Microblogging has arrived. There are now millions of people using Twitter as well as its competitors Pownce and Jaiku. My learnings from the world of marketing points to one obvious conclusion. Where the people go, the corporations are sure to follow.
Similar to earlier forms of online engagement(message boards, blogs and communities), companies must understand that the world of microblogging is about conversations. In the offline world, nobody likes the guy who walks into a room with a bull horn. People generally ignore the interruption or verbally attack it until it goes away. The same premise applies online and as such, companies/marketers need to listen first. Just like any conversation, once you get a feel for what topics are already being discussed, then companies can join in and build on the topic with relevant, useful points. This is online marketing 101, but it still amazes me how often companies ignore these rules.
Chris Brogan wrote an excellent post a couple months back titled 50 Ideas on Using Twitter for Business. It looks at how you can get started, what topics are appropriate to tweet about, how to authentically build community and the negatives and positives you can expect to encounter through efforts in the realm. I have yet to find a more succinct, yet all encompassing post on how companies can go about microblogging correctly. Some strong examples of companies on Twitter that have joined the conversation and established a following that positively impacts their brand include: Starbucks, Dell, Jason’s Deli, Jet Blue, Kodak, Whole Foods and Southwest Airlines.
There are two sides to the corporate microblogging coin though. The first and possible most important, is how you are engaging with your customers. The other side is how corporations can provide their employees new tools that allow for greater communication and productivity. Enter the internal corporate microblogging tools from Yammer, Present.ly and QikCom. Skeptical? Even Forrester Research begrudgingly states that microblogging has a place in the enterprise 2.0 market that is expected to reach $4.6 billion by 2013. ReadWriteWeb provides more background with a good overview and links to a report by Pitsachio Consulting on enterprise microsharing tools.
Lastly, I recently came across direct proof that companies are listening to the microblogging noise. A family member of mine wondered aloud on Twitter whether it was time for his company to bring Yammer into the fold. I suggested he also take a look at Present.ly and QikCom. In under 24 hours I noticed both Yammer and QikCom were following me on Twitter. Clearly they are listening, I am now wondering when they will have something meaningful to add to the conversation…
The entire point of this blog is to provide an extension for my passion in all things technology that in the last four years can more often than not be narrowed further to web based consumer tools. While I am aware of the latest and greatest, I am not usually an early adopter because I will rarely embrace something until it has proven its viability to live beyond flavor of the year status. I also fancy myself a writer. I deeply respect quality writing and have grown concerned about the degradation of this craft that began with Generation X and I believe only gets worse with each group that follows.
On its face, microblogging appears to have little utility. How can anybody get excited about a medium that only lets you use 140 characters to communicate? What worthwhile discourse can be achieved with such limitations in place? This had been my stance for quite some time.
However, a new environment this year began to take shape in the blogosphere. The blogging elite, those trusted early pioneers that trail blazed a new industry began consolidating and merging with traditional media outlets. In many ways this proved the ultimate success for the format, but whispers throughout the interwebs grew stronger and with greater frequency that the personalization and community building that was at the heart of the nascent blogging culture had disappeared. Then the unthinkable happened. Weblogs network founder Jason Calacanis retired from blogging. The crux of his reasoning was this:
First, please don’t take this as a condemnation of blogging. I love blogs and always will. However, I’ve done my part and I’m looking to strip it down. I’m looking for something more acoustic, something more authentic and something more private. Blogging is simply too big, too impersonal, and lacks the intimacy that drew me to it.
Calacanis answer was to go backward and develop a small, intimate community through an email newsletter. This may work for his needs, however how is this void to be filled for the masses?
Microblogging, the hip new social communication vehicle. Not entirely, in that it is not really that new, but it may finally be hitting critical mass. 2008 presents the nexus for full blown mainstream adoption of the “game changing” renegade publishing format known as blogging and a more social, mobile and personal tool known as microblogging. While there are several companies in this arena, the clear king of the movement is Twitter.
I have known about Twitter for nearly two years, but I just could not make sense of why anyone would use it. That said, the rabid support that is demonstrated by Twitter fans is on par with those of Apple, and the noise generated by its followers began to pique my interest.
I took the leap and have suggested to friends that I cannot remember my life preTwitter. Its similar to how I view the importance of message boards, email and latter instant messaging. All four use the internet to remove the barrier of time and location to allow users to build and maintain communication with friends and family as well as develop relationships with individuals you have never met face to face.
The power of microblogging is now clear to me, but does it mean the death of “standard” blogging? A recent Wired article argued just that, but I think WordYard provides the best refute to this claim. I agree that the blogosphere longtail will become a bit shorter because of microblogging, but the blog is here to stay. It gives anyone a voice (without space limitations), an incubator to develop writing in a digital age and a personal journal for those with less ambitious ends that only desire a place to communicate with friends and family. Oh yeah, but did I mention microblogging is awesome…
In only its second season AMC’s Mad Men has been hailed as the next Sopranos and was heavily decorated in both historic nominations and awards. The show portrays the infancy of the today’s advertising industry, its symbiotic relationship in both shaping and evolving with culture in the 1960s and the resulting ramifications on society. The show is a time-capsule of the U.S. norms forty years ago and can shock the viewer in how much has changed in regards to equality, truth and women’s role in the workplace. Even more eyeopening, how much the advertising industry has not evolved during the same span of time. The salaries have increased, but communication mediums and strategies are all the same. The question is whether the target has changed?
I straddle the dividing line between Generation X and Y that I believe provides a front row seat to the radical change in consumer habits that are redefining business. I never watched broadcast news and stopped reading the newspaper about eight years ago. Nearly all the TV I watch is on-demand, either through a DVR or online. With the lone exception of Fast Company, I always to prefer to read a magazine’s online edition compared to print. Why? I have become increasingly frustrated with the inability to link to similar content and immediately comment or direct friends to interesting information. Its been months since I tuned into radio, instead I listen to about an hour and a half of podcasts every day. Ten years ago, I would be seen as ignorant and uniformed of the world in which I live. Not today though. Instead I am highly connected, I just happen to exclusively direct my attention to interactive social media and entertainment. The question is what are advertisers doing about the shift?
Similar to the standard print advertisement, the online display ad accompanies content and comprises the main revenue source for publishers. However, the industry average click through rate for online display advertising is a dismal .1 percent. Its not working and online spend is slowing as the industry looks for ways to generate a reasonable ROI.
Advertising firm Avenue A/Razorfish announced a partnership with interactive social services provider Pluck to develop a social display advertising product they call AdLife. It is innovative in that it will weave social features such as consumer comments and reviews directly into the ad to provide third party recommendations to the target. This is a strong example of the burgeoning online interactive marketing pull strategy being deployed by leading firms. Similar innovation has yet to make its way to the online video arena as executives at the RBC Capital conference this week lamented on growing to the current TV spend level of $50 billion. Marketing success can be attained in the online environment, but it will require new strategies that include social aspects and loosening of control on the purchased ad space. Instead of buying ad space to direct a message at the consumer, advertising 2.0 is all about companies buying space to allow consumers to talk about and to them.
Newsweek.com has a great article on where the Web is heading…famously coined as Web 3.0. The article highlights the shift away from “Wisdom of the Crowds” toward edited information vetted by professionals. Examples of Web 3.0 sites from the article include: Knol, BigThink, Mahalo and About.com. Each sites focuses on providing human experts that readers can trust and rely on vs unregulated content by enthusiasts.
There has been much talk on what Web 3.0 will look like, and Im not certain this is it. Instead, I believe this is the maturing and mass adoption of Web 2.0. From a news and communications standpoint, this is a positive trend that will only increase the credibility of the blogosphere and provide relief to the PR world that we are in fact working with other professionals on behalf of our clients.
Client demand for user generated content got you down. No worries…as always SportsCenter provides the last word on all that is life. I think the following “This is SportsCenter” commercial provides enlightened social commentary on a world hopped up on the drug called UGC (user generated content).
I came across this last night and probably played it 10 times…still brings tears to my eyes. It is aptly titled “Choices.” Choose wisely…
I came across an interesting article this week looking at the Quiznos vs. Subway TV Ad Challenge back in the fall of 2006. The challenge aske Quiznos fans to submit videos that drew a comparison between Quiznos and Subway with Quiznos being superior. The winner received $10,000, and the video was shown on VH1 and on a giant screen in Times Square on New Year’s Eve in 2006.
Easy enough. Subway has decided to sue Quiznos because it contends that the consumer video contained “literally false statements” and depicted Subway in a “disparaging manner.” The issue though is that Quiznos did not make the videos, but can it be held liable for content its fans made at the company’s request. This is an important case because it will set a precedent that could impact on user generated campaigns moving forward.
I believe this will add yet another layer of consideration when developing online campaigns. This could potentially have impact beyond contests that attack or poke fun of competitors because “false claims” could have a very broad interpretation.
Its Friday…and allergies are wrecking havoc. I dont have anything of significant PR value…but I did come across this great video highlighting our friend Web 2.0 and the fun bubble we are riding. Any takers on when Tech bubble 2.0 will burst? Im not aware of any straight 2.0 companies my firm is doing PR for (not owned by that large company in Finland) and perhaps the higher ups view the bubble as the reason. I know we dont want a repeat of the fun the first bubble created. Any thoughts here? Enjoy…
Today Oprah announced that she will have her own YouTube Channel. While this is of little interest to me, I imagine this could become one of the most trafficked channels on YouTube in the coming months. Content will include behind the scenes in making the Oprah Winfrey show as well as videos created by Oprah herself.
Finding a reliable way to locate top blogs can have its issues. Today PC magazine released its Top 100 blogs. For those interested, they have also provided a program that will load its Top 100 list into your browser’s favorites. The list has many repeats from the Technorati 100, but there are quite a few differences. At first glance, since the list is based on preference (and not questionably useful measuring metrics) it provides a much broader view of top blogs than Technorati…
Brace yourself…this coming Friday…LinkedIn will allow photos. Dont get crazy though because you can add just one image to your profile. Now your business network can see what you look like or what you want them to think you look like. I think this could be a slippery slope for the business minded social network, but Im sure I will be posting my standard image come tomorrow…Im not sure it was needed, but as others have mentioned, Im still trying to grasp the full purpose of what one does with LinkedIn.
Newsweek.com has a 
I came across an 
Its Friday…and allergies are wrecking havoc. I dont have anything of significant PR value…but I did come across this great video highlighting our friend Web 2.0 and the fun bubble we are riding. Any takers on when Tech bubble 2.0 will burst? Im not aware of any straight 2.0 companies my firm is doing PR for (not owned by that large company in Finland) and perhaps the higher ups view the bubble as the reason. I know we dont want a repeat of the fun the first bubble created. Any thoughts here? 
