Socialmedialand

Archive for the ‘Case Studies’ Category

At #180series yesterday the audience asked our panel an interesting question (via our Uservoice forum):

What are some popular examples of social media gone wrong?

I guess there are some very famous examples of social media snafus – Dominos, MotrinMoms, etc. All classic stories of big brands ignoring the online community until too late and then scrambling to do damage control. But the question got me thinking about social media gone wrong from the other side – small brands trying to use social media to increase awareness and buzz around their products and failing to do so.

“Authentic” Blogger Outreach

A little while back a coworker brought me a proposal [edit: I misrepresented this situation in my original post] that an agency (The Agency) had sent to us as a bid to work on one of our current clients. It was a blogger outreach plan complete with an example of previous work The Agency had done for a client that sold organic juice for children (Juice Client.)

In this case, I’m using the term “blogger outreach” in a very broad sense. The basic premise of the campaign was that The Agency had hired 5-7 people to impersonate blogger personas. These people were very close to the personality type they were taking on, but they were not the actual person. For example, one persona was a “daddy blogger” father of two who was very concerned about diet, organic food and nutrition for his kids (Daddy O.) The person playing Daddy O was also a father and may have cared about diet but was not actually Daddy O. In order to fulfill the “authentic” part of the plan, Daddy O created a fake Facebook account and a few other traces of his personality across the web in case anyone searched for him. Personally, I don’t think that’s very authentic at all.

The process was that Daddy O would search for forums and blogs about health and kids and write some sort of response. He would work in how he bought Juice Client product for his kids and they loved it and since it was also good for them, he was happy. Then he would include a link of course. I clicked on some of the links to his responses that were included in the case study to see examples of this in action. In the ones where his post was still there, it was the first and only post that was ever made under that screen name. When people responded to him he didn’t return and continue the conversation, and when you looked at his profile it was basically a short description of his persona and a link to Juice Client. In the other ones it was clear his post had been deleted.

The one question I keep repeating in my mind as I’m reading and looking through all this is: WHY? Why did you have to make up people? There are so many legitimate (actually authentic) daddy bloggers, mommy bloggers, parent communities, etc that you could have reached out to and gotten real people’s honest opinions on this. And that kind of campaign would have been way more beneficial. Because those people are real, and talk about this stuff all the time, if you’d gotten them hooked on your product they would still be singing its praises right now, whereas the fake bloggers you created are only going to do it on the clock and stop as soon as you quit paying them. No wonder it never took off.

There’s an easy way and a hard way to do things. Taking the time to contact bloggers, send them samples of your juice, ask them to post honest opinions on what they thought about it and disclose that they were sent free juice – That’s the hard way. It takes time, some money, and patience. The easy way gets you links right away, quick results that you can show the client and then end your engagement before they realize that won’t last.

Sometimes the hardest thing is the right thing (pretty sure I stole that from some song somewhere – just can’t place it…) and in this case it really is. Social media is sometimes put forward as an easy, quick thing to do when in reality it’s not. It’s a long term commitment where the pay off isn’t always immediate. We, as agencies, consultants, PR professionals, social media experts (or amateurs), or whatever you call yourself, need to prepare the client for that. It’s our job to explain to them how this works and why they need to take the time to do it right rather than go for the easy, quick win. Let’s all take that responsibility a little more seriously.

Thoughts? Think I’m being too hard on The Agency? Share your opinions in the comments!

I’d like to share some personal stories with you about how all this social media marketing has been working on me recently. I know I’m not a perfect case study because I work in this industry, but I think that makes it more amazing. I worked for a telemarketing fundraising group at my college for a short period of time. Ever since then,  I’ve found it to be hard to listen to any telemarketing pitches (though, everyone probably finds that hard.) My point is, in most channels, the more you know about the marketing strategy behind it, the less likely it is to work on you because you can see through it.

That’s why social media is different. There’s nothing to “see through.” When it’s done right, it’s honest, open and completely trustworthy. So here are some way’s it’s worked on me recently.

MoJo Yogurt:

I saw a tweet from @DowntownTempe on Feb 20th about MoJo Yogurt giving out free yogurt samples. So I retweeted it and got a few of my coworkers to go down there tocheck it out with me. It was delicious. Since then I’ve been back to MoJo a total of five times in the past three months. Keep in mind that before this I rarely, if ever, went out for frozen yogurt. In addition there are over three other places on the same street where you can get frozen yogurt. That’s a complete success story. Now for a scorecard:

What they did right:

• Used social channels (Twitter) to spread the word to an interested group – If I’m following @DowntownTempe I probably care about what’s happening in Tempe.
• Gave something away – I know the free sample concept has been around for awhile, but there is a reason it’s a classic.

What they could have done better:

• Used their own Twitter account to spread the word – There is an @MoJoYogurt but since it’s not location based, maybe the person running it didn’t know about the promotion at the Tempe store. Perhaps they could utilize a tool like Cotweet to activate tweeters from every location in order to make it more useful.
• Continued the relationship – Sure, they got me addicted, but when I got my free sample, I gave them my email and I haven’t heard from them since. They could have also searched for people who tweeted about them and followed me to continue to update me with specials occurring there seeing as that got me down there at least once and could work again.

Total score: B-

Rula Bula Irish Pub:

Again, I saw a tweet, this time from @RulaBula (honestly, it must have been a retweet-but I forget who it was from now.) It was about an upcoming Twappy Hour (like a tweet-up, or meet up of Twitterers, happy-hour style.) The tweet said if I sent a direct message to Rula Bula, I could get my name on the list and get free food and complimentary first round of drinks. As Rula Bula is one of my favorite bars, I followed them, retweeted the message and signed myself up. My coworker, Dustin, signed up after seeing my retweetand we both headed over. There was a decent group there and I think all in all, the following will grow and the popularity of those events will too. And although I might be a regular to the bar, Dustin had never been, and now he’s a big fan of the place. Since signing up for the event, I’ve seen several new tweets from them offering “no cover” to Twitter followers (which I’ve used) and letting me know what nights they have bands so I know when the best times will be.

What they did right:

• They capitalized on the exclusive nature of Twitter – People on Twitter like to feel like they have a special relationship with a brand or company, and they do. Rula Bula highlighted this by offering special events and deals to people following them on Twitter.
• Used Twitter to spread the word – The viral nature made it easy to spread around and for interested people to find out. Also, the requirement to send a direct message made it so you ended up following them. They didn’t ask for the follow outright, but they did get it. Tricky, and clever. Of course I could always unfollow – but why would I when they’re giving me so much value?
• They offered something for free – I’m a true believer in “free,” Chris Anderson converted me with his keynote at SXSW. I know this is the basic level of free, just the free trial model, but it’s still a good way to start.  
• They continued the relationship – They’re still giving me value, letting me know what’s going on over there.

What they could have done better:

• What about Facebook? – You can’t forget the big guys. Rula Bula is an Irish Pub, on Mill Ave, right next to Arizona State University. They get college student patrons in droves, and college kids are on Facebook more than they are on Twitter (yes, ok, a shift is happening and that segment is growing on Twitter, but it does not yet have the same market penetration as Facebook.) I told the Rula Bula tweeter the same thing, and hopefully they’ll utilize it more in the future. They have a Facebook fan page, but they should try the same types of tactics on Facebook as Twitter.
• Keeping all the employees in the loop. Every time I have been there, the person at the door didn’t know what I was talking about when I brought up the Twitter deals. I normally have to take out my phone and show them the message. A quick training with the servers and door staff to get them up to speed on the lingo and keeping them aware of the events will lead to a better experience. Other people might just give up if they mention the Twitter deal and get no response, leading them to a more negative experience of the brand’s presence on Twitter.

Total score: B+

Do you have any great experiences of social media campaigns that worked on you? Let’s share our best stories for a little inspiration.

In honor of today’s graduation ceremonies, I’d like to take a second to applaud ASU’s efforts in social media. I saw the following application come up in my Facebook feed recently and I’m seriously impressed with it.

(click the image to visit the application)

This is what social media should be all about. It’s not just fluff, and it’s not just a fad. Detractors try to make social media insignificant. They ask “Who wants to know all these details about your life?” or “Who has the time?”

ASU’s application is a solid answer to those doubts.  They know the devil’s in the details and they make it easy to organize those details because no one has the time.

What we are all dealing with in social media is a paradigm shift in the way we interact as a society. People who learn to use it well and adapt to this new space will be leagues ahead in terms of efficiency, information gathering and networking. With this application, ASU is helping prepare it’s students to succeed given the new playing field.

Here’s what’s going right here:

1. They’re going to the students where they’re at. ASU knows there are a healthy number of students already using Facebook, so an application here makes sense.

2. They’re providing value. This isn’t just a fan page for the sake of a fan page (Though I think a fan page is often a good first move for a brand getting involved on Facebook). The school took the time to evaluate pain points for the students – wanting to interact with teachers without giving them access to their profile, being able to connect with fellow students in a large lecture, etc – and gave them a viable solution.

3. They’re not fighting it. Too many schools try to cut social media out. You can’t access Facebook from the school library, Myspace is not allowed, etc. Employers try to do this too. They’re not helping anyone that way – they’re not teaching students how to use it properly, safely and effectively. They’re leaving them to figure it out on their own at home and giving them the impression that it’s not useful for anything but “personal use” or ”for fun.” That doesn’t show people how these new tools can completely alter the way they communicate and get work done and I think it does them a serious disservice.

3. They’re giving it the old college try. Sure it’s not perfect; there’s probably a lot more functions they could add and they could spend some time responding to the comments that have been written on the wall of the app already. But at least they’re going for it, they can always learn and adapt along the way. Most brands and organizations are too afraid to open up to the community and their hesitation is going to cost them.

Congratulations to ASU for getting it. I’m proud to call you my alma mater. And congratulations to today’s grads!

P.S: If you’re reading this and you happen to be at ASU working on this project, please contact me. I’d love to talk to you about this and where to go from here.

I saw this billboard at the Diamondbacks game Saturday night and it caught my eye. Notice there is no phone number, no web address – just their twitter name. Simple. Easy to remember. And just a little bit mysterious…(Side note- check out DD&F’s Twitter profile – looks like they get it.)

As the game went on, I thought about the implications of that sign (what can I say, the game wasn’t very pretty, we lost 8-1, I needed a distraction) and came up with a few things:

1. A social media profile CAN be your only web presence. Jason Baer talked about this a while back and I think it’s an intriguing idea. There are definitely some business models where this would make a lot of sense. If your website would mainly just be a digital business card – trade it in for a social media profile that’s more interactive. At the recent Tempe Chamber meeting (where I spoke about the importance of blogging and social media) this topic came up with a few of the business owners. I’m going to dig into this a little more and research whether there have been any successful examples of this model yet but I think it would be especially relevant to small and/or local businesses.

2. If it’s not you’re ONLY web presence – it can be your calling card. After I went home and visited their Twitter I found out that DD&F does have a website. But they didn’t put that on the sign. They also have a phone number, address, the works – none of that is included in the advertising. They’ve identified a social network as the easiest way for their customers to get in contact with them and get a taste of their business. From there the customer can click through to their web page for more information.

3. It may not be truly mainstream yet – but it’s on its way. Looking around the stadium at the diverse crowd reminded me of some of the things Bret mentioned in his recent Gangplank presentation on connections. He said that the adoption rate of some social networks is still less than that of the snuggie blanket. For those of us who are in it, it’s sometimes hard to remember how many people are still not participating. However, even if they’re not participating, at this point they have heard of it because it’s being referenced in mainstream places, like on the news, and at baseball stadiums. So I think the mainstream adoption is coming and we, as early adopters and advocates of social media, need to be ready to help the public learn to use it. Whether that means technically (how to use it), or socially (developing norms on how we act in this space), we need to be cognizant of it.

I got a reality check on this at the Tempe Chamber meeting, when I was talking to some of the members, a lot of the questions were about the real basic how to mechanics of using sites like Twitter. This is the reason I created a very elementary guide on how-to use Twitter in my resource section. I realized a lot of the how-to resources out there assume you already know the mechanics, when many of the newer people joining still don’t. After that, most of the questions I got were on what types of things you can say and what is expected of you on specific networks or in certain spaces – so look for follow up guides on those things.

A lot of stuff for one little sign huh? But let’s talk about all this - I want to explore these ideas more fully in the future so leave a comment with your opinions and thoughts and let’s see where this all leads. 

P.S: Later that night I took the lightrail back to Tempe and went to one of my favorite bars on Mill Avenue – this sign was up in the restroom, almost as a little confirmation of everything I’d been thinking about earlier:

.

I have to post an update. In my previous post about the Johnjay and Rich Twitter account I talked a lot about the opportunities they’re missing by using their tweets like messages on a billboard rather than starting a two way dialogue and starting some interaction. I also mentioned hoping that they would read it and contact me. I’m excited to say that only a few hours later I had a message in my Facebook inbox about it, and although they weren’t offering me free concert tickets, they were asking for some more advice. Pretty cool, huh? Love it when brands listen and start convos (active listening at its finest.)

Here’s where I owe them an apology. In my rush to talk about everything they could be doing (and I stand by my suggestions btw – I think they’re pretty good ones), I didnt realize that the account had only been active for about a week. It’s a little too early to have judged the activity on it, for all I know they had planned to implement a few of those same ideas.

Although I may sometimes stick my foot in my mouth, never say that I don’t own up to my mistakes.

Video may have killed the radio star, but will Twitter kill the radio host?

Confession time. I listen to 104.7 Kiss FM when I drive to work in the mornings. I say it’s because the <15 minute drive (be jealous) is too short to worry about messing with an IPod or picking out a CD. But really it’s because the Johnjay and Rich morning show is like Jerry Springer on the radio. Confession Wednesday, War of the Roses, Second Date Update – it’s a big helping of “I feel better about my life because I’m not sleeping with my fiance’s father AND mother” (true story.)

So this morning when they brought up their Twitter account I got pretty excited (nerdy I know.) Because I thought I could follow the drama online, see what other people are saying about what’s happening and join in with my own witty commentary on the disastrous lives of my fellow Phoenicians.

Alas, by Twitter account they meant they have a billboard where they post inane messages about who they are talking to now. Then, who they are talking to now. Then, who they just stopped talking to that you can hear on the podcast that they posted on the website. I can hear the static in my mind as I tune out.

Have I mentioned they only have 92 followers when they have a vibrant and large audience of listeners?

Radio is heard here, radio is heard everywhere

I took that line from Clear Channel’s ad campaign. But they are not being heard “here” in social media land. This is a definite let down. The opportunity here is so large! And they’re totally missing it. Twitter is not a billboard; it’s a whole group of active, talking people. I don’t even know where to begin breaking down the improvements they could make.

#Hashtags: they could create tags for their popular programs, bring up the search window during the broadcast and mention the funnier/better comments they see. Plus, hearing a bunch of 140 character responses from all different people would be a lot more fun than hearing that one annoying caller who tells their entire life story and repeats “I love you guys” a billion times before finally getting back to the point of the drama.

@Replies: why don’t they use conversation on Twitter to add to their contests and game shows? Why don’t they take questions from Twitter when they’re talking to celebrities? Again, it’s way quicker and more to the point than taking all those callers – also easier to filter.

DM: this could easily incorporate into contests. While they do the trivia live on the air, if someone DMs the answer before the person on air does (and is the first to do so) they get a prize as well (significantly smaller maybe but it could get participation by way more people.)

Promotion: where’s the follow us button on the homepage? I searched for that thing, if I wasn’t planning on writing this I would have given up. Put it somewhere I can find it. If people start twittering to you, and about you, the people who follow them will see that. They’ll wonder what they’re missing out on and tune in online or in their car as well.

I could go on. I won’t because if Kiss FM sees this I would love for them to contact me - either to offer me free tickets to a concert of my choice, or to ask for my help consulting on new and exciting ways to join the community we’ve got going here in Phoenix as well as Tucson and those in Colorado, Oregon and wherever else they broadcast.

But until that happens I’ll just sit here in the midst of my disappointment while yet another brand misses the wealth of social media by trying to use it like just another traditional ad space.

If you can't say anything nice...

I wasn’t going to post about this. I heard the story when it first came out, turned to my coworker Dustin, chatted about it for a second and then went on. But since then there’s been a flury of discussion about it (to my actual amazement) I think that phenomenon is what really bears discussion. So at the prompting of my friend Christy, who pointed out that this is right in line with my blog’s theme, I’ve decided to speak up.

That’s right, I’m talking about the @KeyInfluencer / #Fedex fiasco. You can read some samples of what people where saying about it at Shankman.com  but the main story is that Mr. Andrews (aka KeyInfluencer) wrote the following Tweet upon arriving in Memphis for a client meeting with FedEx:

Someone over at FedEx saw it and took offense, they wrote him a pretty nasty letter (you can read the full text at the Shankman site I linked above.)

Commence character slaughter. Everyone is tweeting about and commenting on this story. What a huge mistake he made. How could he be on his way to a social media presentation and say something like this on Twitter? Etc, etc. His wife wrote this eloquent defense of his actions, and he explained his own position on his blog. Fine. I think the original incident has been talked about to death.

But what about the bigger picture? This isn’t the first time something like this has happened. It’s just been highly publicized. I see a lot of things that went wrong in this situation but not a lot that went right – for anybody involved. The original tweet, the subsequent letter, the blogs and comments and tweets that followed, all of it was a little off. Because again and again people seemed to forget one major thing. Social media is about people, bottom line. These aren’t case studies or empty voids we’re talking to or about. They are people. So let’s treat each other like people.

If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.

That’s right, we have to go back to our basic kindergarten, Disney lessons here. When you’re going to tweet something – even in the 140 character limit, you have to think about how it might affect the people who are going to read it. And when you see an example of tweeting gone wrong, and you want to blog about it or add your rude comment to said blog, you also need to think about how it will affect the person you’re referring to as well as the people who will read it. You can try to draw lines around what you said in a personal context versus a professional one, but those lines are blurring faster and faster. So make it easy on yourself.

Don’t say something online that you wouldn’t say to a person’s face.

Plain and simple.

Let’s move on people, but let’s move on with our mothers’ lessons in mind. Let’s be polite and treat each other with respect. Thank you.

One step up from a hall monitor badge...pretty nifty

Ok don’t. Seriously. I was just kidding. Really. Please don’t sue me.

The settlement of a libel lawsuit regarding user comments on the review site Yelp bring concerns about validity in social media to the top of everyone’s minds. Ok maybe not everyone’s, but mine and most other peoples’ in my industry. My coworker Josh wrote a post asking for opinions on the social media ethics debate that this will enevitably spark on both sides so I decided to throw in my two cents. Here goes.

For Businesses:

To sue or not to sue, that is the question? Can you really say that suing a former customer who clearly had a gripe they were willing to post for the world to see could ever be construed as a positive, constructive, PR minded move? I think not. If you find that there’s been a negative review about you, yes you need to act, but you must think about the repercussions first.

If it’s true: you need to evaluate your business. Apologize for the gaff and try to make it right for them and then use that feedback to adjust your business moving forward.

If it’s wrong: reach out to them. Ask them why they think that, why they said that, ask what the situation was and how it could be made right. Maybe the customer isn’t always right, but they think they are and you need to deal with them on that level. Draft a public response to the review, the libel was written in the social media forum; try responding there first before taking it to court. Tell your side of the story in an adult, mature way. (No “they’re a big fat liar” type stuff.)

If that doesn’t help, think about this before you sue: If a potential customer sees the negative review how much will that affect them in the total of all reviews that have been posted versus if they read a news story about the review and how the reviewer is being sued? I don’t know about you but I’d rather not go to a chiropractor that has shoddy billing practices (according to one person – but this is the comment that’s been publicized above all others at this point) AND sues their customers.

For Social Media Users:

This is kind of scary. I mean I don’t really think about what I say on review sites before I say it. I just tell my side of the story, like I was complaining or raving to a friend. I don’t ever think about whether my exaggeration might be taken as libel.

Personally I’m not sure any of these cases will go actually go through without proof that the person had lied outright and maliciously. This one was settled and I think most of them will be (assuming more keep coming…see above.) So as long as you’re honest and stick to things that really happened and your opinion about them you should be safe.

If you’re still worried you can read this definition of Libel to make sure your comments don’t violate anyone’s rights.

For Everyone:

Maybe we all need an ethics refresher course. Be honest. Do the right thing. Treat others the way you’d like to be treated. If the business treats a customer correctly in the first place – no problems. If the customer is honest in their reviews and opinions of that treatment – no problems. It’s so easy people. Why can’t we all just get along….

It’s been a little over a week since Sitewire and I asked you all to help us with our social media experiment* to help us move Jay’s post on ParentsConnect.com to page 1 of Google Results.

And we did it! As promised here is the information we gathered during the experiment. To view the slideshow larger, click the full screen button in the bottom right hand corner. Or you can view our results on SlideShare.

Social Linking Experiment

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: is linking)

Hope you enjoyed the experiment – let me know your thoughts in the comments section!

*Disclaimer: Of course, if I were to recommend a social linking strategy for a client I would focus on creating quality content and making it easy for people to share and link to that content. The only reason we approached it this way in this case is because I wanted to see results quickly and be able to track them in a relatively controlled way.

So in the spirit of Christmas, I’d like to share this link with you. My coworker, Jay, posed the question, “Is Santa Real” on the Parent’s Connect forum. Since then we’ve been conducting a little social experiment to see how far we can move it up the Google rankings just by linking that phrase across the internets.

In a few days I’ll post the findings of this experiment – on Sitewire’s blog and here.

Personally I think there’s a little Santa in all of us – but what do you think? Is Santa Real?