The various Smart Brief newsletters have done a very smart thing. They’ve added social media "share" buttons at the end of each article. Now subscribers can easily and instantly post favorite articles to Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
Most electronic newsletters are opt-in, and thus “for subscribers only.” Still, I’m wondering why I hadn't see these systems “go social” until yesterday. Folks who do subscribe are connected to other folks just like them, which creates a perfect viral opportunity for eNewsletter publishers.
Bottom line: Watch for social media share buttons to pop out all over the electronic newsletter industry.
-- Scrubbed by Marketing Brillo
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Four Reasons for Every Professional To Get LinkedIn
TechCrunch noted that, in January 2009, LinkedIn's unique visitor count surged 22% over the previous month and "minutes spent on the site" doubled. Observers have noted that LinkedIn's growth may be a response to the bad economy. But LinkedIn is much more than a place to plop a resume.
In a July 6 post, LinkedIn "personal trainer" Steven Tylock explained why the social networking site is for more than job hunting. I agree with Tylock, for the following four reasons:
1. The recent explosion of "groups" on LinkedIn offers thousands of options for joining a cadre of compatible professionals. Some of the groups are huge (Marketing&PR Innovators has some 54,000 members) and some groups are quite small -- even picky -- in their "by invitation only" practices. The choice is ours.
2. The number of folks flocking to the"Group Discussions" has exploded in recent months. People are asking more questions and making more comments. It's terrific peer-to-peer learning and a chance to share what you know.
3. The most exciting use I've seen recently, was initiated by LinkedIn activist Gerald "Solutionman" Harman, who manges (among other things), the Twitter Innovators group. Harman recently invited members of that group (who, I think numbered only in the hundreds at the time) to "introduce" their Twitter-selves to other members. When I checked this morning the Group had mushroomed to 10,806 members. Obviously, something went viral here and no wonder...
4. .... Linked and Twitter make a terrific professional partnership. Harman got hundreds of people to introduce themselves. In the first week particularly, the quality of people sharing their twitter account was exceptionally high (no spammers or network marketers, just genuine experts looking to connect). That week of activity helped a lot of us identify compatible people to follow on Twitter. The effort also facilitated additional LinkedIn relationships because any who chose to do so could connect by virtue of membership in the Twitter Innovators group.
For these reasons and more -- and unlike my somewhat negative experience with Facebook -- as a professional I am a total LinkedIn fan.
A year ago, LinkedIn got a $53 million infusion of funding from Bain Capital, putting the company's valuation then at $1 billion. In February, based on site visits, Web analytics provider, Compete, rated LinkedIn fifth in the social networking line-up, with 11,274,000 users, behind Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and Flixster. The year-over-year comparison showed that Facebook had overtaken MySpace for the top spot, but LinkedIn had moved up four slots from ninth place (Note: Twitter won the place improvement race, though, moving from 22nd to third position).
So far, LinkedIn has proven to be the best professional social media network. I think it's going to get even better.
-- scrubbed by Marketing Brillo
In a July 6 post, LinkedIn "personal trainer" Steven Tylock explained why the social networking site is for more than job hunting. I agree with Tylock, for the following four reasons:
1. The recent explosion of "groups" on LinkedIn offers thousands of options for joining a cadre of compatible professionals. Some of the groups are huge (Marketing&PR Innovators has some 54,000 members) and some groups are quite small -- even picky -- in their "by invitation only" practices. The choice is ours.
2. The number of folks flocking to the"Group Discussions" has exploded in recent months. People are asking more questions and making more comments. It's terrific peer-to-peer learning and a chance to share what you know.
3. The most exciting use I've seen recently, was initiated by LinkedIn activist Gerald "Solutionman" Harman, who manges (among other things), the Twitter Innovators group. Harman recently invited members of that group (who, I think numbered only in the hundreds at the time) to "introduce" their Twitter-selves to other members. When I checked this morning the Group had mushroomed to 10,806 members. Obviously, something went viral here and no wonder...
4. .... Linked and Twitter make a terrific professional partnership. Harman got hundreds of people to introduce themselves. In the first week particularly, the quality of people sharing their twitter account was exceptionally high (no spammers or network marketers, just genuine experts looking to connect). That week of activity helped a lot of us identify compatible people to follow on Twitter. The effort also facilitated additional LinkedIn relationships because any who chose to do so could connect by virtue of membership in the Twitter Innovators group.
For these reasons and more -- and unlike my somewhat negative experience with Facebook -- as a professional I am a total LinkedIn fan.
A year ago, LinkedIn got a $53 million infusion of funding from Bain Capital, putting the company's valuation then at $1 billion. In February, based on site visits, Web analytics provider, Compete, rated LinkedIn fifth in the social networking line-up, with 11,274,000 users, behind Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and Flixster. The year-over-year comparison showed that Facebook had overtaken MySpace for the top spot, but LinkedIn had moved up four slots from ninth place (Note: Twitter won the place improvement race, though, moving from 22nd to third position).
So far, LinkedIn has proven to be the best professional social media network. I think it's going to get even better.
-- scrubbed by Marketing Brillo
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
ReTweeting By the Numbers, I'm Not Rich Yet
Social and viral marketing scientist Dan Zarrella has been doing statistical analysis of ReTweets. So far, I've learned a couple of things from Dan.
In his December 2008 post, I got statistical confirmation of what most Tweeple already suspect -- "most RT streams are merely one user ReTweeting another, and never go any further."
In January, Dan posted The 20 Words and Phrases That Will Get You the Most Retweets. In that post, he said, "My research has shown that the number of followers exposed to a Tweet has only a weak correlation to the number of ReTweets it gets, indicating that the content of the tweet may be more important than the user posting it." To me, that says you don't necessarily have to be a "somebody" to get a lot of ReTweets, but it helps if you have something original to say. For most of us, that probably adds up to glimmers of hope, but not much likelihood.
In his quest to find out what makes a ReTweet go viral, last week Dan added an authoritative post on the Linguistics of Retweets. In this post, Dan notes that, "ReTweets are the first entirely observable and analyzable viral content spreading mechanism in the history of mankind and as such they offer an unparalleled window into what makes humans spread ideas."
After crunching 10 million ReTweets, Dan observed that -- compared to Tweets themselves -- ReTweets:
1. contain links three times more often.
2. contain longer, higher syllable-count words.
3. tend to be less “readable” and require a higher level of education to understand.
4. prize novelty.
5. tend to read like headlines, in that they allude to subject matter.
6. are less primordial, less emotional.
7. rely on constructive words like" build" and "create," but struggle with abstract thought and sensation-based words.
8. favor work, religion, money, and media/celebrities (negative emotions, sensations, swear words, and self reference, not so much).
I'm still not sure what makes a ReTweet go viral, though. I guess if I knew that, I'd be rich.
-- scrubbed by Marketing Brillo
In his December 2008 post, I got statistical confirmation of what most Tweeple already suspect -- "most RT streams are merely one user ReTweeting another, and never go any further."
In January, Dan posted The 20 Words and Phrases That Will Get You the Most Retweets. In that post, he said, "My research has shown that the number of followers exposed to a Tweet has only a weak correlation to the number of ReTweets it gets, indicating that the content of the tweet may be more important than the user posting it." To me, that says you don't necessarily have to be a "somebody" to get a lot of ReTweets, but it helps if you have something original to say. For most of us, that probably adds up to glimmers of hope, but not much likelihood.
In his quest to find out what makes a ReTweet go viral, last week Dan added an authoritative post on the Linguistics of Retweets. In this post, Dan notes that, "ReTweets are the first entirely observable and analyzable viral content spreading mechanism in the history of mankind and as such they offer an unparalleled window into what makes humans spread ideas."
After crunching 10 million ReTweets, Dan observed that -- compared to Tweets themselves -- ReTweets:
1. contain links three times more often.
2. contain longer, higher syllable-count words.
3. tend to be less “readable” and require a higher level of education to understand.
4. prize novelty.
5. tend to read like headlines, in that they allude to subject matter.
6. are less primordial, less emotional.
7. rely on constructive words like" build" and "create," but struggle with abstract thought and sensation-based words.
8. favor work, religion, money, and media/celebrities (negative emotions, sensations, swear words, and self reference, not so much).
I'm still not sure what makes a ReTweet go viral, though. I guess if I knew that, I'd be rich.
-- scrubbed by Marketing Brillo
Monday, July 6, 2009
Your Twitter Brain Trust Is A Cinch To Set Up
About two weeks ago, I had a Eureka! moment when I realized that certain people I choose to follow on Twitter actually comprise my very own brain trust. I knew I should group these folks, but I was too busy to figure out how. Then it dawned on me that Tweetdeck is configured to do this automatically -- duh! -- so over the weekend I created my “Hot Bloggers”group – a bunch of Tweeple that I set apart so I can watch their particular posts more carefully.
Gerd Leonhard – gazillions of steps ahead – just blogged about his own group -- the “Futerati” -- saying, “So I figured it's time to give some more explicit credit to all those great people that have influenced me, and I thought maybe a good way to do that is to list them on a special, Twitter-API-based site such as Futerati.”
In the blog, Gerd cites an article from Harvard Business School describing the research strategy Proctor&Gamble launched over three years ago. Gerd adapted Proctor&Gamble’s strategy to PFEs (Proudly Found Elsewhere). PFEs, he says, have become an important part of his work -- one that surely will be facillitated by his Futerati.
Amid the Net clamor, our own Twitter "groups" become a wonderful ally. Here we find short and well-crafted headlines directing us to the work and thoughts of the people we trust most.
-- scrubbed by Marketing Brillo
Gerd Leonhard – gazillions of steps ahead – just blogged about his own group -- the “Futerati” -- saying, “So I figured it's time to give some more explicit credit to all those great people that have influenced me, and I thought maybe a good way to do that is to list them on a special, Twitter-API-based site such as Futerati.”
In the blog, Gerd cites an article from Harvard Business School describing the research strategy Proctor&Gamble launched over three years ago. Gerd adapted Proctor&Gamble’s strategy to PFEs (Proudly Found Elsewhere). PFEs, he says, have become an important part of his work -- one that surely will be facillitated by his Futerati.
Amid the Net clamor, our own Twitter "groups" become a wonderful ally. Here we find short and well-crafted headlines directing us to the work and thoughts of the people we trust most.
-- scrubbed by Marketing Brillo
Ritz Marketing Goes Econo Label To Fool Shoppers
Sturdy Roots blogger Dan Smolen and his wife, Marsha Weiss, did a double take while shopping in a Stafford, Virginia, Target over the weekend. Two boxes of RITZ crackers appeared side by side on the shelf: one wore traditional RITZ packaging and the another appeared in a less RITZ-y, eco-friendly disguise that looked humble enough to pass for a store brand.Research indicates that shoppers are continuing their defection from branded products to store labels, but Smolen isn't buying it. “Does Nabisco really believe they can persuade consumers into believing that they are selling ‘generic’ RITZ crackers? If so, this has got to be the first time in recorded memory that a consumer packaged goods manufacturer has disguised a premium brand as a store brand [to fool] consumers.”
Shoppers beware crackers in new clothing, though. Both Ritzy and not-so-Ritzy versions were going for the same price.
-- scrubbed by Marketing Brillo
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Levi's New Ad Campaign Will Disclose A Lot About Gen Z
Gen Z and a few late Gen Y-ers are America's future. Levi's new “Go forth” ad campaign seems to be a rebranding effort aimed at one company's perception of where these cohorts are in the 2009 Zeitgeist –namely, that these young people are adventurous, eco-conscious, idealistic, and optimistic. Has Levi's hit the mark?
Obama’s election would indicate yes, but election day in November 2008 predated the full impact of today's Scary Recession by eight months (yesterday, unemployment hit 9.5 percent, with job losses widespread across industry sectors). So, maybe not.
Widen+Kennedy, the agency that developed the “go forth” campaign, displays talent, to be sure. Their creative strategy encourages a different way to look at Levi's and employs widespread messaging on TV and in print (that may be a bit old-fashioned already; I'd like to have heard more about their social media strategy). On the other hand, some 60-second spots will show in urban movie theatres in cities like Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago, Boston, New York, and Miami.
Essentially, the “Go Forth” message harkens back to the "Go West, young man," era, when all things were still possible. Thus, Levi's re-positions itself as the jeans for the “Yes, we can” generation (Note: when I did a Google search on “go forth,” Levi’s new website came up as the fifth hit. Smart. Check it out here. Also note that the website is actually titled “goforth.levi.com/newdeclaration.”
But, will Gen Z -- clearly the target audience --buy this? Gen Y may already have been counted out of the game, since Levis' messaging, subliminally at least, critizies Gen Y's pre-recession excesses, when it was cool, if not mandatory, to wear designer jeans. "Go Forth" shouts out for a de-emphasis on consumption, with copy that says “strike up for the new world” and “this country was not built by men in suits.” I assume that Gen X and baby boomers are out of this battle altogether. I'm dated to say that I haven't heard of a single magazine where Widen+Kennedy will place print ads: Fader, Filter, Vice, Soma, Blackbook, Paper, Anthem, and Spin.
Which is not to predict whether or not this thing is going to work. Notably, though, the London-based and very edgy me-me-me.tv. is already finding Levi’s campaign “a bit creepy." The criticism seems to be that the campaign doesn’t ring true. Me-me-me mocks the Go Forth message, saying, “'There is a better tomorrow,' apparently. 'Look across the plains and mountains.' Oh, shut up! As if anyone lives near plains and mountains. 'And see America’s eternal promise… Go forth with me.' Tell you what. You go forth. We’ll stay here and finish these drinks."
The Levi's campaign should be able to very quickly disclose how damaged our Gen Z kids have been by the woes of economic chaos. Is there any energy left to “Go forth”? I suspect Levi's is about to answer that.
-- scrubbed by Marketing Brillo
Obama’s election would indicate yes, but election day in November 2008 predated the full impact of today's Scary Recession by eight months (yesterday, unemployment hit 9.5 percent, with job losses widespread across industry sectors). So, maybe not.
Widen+Kennedy, the agency that developed the “go forth” campaign, displays talent, to be sure. Their creative strategy encourages a different way to look at Levi's and employs widespread messaging on TV and in print (that may be a bit old-fashioned already; I'd like to have heard more about their social media strategy). On the other hand, some 60-second spots will show in urban movie theatres in cities like Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago, Boston, New York, and Miami.
Essentially, the “Go Forth” message harkens back to the "Go West, young man," era, when all things were still possible. Thus, Levi's re-positions itself as the jeans for the “Yes, we can” generation (Note: when I did a Google search on “go forth,” Levi’s new website came up as the fifth hit. Smart. Check it out here. Also note that the website is actually titled “goforth.levi.com/newdeclaration.”
But, will Gen Z -- clearly the target audience --buy this? Gen Y may already have been counted out of the game, since Levis' messaging, subliminally at least, critizies Gen Y's pre-recession excesses, when it was cool, if not mandatory, to wear designer jeans. "Go Forth" shouts out for a de-emphasis on consumption, with copy that says “strike up for the new world” and “this country was not built by men in suits.” I assume that Gen X and baby boomers are out of this battle altogether. I'm dated to say that I haven't heard of a single magazine where Widen+Kennedy will place print ads: Fader, Filter, Vice, Soma, Blackbook, Paper, Anthem, and Spin.
Which is not to predict whether or not this thing is going to work. Notably, though, the London-based and very edgy me-me-me.tv. is already finding Levi’s campaign “a bit creepy." The criticism seems to be that the campaign doesn’t ring true. Me-me-me mocks the Go Forth message, saying, “'There is a better tomorrow,' apparently. 'Look across the plains and mountains.' Oh, shut up! As if anyone lives near plains and mountains. 'And see America’s eternal promise… Go forth with me.' Tell you what. You go forth. We’ll stay here and finish these drinks."
The Levi's campaign should be able to very quickly disclose how damaged our Gen Z kids have been by the woes of economic chaos. Is there any energy left to “Go forth”? I suspect Levi's is about to answer that.
-- scrubbed by Marketing Brillo
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Direct Marketing Is Very Kaizen. Arigato, gozaimasu.
Harvard Business School’s bnet posted an article last month about applying “lean production” methods to a service industry – in this case, a software developer based in India. Reference to a white paper on the subject published in October 2007 got me to thinking about how “lean production” is the heart of a well-run direct marketing department. In fact, best practices in direct mail are way lean.
a) Direct mail involves continuous testing, measuring, and adjusting.
b) In seeking improvement, components of a direct mail package are changed, but direct mail tests are evaluated as a total effort. That way we learn which component made the difference: the list, the copy, the design, the offer. Everybody gets a shot at doing better and proving it.
c) “Kaizen” (continuous improvement) is the goal and “good” is never “good enough.” Did the test out-perform the control? Yes … so we'll test again. Did the control out-perform the test? Yes .. we'll still test again.
d) All participants in a direct mail campaign – the marketing manager, the copywriter, the list broker, the designer, the analytics and data team – get their shot at improving. This offers everybody a chance to be part of the “lean production” experience, since a well executed campaign abolishes hierarchies and puts everybody on equal footing (if not, the marketing manager really needs to fix that).
Cross media marketing – which combines direct mail, email, and personalized websites to target market -- offers marketers an unparalleled opportunity to test, measure, evaluate, and adjust in real-time. Pretty exciting, huh?
Kaizen!
-- scrubbed by Marketing Brillo
a) Direct mail involves continuous testing, measuring, and adjusting.
b) In seeking improvement, components of a direct mail package are changed, but direct mail tests are evaluated as a total effort. That way we learn which component made the difference: the list, the copy, the design, the offer. Everybody gets a shot at doing better and proving it.
c) “Kaizen” (continuous improvement) is the goal and “good” is never “good enough.” Did the test out-perform the control? Yes … so we'll test again. Did the control out-perform the test? Yes .. we'll still test again.
d) All participants in a direct mail campaign – the marketing manager, the copywriter, the list broker, the designer, the analytics and data team – get their shot at improving. This offers everybody a chance to be part of the “lean production” experience, since a well executed campaign abolishes hierarchies and puts everybody on equal footing (if not, the marketing manager really needs to fix that).
Cross media marketing – which combines direct mail, email, and personalized websites to target market -- offers marketers an unparalleled opportunity to test, measure, evaluate, and adjust in real-time. Pretty exciting, huh?
Kaizen!
-- scrubbed by Marketing Brillo
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