have already began using the new design. If you manage a Page, you can choose to change to the new design now. Otherwise, the new design will be rolled out to all Pages on March 10. (PlayStation updated their site to the new page design) Page DesignThe thing you’ll notice first is that the new Pages look more like user profiles. This makes them more consistent, and a bit more friendly, but it might take some tweaking to make them work for your Page. Here are a few things that are changing: Recent photos appear at the top of the page Tabs are gone, and your content pages are now listed under the banner photo Your page Likes and Featured Admins are listed in the left column Mutual friends and interests are now featured in the right column You can now choose between displaying wall posts from Your Brand, or Everyone The page banner photo is now slightly smaller, maximum 180 x 540, down from 200 x 600 Make your recent photos work for your pageShowing photos from your site can make your page seem more friendly and visually pleasing. You have the chance to decide which photos to use. Some sites choose photos that feature their brand positioning. If you don’t’ like a certain photo, you can remove it from the top of the page. You can even use the photos to create further promote your brand, but unlike personal photos, your most recent Page photos are randomized when someone visits your site. Be creative! (Disney has some of their most iconic images at the top of the page, making it more welcoming to fans) Login as Your PageThis is something most Page admins will appreciate. You can now log in as Your Page, and browse Facebook like you would with your personal profile. This allows you to interact with Facebook as your brand, and gives you many of the features users enjoy, like notifications and newsfeeds specific to Your Page. Interact as Your PageOnce you’re logged in as Your Page, you can post as Your Page on other Pages. Because of the way privacy for users works, you can’t comment on a user’s profile unless they’re marked as available to Everyone (which most aren’t). You can leave a comment as Your Page if there’s a conversation happening that makes sense to be involved in. Be careful not to wear out your welcome by spamming competitors, or hijacking a conversation in an attempt to promote your brand. If you thoughtfully participate in conversations on other Pages where your brand can add value, you can extend the reach of your brand. Watch your brand Page newsfeedYour Page now has its own newsfeed. This gives you a place you can go to see what’s happening with Your Page, just like you can with your personal profile. Enable email alertsWant to keep track of what’s happening with Your Page? You can sign up for email alerts, so you’re notified when someone posts or comments on Your Page. Spam and obscenity filteringFacebook added the ability to filter keywords, and they now provide a profanity filter that has settings for None, Medium, and Strong. Default is set for None, so if it makes sense for your brand (it should, in most cases), set the filter for Medium or Strong. Feature your Page AdminsStill like the personal touch? Now you can add “Featured Admins” to your page. It’s a great way to show that the people managing the page for your brand are real. Like affiliated PagesIs your brand affiliated with other brands or services? You can now “Like” another Page as Your Page. You can choose which Pages show up on Your Page by selecting which “Likes” you want to feature in Page Settings. Share the love! New default view to Wall posts by “Everyone” When someone “Likes” your page, they will automatically go to the Wall when they visit your page again. You can choose which posts to show, just Your Page, or Everyone. The default is set to Everyone. You should consider keeping posts from Everyone on your wall. It shows your brand is open to comments, it allows the community to be featured on your brand’s page, and it will feel more conversational and human. You may find that your own posts get lost in Everyone’s posts. If that happens, it may be better to feature posts by Your Page only. Take a look at the new Page design. Until March 10, you can preview how your site will look before committing to the new design. However, if you choose to publish the new design, you can’t switch back. Everyone gets switched to the new look in a few weeks, so previewing the new design now makes sense. For more information, see Facebook’s post on the new design.