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The Good Humor Truck and Social Media

March 27, 2009 By
Photo by SqueakyMarmot

Photo by SqueakyMarmot

Sometimes trying to explain Social Media to people can be difficult so I am always trying to think of analogies to make it easier to understand. Maybe it is the time of year, but I got to thinking the other day about the fact that social media, in comparison to other forms of marketing, is similar to the Good Humor truck. A typical ice cream shop has a permanent location and they are dependent on getting the customers to their location. The ice cream shop typically spends money on advertising and promotions, and relies on a healthy dose of word of mouth in order to drive customers to their location.

Conversely, when was the last time you saw an ad for your local Good Humor truck? They know the best location and time to find their target audience.  Good Humor trucks know their audience is in neighborhoods (my daughter can hear the truck’s music from a mile away), pools, parks, beaches and playgrounds. You don’t often see them cruising the business district of cities. One other point to make is that because of the “convenience” they aren’t cheap. They bring their product directly to their audience and fill their need for a refreshing ice cream treat on a hot day.

Social media marketing is much like the Good Humor truck. Using monitoring and research, you can identify where your target audience likes to spend their time and engage them their instead of waiting for them to find you. Now social media does not replace your other forms of marketing, but it does gives you the ability to reach your audience on their turf and engage them in conversations on their terms. From that you may pull them to your online or brick and mortar presence. Another food example which I have talked about before is that Pizza Hut created a Facebook application that allows users to order pizza without leaving Facebook. Pizza Hut already offers online ordering on their site, but they understand the importance of going where their audience is and not waiting for them to leave Facebook to order pizza.

To sum things up, traditional marketing must push its message to its audience which is similar to an ice cream shop, while social media marketing goes to where its audience already is, similar to the Good Humor Truck. What do you think? Have any other analogies you want to share?

Photo by SqueakyMarmot

Filed Under: Engagement, Facebook, Marketing, Monitoring Tagged With: , ,

Ten Free Monitoring Tools for Small Business

March 15, 2009 By
Photo by Docklandsboy

Photo by Docklandsboy

Every social media strategy has to begin with some research and listening and this research comes in the form of monitoring conversations and your reputation on mainstream news and social media sites. Like other social media tools, there are a lot more than 10 monitoring tools on the market, but I am limiting my post to those that are free as well as those I have had first hand experience in the form of using the tool.  Shall we begin?

1. Google Alerts
If you do no other monitoring, at the very least set up Google Alerts. It is a service from Google and is easy to set up and use. Results will be emailed to you and come from blogs and news throughout the Internet.

2. Twitter Search
Twitter search allows you to search on keywords, user names and hashtags to see who is talking about that subject. Enter your keywords and do a search, you can grab the RSS feed to put in your RSS reader to keep track of that search.

3. Monitter
Monitter allows for a real-time view of multiple search terms. Maybe you want to keep track of the real time conversation going on with a specific hashtag or a trending topic, Monitter makes it easy.

4. Tweetbeep
Tweetbeep is similar to Twitter Search and Monitter in that you can search and track keywords, but this service will email you with hourly updates on your terms.

5. FriendDeck
FriendDeck has the same basic functionality as Monitter but is for FriendFeed and not Twitter. You can use this service as a Web site or download a Adobe Air application.

6. Technorati
Technorati is a search engine for blogs. If it is being talked about in a blog post, you should find it on Technorati. Do a search on your topic and subscribe to the RSS feed to keep up to date on blog mentions.

7. BackType
BackType allows you to track and monitor comments that are made on blogs. BackType also has the added benefit that it allows you track where you posted comments and if any replies were added to your comments. While blog posts are important to track, you cannot ignore what people may say in the comments.

8. BoardTracker
You can track threaded discussions on forums that mention your selected keywords. These alerts give you the ability to track and respond as needed. Do not overlook discussion groups when monitoring your brand.

9. Filtrbox
Filtrbox is a freemium services meaning that there is a level of free service and an upper level of paid service. The free service, Filtrbox Basic, gives you the ability to track things online from both mainstream news, blogs and microblogs.

10. SM2
SM2 is also a freemium service. They provide their service for free to a certain level of usage. Beyond that the service is a monthly fee. SM2 tracks blogs, discussion groups, comments, microblogging sites and any other mention on the Internet. This is a powerful product and has many impressive features even with the limit of 1,000 results.

As you use different tools, you will find the ones that suit you best and the ones you use may change over time as your needs change. I know there are many other tools in the market and would love to hear your favorites in the comments below.

Photo by Docklandsboy

Filed Under: Facebook, List of 10 Series, Marketing, Monitoring, Resource, Twitter Tagged With: , , ,

Fireside Chat 2.0

November 10, 2008 By

So, when I started writing up notes for this post it was going to be about how Barack Obama used social media so effectively during his campaign and whether or not he would continue using it to reach out to the country now that he has been elected. Just a few hours after I wrote up my initial outline, I saw a this. Yes, it is a Web site and blog to keep the country informed about the transition that is taking place. Needless to say, this changed the direction of this post.

There was another president in our history that decided to reach out to the nation in turmoil in a way very different from those that came before him. Between 1933 and 1944, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt used the radio to address the nation. These 30 Fireside Chats were extremely popular and well received by listeners. They often had larger amount of listeners than the popular radio programs of the times. President Roosevelt discussed several topics during these addresses including the bank crisis, his new deal program, national security and national defense. I don’t know about you, but these seem like pretty pertinent topics for today as well.

Why do I bring up the Fireside chat? I think that now is the time for Fireside chat 2.0. I know, enough with the 2.0, but my point is that Obama’s campaign embraced social media so well during the campaign that it makes sense to keep using it as a means to reach out to the country in these uncertain times. A large portion of his supporters are best engaged online and through social media. Video and podcast updates to keep in touch with the nation in addition to traditional media will stay in the spirit of his campaign, “Change”.

Now, my point here is not to be political. There are many sites out there for that. My point is that there is more than one way to reach your target market and it is in your best interest to determine how to reach them at each part of your sales cycle. You may find that using the same set of tools throughout the sales cycle is most effective, but I would be willing to bet that the message has to change at each step. Also, you may have more than one demographic or psychographic to target within your market, so you need to determine if you can retool your messages to be used across multiple tools whether more traditional or newer social media, such as a presentation you did at a seminar can be repurposed into an online video or podcast.

Now I want you to get up and go look at the marketing materials you already have and start thinking about how you can repurpose them to be used with the social media tools that your target audience use.

Filed Under: Blogs, Case Study, Marketing Tagged With: ,

Social Media Causes Many to Become “10 Feet Tall and Bulletproof”

November 6, 2008 By

Since this is the Marketing Roadhouse, I thought I would talk about a behavior that goes on in real roadhouses probably everyday. It’s what I like to refer to as “10 Feet Tall and Bulletproof” (10FTB). I get the name from a Travis Tritt song from years ago. This behavior is almost always brought on by the consumption of too many adult beverages and causes the subject to seek out the biggest and baddest person in the roadhouse and challenge him or her to a fight. A lot of us have probably witnessed this behavior before in person. I know I saw it several times in college and it inflicts women as much as men.

So why am I talking about this behavior? Well, I have seen the 10FTB behavior take place online as well, especially with social media tools. Most social media sites allow to you register using just an email address, and you are identified online with just a user name. People often do not use their name as a user name and even set up free email accounts that have nothing to do with their name. This anonymity provides the same feeling to many people that too much alcohol provides. You can run around the Internet being 10 Feet Tall and Bulletproof because no one knows who you are. There are no consequences for your behavior, these people can go around and blast other people and companies with no risk to themselves.

So what does this all mean to you? As you get involved in social media marketing you are going to get negative comments and some are going to come from these individuals that are 10FTB. They may have an axe to grind for no good reason. Maybe it is a disgruntled ex-employee trying to get revenge, maybe it is your competition trying to smear you, or maybe it is just someone have a bad day that feels better taking it out their frustrations on people and companies online. I personally think this behavior is just not called for, I believe that you shouldn’t say anything online to someone that you wouldn’t be willing to say to their face.

I’m not trying to scare you, just make aware of this so you are prepared. Other online users are aware of this behavior too and will often dismiss someone’s comments that seem to be hiding behind their anonymity. People often dismiss one bad comment if the rest are positive. You need to evaluate whether or not to respond to this person. If the person behind the negative comment is either using a real name and/or is an influencer in your industry be sure to address it. You may want to consider addressing it off-site through email rather than through comments, but make sure you address it with honesty.

Remember most people are honest and are offering constructive criticism because they want to give you another chance or figure they just have a one-off bad experience. There is always a rotten apple in the bunch. Do not allow them to deter you from being involved in Social Media Marketing. Just be prepared.

Filed Under: Marketing, Online Behavior Tagged With: ,