Kribaby

The Case for Online Advertising - Part 2: Measure Shmeasure

I previously posted about the three dirty letters in social media marketing - ROI.

At the CMO Leaderhisp Forum the VP of media sales east at Facebook said:

-- ROI and social nets: “Return on investment” is probably the wrong thing to be looking for. Instead, the acronym should stand for “return on involvement,” Arrix said. The usual standard of audience “reach” is too limited when it comes to social media and “things like click-through rates don’t cut it. Return on ‘involvement’ looks at what users are saying about your brand. For example, are users taking your message and sharing it with their friends? Every client we do business with, we tell them, ‘You have to divorce yourself from what you’ve done before.’”

This is probably a somewhat controversial point of view since marketers don't know how to measure "involvement" or how to turn "involvement" into preference or purchase.  Is there inherent value in "involvement"?  What does that mean?

IMHO, Involvement is a measure much like Awareness.  You get involved with consumers, become a part of their decision set, and when they are looking to make a purchase in your category they think of you.  Furthermore, involvement can be a great way to spread word of mouth - if your message is compelling, interesting and portable.

Whether you agree with "involvement" as a valid metric or not the reality is that marketers probably do need to adjust their measures when looking at online marketing and especially social media.  Typical Reach, Awareness, Recall measures won't likely capture the potential value that developing a relationship can create.  Social Media suffers from some of the same challenges as Word-of-Mouth or PR in this regard.  They key, IMHO is to be flexible on metrics and look for results over time - including more "equity" based metrics - i.e. what qualities are associated with my brand due to my social media/interactive efforts?  Am I creating a more favorable impresion?  Equity metrics move slowly over time and often aren't measured as a part of interactive campaigns. 

Lets face it - Social Media and Interactive are still relatively new mediums.  It took marketers decades of test and learn to deliver significant ROIs on traditional mediums like TV, Print and DTC.  Measuring returns is VITAL to the success of any campaign, the question is are you measuring the right thing?

Click here to see part 1 of this posting.

Social Media "Friending" Etiquette?

Note to Reader: This is a bit of a rant, don't hold it against me but I'm curious what other people think.

I "left" Myspace because of harassment from 1) Random guys (At least a few times a week I got messages telling me I was hot or asking for my number or making dirty suggestions- seriously, does this even work??) and 2) Sleazy marketing companies offering me low credit or the chance to win an ipod.  AKA - Myspace became SPAMSPACE. 

Facebook now appears to be heading down the same road.  I am accosted with 1) App spam and 2) Networking SPAM.  I define networking spam as people who message me because "I noticed you were in the same group as me (generally business related), so we should be friends". 

1) App Spam - this stuff is sent by my friends.  It reminds me of the people who STILL forward me the please to forward an email chain on to get Little Sammy a wheel chair or because Microsoft is tracking the email chain and will pay you $500 if you forward it.  Seriously.  Unless you REALLY think I will like it - STOP SPAMMING ME.

2) Networking Spam - Friend requests sent by people who I don't know who want me to be one of the 1000+ members of their friends group so that they can spam me with stuff I don't care about and look like they are super connected and have lots of friends.  Unless there is really a legitimate reason for the friend request (beyond we are both in the PR 2.0 group - perhaps and we live in the same area, worked in the same place, attend the same conferences) I don't really see the need to be your Facebook Friend.

Perhaps part of the problem is *my idea* of the *rules of engagement* on Facebook.  For me, Facebook is a place to connect with my friends (i.e. people who I have a relationship with, either in real life or on line) or to meet new people who I *genuinely* share an interest with.  If I friended everyone who I had *something* in common with I would have millions of friends, and would probably lose track of what my actual friends are doing (which to me is the point of being on Facebook). 

In my mind "we both joined the same group" isn't a legitimate reason for a Friend request (note the word "FRIEND" request).  To me, Facebook is a place where my friends write random things on my wall, post crazy pictures and I can connect and reconnect with them.  If somebody wants to join my "business network" then request me on linkedin, or "follow-me" on Twitter.

I think that on social networking sites the nomenclature of the request should guide the choice of how to connect:

• Facebook = Friend Request = For Friends
• Linked in = Join My Network = Work Networking
• Twitter = Follow = No relationship required

Don't get me wrong - I'm a friendly person and I love meeting new people and developing relationships (both online and offline). I follow people I don't know (who interest me) on Twitter and I have made a number of friends through these online connections.  I just think that different social media tools should be used differently.  And yes, I know that I don't have to accept anyone as a friend, however as the number of random friend requests increases I'm sure to miss some genuine friend requests.  Also, do I seem anti-social by not accepting?

I'm sure that this is likely to create some controversy (I recently had a heated discussion about this).  Thoughts anyone?  Do I sound crazy here?  Is there social network etiquette?

Microsoftr?????

I posted on the Photrade blog last night (something I should admittedly do more frequently) about the Microsoft acquisition of Yahoo, and therefore Flickr (Flickr is owned by Yahoo).

Based on the history of Microsoft acquisitions, and the performance of their own products (Vista anyone?) it seems unlikely that Microsoft would improve the site.  Will they destroy it? 

Those who remember the Microsoft acquisition of Hotmail remember the numerous issues with reliability, security and overall data integrity that were created after The Big Blue Monster took over.  Another example is Driveoff.com (acquired in 2000), which is now a part of MSN Autos. Maybe Flickr will become part of MSN Photos (Where a GIANT phone ad popped up and accosted my screen)?

Flickr users have shown their creativity with a ton of great images and intense discussion about what this means.  One users asks "So what's next? what's out there like Flickr, better than Flickr, possibly not owned by some major corporation?" Hmmmm.......  Photrade anyone?

Oh yeah, and in case you forgot to celebrate, Vista celebrated its 1 year anniversary on Jan 30th.

The Case for Online Advertising - Part 1: Spend where they Consume

I initially tried to create one long post about online advertising, but as a part of my New Blog Resolution I thought I would break it into smaller bits and then put it all together at the end.

On-line media is important because of the % of media consumption it makes up (and this is ever increasing).  The data used below is a little out of date (2005), and I'm sure that both the consumption and advertising have grown since, but I would still expect that they are out of balance (more posts to follow showcasing some issues).

According to On-line-Publishers.org, in 2005 6% of advertising $$ were spent on-line vs. 23% of media consumption was on-line.

This brings the question to advertisers - what is holding you back from investing more heavily in this high growth medium? 

The Internet offers better targeting and CRM (customer relationship marketing) opportunities due to the enormous amounts of data that some sites have about their audience.  In addition, most ads can be set in programs that provide targeting far superior to that achieved in traditional media.  In addition the net offers more formats of advertising (banner, video, pop-ups, ad-words, search, etc) that can be tailored to reach the right person in the right place at the right time.

With the Internet being able to stream other forms of media (IE. Internet movies, TV and Radio) it will become an increasingly important media channel.

The question to marketers is where are you spending your $$?  Is it where your consumers are spending their time and $$?  Are you prepared for media consumption on-line to grow?

I can haz Easy Button for the Internet?

I was over at bub.licio.us reading Brian's post on dataportability.org.  Google, Plaxo and Facebook are joining up with dataportability.org, which is a service that allows your data to move around the internet with you, without reinputting it for every new site you join.  Like how IE or Firefox remember your password, but on crack.  Got me thinking.

What are the new consumer (ie. user) value propositions on the internet?  There are millions of sites that allow you to do virtually anything from making your own McLovin ID (I just saw this on Shoemoney and couldn't resist including it) to researching Vanilla Ice to online banking to online stalking (errr - social netowrking??).

You really can do anything.  So where is the internet going next.  I say take a lesson from mature industries.  Simplification.

I work for a Consumer Goods company.  Big, powerful innovation comes from products that make life easier.  Laundry detergent with fabric softener built in, swiffering instead of sweeping - products that simplify processes provide real value.

I think that the same can be said about banking.  Make money management easier to understand, access and manage.

Thinking of how industries mature on a complexity scale I think often looks like this (OK I can't draw but I made this in paint):

The point is that as industries evolve in their early stages they become more and more complex, to the point that they become difficult to navigate.  At this point innovation that becomes meaningful provides simplicity.

In Consumer Goods there is a lot of documentation on the Paradox of Choice (an interesting book) - when people have too many choices they get confused and frustrated and often choose nothing.

I think that breakthrough innovation on the web, and in Social Media in particular will come from simplifying user experiences.  I can't count the number of Social Networking, Blogging/Live Blogging, Photo, User Generated News sites, etc that I am on.  I actually have a file to remember my user IDs and passwords (since I also have 5 different email addresses).

The dataportability.org news is a step in the right direction.  Make my online life easier to manage.  I wanna get more out of the time I spend online.  I don't want to have to find my friends on 80 different websites.  I can haz Easy Button?

Resolutions - Not because of the New Year, just because

Resolutions.  Things to change.  Do better.  Do more of.  Do less of. Quit. Start. Stop. Begin.

Numero uno for me.  Be a better blogger.  I have been bad.  I haven't written in far too long.  Today I ask myself why?  Do I have nothing to say?  Do I not enjoy writing?

As I reviewed the 7 blog post drafts that I have saved it is clear that neither of these is the problem.  The problem is that I approach blogging as I would approach writing a major report.  I want to put together a clear, researched, well thought out post that combines multiple angles and is probably to long and boring for anyone to want to read.

And there is the fear.  Will I sound stupid?  What if I say something wrong?  Am I boring???

The more I read blogs, the more I realize that it isn't about perfection - it's about average people, with average writing skills writing about things that interest them.  And THAT is my resolution.

FUBAR - A Story About Facebook

omFUBAR.  Facebook Unleashes Beacon Advertising Rampage.

This week Facebook Unleashed its Beacon Advertising Rampage.  Facebook violated its users.  It treated them improperly.  It abused them.

Facebook launched its new targeted advertising platform, Beacon, which uses information from users activities (both on the site AND on the rest of the Internet) to advertise to other users.  One Facebook user reported a live-feed message that went out over facebook about a shoe purchase he made (Womens Easy Spirit shoes from Zappos), which were actually purchased by his mother, from the same computer he was on Facebook with earlier that day.

The idea behind Beacon probably isn't bad - create a platform where you can see what your friends are buying/watching/listening to as a way to make the advertising more relevant.  Marketing can be beneficial for people, when they get the right message, in the right place, at the right time.  At Blogworld a speaker (sorry can't remember who) used this example - If I go for a walk in the forest, I don't want billboards screaming at me, but after 30 min I would probably be pretty happy to have someone offer to sell me a bottle of water.  Beacon would be like broadcasting the voice of my friend (without their knowledge) through the forest saying "I just bought Evian - you should too".

I love marketing.  I think that if you do a great job as a marketer, consumers will want to hear your message (You'll be the guy with the water bottle).  With the loyal user base and depth of user data that Facebook has, they could create breakthroughs in targeted advertising and permission based marketing. 

Facebook violated their users privacy, and put the sweet cold cash from advertisers first.  The worst part is that the traffic generated by these users is the only reason that Facebook can earn ad revenue.  And most people like facebook because (unlike Myspace) it isn't full of obnoxious ads and sexual predators.  Facebook should better understand their users and what they like about Facebook, and find a way to earn revenue within that framework.  The users generate the advertising opportunity, and the user needs should come first.

Interestingly enough, TYPEPAD is listed on this blog post as an advertiser in Beacon.

Blog World Expo - Hot Topic - Three Dirty Letters

I'm at Blog World Expo right now and there are lots of interesting conversations happening.  Today is the Executive and Entrepreneur track, and I've primarily been in the executive sessions.  Lots of discussions about blogging and social media as a part of the marketing mix.

Hot Topic - ROI.  Three little letters.  This is probably one of the bigger issues facing those who want advertisers to buy in to "Interactive" media.  Measurement continues to be one of the bigger barriers, and I haven't really heard any great answers as to how to handle this.

My thoughts:

Social Media and on line marketing are huge and unavoidable.  On line media consumption will continue to grow, and offline media consumption (magazines and TV) will continue to decline.

If ROI is a barrier, then TEST AND LEARN.  Stop complaining that you don't know exactly what you will get.  Spend a small amount.  Test.  Try different things.  Compare.  Do some good analysis.  This is EVEN BETTER then some company giving you ROI data because it is specific to your business.

The quote of the screen now says "You have 2 choices.  Join the conversation.....or procrastinate and then join the conversation later on anyway......".  Well put.

I will probably write more later - very thought provoking and intriguing.

The Power of the People

My morning started with reading an interesting article from Seth Godin – Joanne is Coming! 

First, props to Seth for knowing someone in

Toronto

(being from

Toronto

and now living in the Middle of

America

I get a little nostalgic).

Second, the point: the POWER of new media, word of mouth and the voice of customers.  The post is about how restaurants used to know who the food critics were and go out of their way to make everything perfect when the critic was in the restaurant.  Now the rules have changed.

Then: Restaurant reviews were done by food critics or experts at what made food and a restaurant good.

Now: People look to Zagat (based on opinions of thousands), online blogs, reviews, forums, recommendations from friends and local listings where people vote for the “Best of”.

It isn’t just important to impress that one person or influencer who will write a review in a big name paper (although that still matters).  It is just as important to be sure that every customer has a great experience, because any one of them (and certainly many of them collectively) can have just as big of a voice, if not bigger than that one critic.  And isn’t this more honest anyways?  Would you rather know that thousands of normal people, just like you loved a restaurant instead of one critic?

The world is a changing.  Everyone now has a voice.  Think about it.  If you are shopping for a new camera, you go online and see what other normal people like you said about the camera – check out the star rating at BestBuy.com, look up a review on CNET, scope out a few forums. 

The power of the internet and user generated reviews forces more honesty in marketing.  The naked truth about how good your company/product/service is will be broadcast, by thousands of people, all over the net.  The only way to survive this is to actually have a great company/product/service.

Then: People would tell 5 – 10 people in their social circle about their experience with a company.

Now: People can reach thousands. Quickly.  Easily. On the internet. With reviews. On their blogs.

It makes me think about how I allocate $ and resources.  Lots of money spent on great marketing can’t overcome having an average product.

I am NOT a Photographer

I AM

I am lots of things.  Marketer, Daughter, Canadian, Female, Blond (well, dyed), Fun, 28, Single...the list could go on forever.

I AM NOT

One thing I am not is a Photographer.  Seriously.  Then I started working at Photrade.  Talking to photographers.  Sounding like an idiot.  So, I thought, I should try to take some good pictures.  Maybe I'll feel like less of a fraud (not that I ever claimed to be a photographer).

So, out I went, with my Canon Powershot in hand - and seriously - look at the results.

This makes me believe that ANYONE can be a photographer (OK, if you are a photographer please don't kill me for saying that).  So, my photos are now posted on Photrade and hey - someone might even buy some.  I have some empty frames that I have been DYING to fill, so I think I'll order some prints of the flower series......

Anyways, the point (if I can say I have one other than bragging about my pictures), is that ANYONE can take really great photos.  Ah the joys of technology.  Anywho, Photrade is invite only, but I do have a few invites hangin out in my back pocket, waiting for a rainy day.  So, if you post a comment I'll share the the love back and hook you up with an invite.  Limited # though