Smart Phone Growth Fuels Mobile Banking Buzz

Smart Phone Growth Fuels Mobile Banking Buzz

Customer Service Trumps Social Media Still

Old Spice Commercials

Has everyone seen these Old Spice commercials? I think they're hilarious!



You can see more of these on YouTube!

Top Five Social Media Marketing Mistakes

Business Week posts an interesting list of the top 5 social media marketing mistakes.

Businesses Look for Ways to Reward Customers using Foursquare

Foursquare is an emerging social media tool businesses are trying to figure out. Two popular ways businesses can leverage Foursquare include monitoring "check ins" and tracking consumers who are awarded the title of "mayor."

There has been some recent skepticism over best practices for taking advantage of Foursquare, especially in terms of rewarding the "mayor."


Unfortunately, only one person can be awarded the title of "mayor" for a particular location at a time. Rewarding the "mayor" of a particular establishment limits the benefits associated with other customers who "check in" frequently. Fortunately, some companies are looking beyond only rewarding the "mayor" of their business though. Many businesses are utilizing Foursquare by rewarding as many customers as possible. This is accomplished by offering discounts to all consumers "checking in." For example, some local restaurants are promoting happy hour discounts for all customers who "check in" between certain hours (e.g., 1PM - 3PM) versus simply rewarding the "mayor."

Do you have any other great ideas about ways businesses can use Foursquare? Feel free to leave a question or comment regarding your experiences marketing through Foursquare.

Can Social Media Save the Day?

Kristi Hines of Social Media Examiner offers some great insight regarding the benefits of using social media manage a crisis. She provides several ways companies can leverage Facebook, Twitter and YouTube when problems arise.

Personally, I think social media is a great tool for managing a crisis as long as a company is upfront and transparent. What are your thoughts on companies using social media for crisis management?

Best Practices for Engaging Influencers

Reaching out to influential people online can be difficult for almost any brand. Fortunately, there are a few steps a brand or marketer can follow to simplify the process. These include:

• Look at your company, not your favorite blogger - Find out who your top customers are and who influences them first. Also, review internal databases for potential influencers currently doing business with your company.
• Identify what you can offer influencers - Engaging influencers goes both ways. A company should bring something to the table if it wants to partner with an influencer. Do not worry if you have a small budget. A company does not need to offer monetary rewards; however, be prepared to give influencers the chance to reach new audiences or give them access to valuable information.
• Consistency is the key - Many outreach programs fail due to marketers desires to meet short-terms marketing goals. Implement long term plans to help foster and develop relationships with influential consumers.

Source: SmartBlog

Do you like these tips? Feel free to leave ask a question or leave a comment.

Quick Twitter Search Tips

Here are a few good sites for marketers who want to use Twitter search to help promote content:

• Replyz - This site is still in beta, but makes it easy for marketers to find questions Twitter users are asking.
• Key Relevance - This tool allows marketers to build tools to monitor Twitter queries.
• Ice Rocket - Ice Rocket lets marketers review Twitter results in through real-time search.

Please let me know what you think of these Twitter search tools.

Source: PC World

Should Social Marketers Share Results?

Charlotte McEleny on New Media Age questions whether social marketers should share results. I think Charlotte does a good job answering this tough question. In fact, her response supports what I learned in a recent technology management course in my MBA program. A key takeaway from the course was that companies can profit more through information and technology sharing (e.g., Toyota licenses its hybrid technology to Ford).

Lastminute.com reported that it is aiming for £2m revenue from social media. Charlotte feels marketers need to start being more open about their return on investment, similar to Lastminute.com. Only by making return on investment information public, McEleny argues, will social marketers be able to ensure their industry's long-term growth.

Advertising Age reports Fox selling 80% of Super Bowl ads already. For comparison, CBS sold 70% of ads for the 2010 Super Bowl by September 2009. NBC sold roughly 30% of its Super Bowl ads in 2008 through upfront sales in early June 2008.

Source: http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=144304

Intro to Geosocial Networking for Marketers

Introduction to Geosocial Networking Services

Geosocial networking services let users connect with friends and update their locations through web and mobile applications. Foursquare and Gowalla are among the most popular geosocial networking sites being discussed right now. Two other geosocial services include Loopt and Brightkite.

Online Buzz Trends for Top Geosocial Services











N = 812,634,206 total online messages from discussion communities, blogs, Usenet groups and Microblogs July 1, 2009 – February 28 2010
N = 74,463 for Foursquare; N = 9,859 for Gowalla; N = 5,590 for Loopt; N = 3,775 for Brightkite

Buzz Volume for Top Geosocial Services















Geosocial Services Overview

Foursquare receives the most discussion compared to alternative geosocial networking services. Consumers like Foursquare’s user interface compared to alternatives.

Gowalla’s location-based information is crowdsourced, which has allowed the app to gain traction quickly in places around the world. Gowalla is viewed positively for being available in more locations, but lacks the gameplay and conversationality available though Foursquare. Being able to “check in” is a central concept to most geosocial networking services, and some users feel that Gowalla’s forced reliance on GPS makes “check in” more difficult.
Despite Gowalla’s superior availability, Foursquare receives more website traffic and online discussion because of a better user interface and experience.

Brightkite receives less online discussion than Gowalla, but more website traffic. This is be due to Brightkite’s ease of use. Users may “check in” via text messaging or mobile application.
Similar to Gowalla, Loopt provides a cellphone-based GPS sharing system allowing users to visualize each other.

Loopt offers a unique Journal widget displaying a user’s updates, and photos visually. Loopt has encountered some recent problems with SMS invitation issues.

Limited social interaction is a moot point for most geosocial networking services at this time.

Website Traffic for Top Geosocial Networking Services











Source: Nielsen Net Ratings


Service Comparisons






















Snapshot: Foursquare vs. Gowalla

Foursquare

Points are awarded for “checking in” at specific locations. Users can have their Twitter and Facebook accounts updated every time they “check in”. Users can earn badges by “checking in” at locations frequently. Users may be crowned “Mayor” of a place if they
“check in” more times than anyone else. Foursquare users are able to create “To Do” lists for their private use and add “Tips” for places visited.

Gowalla

Similar to Foursquare, users “check in” from places in their local vicinity. Visitors are rewarded by receiving awards from a “check in”. Items may be developed to for promotional use.
A key feature of Gowalla is being able to track “Spots” and “Trips” (e.g., Nature Hikes or Pub Crawls). Certain users receive an elevated status level, Street Team Elite (STE). Members of STE are given special access to additional features.

Consumer Perceptions toward Geosocial Networking Sites

Geosocial sites are gaining popularity, but consumers feel there is room to grow. Sites such as Foursquare and Gowalla are deemed to be more appropriate for displaying personal information than blogs. However, consumers are looking for easier ways to communicate their whereabouts and personal thoughts on geosocial networks (e.g., SMS). Additionally, consumers are looking for more social interaction.

A small number of consumers express safety concerns associated with geosocial networking. These concerns arise from fear of constantly letting too many people knowing their whereabouts.

Despite Gowalla’s superior technology, consumers currently prefer Foursquare. Consumers’ tendencies to use Foursquare over alternatives are based on ease of use and perceptions that Foursquare is simply more well-known.

Sample Verbatim

"Thanks! I wish there was a way to check in on line or via sms"
http://discussion.treocentral.com/webos-apps-software/225789-what-happend-foursquare.html, 2010-01-28

“However, automatically blogging all my tweets each week picks up a lot of content that isn’t really relevant to readers of my blog e.g. foursquare updates, personal updates about my life and a lot of retweets (which are fine within Twitter but they feel less appropriate in a blog post).”
http://davidlanger.co.uk/2010/01/05/davids-top-5-twitter-weekly-updates-522009, 2010-01-04

“I’m using both and Foursquare has a lot more users, has better info for the places I go (admittedly mostly in SF or surrounding areas, which is one of the cities that it has in it) and is more fun to play.
Gowalla has more cities, forces you to use GPS (made it tough to check in in a few places where GPS wasn’t available) and I don’t like the UI as much (although I admit there are probably some who like it better).
Who will win long term? I think Foursquare will. Why? The gameplay and conversationality of the game are superior. I see people on Twitter talking about Foursquare all the time. “Just became ‘mayor’ of xxxxxx.” I rarely see people talk about Gowalla. The virality just isn’t there.”
http://gigaom.com/2009/10/14/gowalla-vs-foursquare-who-will-win/, 2009-10-15

“Being playing around with the Foursquare the social “location tagging” service and I’ve been loving it…..BUT!
Nobody seems to know what the hell they are doing with it. Other than clocking points and becoming the mayor of your most visited locations I have seen very little sign of social interaction.”
http://smlp.co.uk/blog/2010/01/20/%e2%80%9ccheck-in%e2%80%9d-the-cupboard-under-the-stairs, 2010-01-20

Marketing Insights

Several companies have been able to leverage the growing popularity of geosocial networking sites. For instance, Pepsi sponsored a cause-related campaign that awarded $0.04 to Camp Interactive for every point New York City users added to the Foursquare points leaderboard.















Tapping into the potential of geosocial networking sites is very easy. Some companies already use geosocial sites to remind consumers about products or engage customers.
The Wynn Las Vegas uses Foursquare by engaging with “checked in” guests. Wynn is using Foursquare to help improve the customer experience (Mashable, 2010). Other companies offer special “brand badges” to loyal customers. In fact, Starbucks awards a barista badge to customers who “check in” often. Additional ways companies can leverage geosocial networking sites are listed below.

Marketing Recommendations

• Engage customers who frequently “check in” through a particular geosocial networking service
• Create cause-related campaigns that encourage consumers to participate by “checking in” at certain locations
• Offer recommendations to customers “checking in.” For example, a local restaurant chain may communicate special promotions through Foursquare to customers as they arrive
• Communicate with customers who frequently “check in”; Offer discounts, or coupons to loyal customers
• Sponsor a leaderboard
• Make Facebook pages associated with “check in” locations or special events
• Award customers with special “brand” badges for “checking in”
• Reward frequent customers participating in current loyalty programs (e.g., Kroger Plus Card) with additional value for “checking in”

Conclusion:

Geosocial networking sites are relatively new, but gaining popularity. They are becoming an important tool for businesses. Geosocial networking services may prove most useful in building and maintaining customer relationships and brand loyalty.

DIRECTV "Improve the Price" Ad

This is one of my favorite ads!

Olympics Buzz Dominates!

The Olympics dominated online buzz compared to the Daytona 500 and NBA All-Star game this past weekend. The Daytona 500 did manage to receive more buzz than the NBA All-Star game on Sunday, February 14, 2010 though.

Sports Buzz Trends












Despite receiving less buzz than the Olympics, Daytona 500 advertisers enjoyed higher brand recall and likeability.

My First Online Video

Social Media Predictions in 2010

I spent most of 2009 trying to acclimate myself managing time between family, work and school (I started classes to earn my MBA in 2009.) Unfortunately, I forgot to keep up with my blog. Given that, I want start off 2010 right by adding post to my blog on this wonderful New Year's Day!

The New Year brings lots of hope and joy for many people around the world. Last year's problems and events appear to be in the rear-view mirror as we march forward. New challenges and opportunities will arise in 2010. For me, I want to continue to learn more about the fascinating world of social media.

Social media had its fair share of challenges and obstacles in 2009. Former social media giant, Myspace.com, saw its website traffic lower. But the rise in popularity of Twitter, Google Wave and mobile applications in 2009 will give way to continued growth in 2010. Given that, I have a few social trends I'd like to predict for 2010.

Social Media Predictions in 2010

• Mobile News Apps will Gain Popularity - Do I really think social media will replace current media outlets (e.g., CNN, ABC, Fox News, etc...)? No! But I do think social media will change the way we receive our news. A declining customer base has led to thousands of newspapers and media outlets closing their doors. Personally, I think media will find new ways to reach consumers in 2010. More mobile apps will be created so consumers can access news content easily from mobile devices in 2010. Additionally, I think media outlets will create apps to help consumers share data more efficiently.
  

• Mobile Usage Increases in 2010- Given the current growth in cellular technology and usage, mobile usage will continue to increase. More people will be accessing the internet via mobile devices 2010. (Hey, I had to throw an easy prediction in here somewhere!)

• Video Blogging Increases and Gains Popularity - You Tube's continued growth helps support my theory that video is the ultimate social media platform. I think the technology is still developing though. You Tube needs to find a better way for consumers to interact on the site (e.g., allow consumers to instant message when logged into YouTube). Overall, I think companies and consumers alike will begin to utilize video more on blogs and social media networks in 2010. If you think about it, almost every successful viral campaign has had a video component. Really, what is "Dove Evolution" without the video? Nothing? Exactly! Online video will be the bees neez of social media in 2010. Expanding the way people interact on YouTube (or an equivalent site) will be the key to longevity.

• E-mail will become more "Real-Time" - The advent of tools like Google Wave bring a lot of promise to "real time" online discussion. E-mail will become the new "snail mail" by 2020 (maybe sooner).
  

I hope everyone likes my predictions. I tried to be a little bold, especially with video and e-mail. I simply added mobile apps in so I could get at least one of my predictions right. What are your predictions for social media in 2010? I'd love to hear.

Can Michael Vick and Tiger Woods Repair their Public Images by Winning?

I'm not a Public Relations (PR) specialist, but winning may be the best way for Michael Vick and Tiger Woods to improve their public image. Alex Rodriguez certainly got a boost from winning the World Series. Similarly, I feel Vick and Woods would benefit from such successes.

In addition to sports-related accomplishments, I would like to see the following:

A). Vick should appear in a commercial speaking out against dog fighting DURING the Super Bowl. I haven't heard of Vick speaking out against dog fighting since signing with the Eagles.

B). Tiger Woods needs to take a page out of the Michael Vick and Alex Rodriguez books by interviewing on "60 Minutes" or with Katie Couric. I'd recommend staying away from Katie Couric since she always asks the tough questions.

Despite personal stumbles, both Alex Rodriguez and Tiger Woods receive increases in buzz late December 2009 for professional achievements. As we know, Alex Rodriguez's public persona has improved since winning the World Series. I think Vick and Woods would benefit from such professional achievements as well.

Turn the Tub Around - "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" Infomercial

My wife and I came across this "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" infomercial on Dish Network channel 125. The video plays over and over continuously. The video is funny, but my wife are I are disappointed to be paying Dish Network for channels featuring infomercials about butter. Overall, we feel we should be getting more high-quality channels for our money.





I think the following comment sums up this video nicely. MissMousy60 on YouTube says, "This is very bizarre. An infomercial for a tub of butter."

Some Bold Economy Predictions Hold True

I have a friend, Dody Bush, who made 20 bold predictions about the economy at the beginning of 2009. I thought I would go ahead review her assessment of the economy. I answer Dody's hypotheses using social media trends, statistics and supportive news stories.

Here is what she wrote. I list an answer below each prediction.

Hypothesis 1. More jobs will continue to be lost until mid-May. By May things will either get better or much worse.

Finding 1. Unemployment has been rising throughout 2009.

Hypothesis 2. Gold will be high. I am not expecting 1600 or 2k like some commenters, but the highs of 2008 are likely to occur again.

Finding 2. Gold topped $1,000 again since February.

Hypothesis 3. Food stamps will become a staple for getting food for more than 40% of American families, and consequentially will be a budget problem eventually.

Answer 3. US population 304,059,724 million. Number of people using food stamps is 34 million. Given those numbers, only 10% of the US population uses food stamps.

Hypothesis 4. Luxuries will remain “not desirable”. So if you are in the luxury business, add another line.

Answer 4. I think this depends on the product type. Starbucks made a profit in its recent fiscal 3rd quarter. Starbucks made a profit through cost cutting efforts primarily though.

5. Foreclosures will suddenly increase at the end of 2009 unless government intervention occurs.

Answer 5. This just came out today on Bloomberg. Home sales are up 0.7%. The government has intervened though by offering tax rebates for new home buyers.

6. Sewing will become “IN” again. That is “remaking” clothes.

Answer 6. Google trends suggests otherwise.

7. Beans and Rice in bulk will be seen as staples for America’s diet. Steak is so yesterday, except for rare treats like an Anniversary. Also expect potatoes, macaroni, tomato sauce, and PB and J’s to sell well.

Answer 7. More people might be buying beans and rice, but less people are talking about them.

8. Back to school shopping, will start to involve second hand stores for clothes. For the poor it will be patching up hand me downs.

Answer 8. I'll answer this question after I see Walmart's next quarterly figures.

9. Children will learn to be thankful for the awesome stuff you give on holidays…at least a little more.

Answer 9. This answer depends on how you define "awesome stuff." I love the optimism though.

10. Every teen having their own cell phone with text messages, will be drastically cut back. Expect prepaid for Emergencies only to be the thing parents do.

Answer 10. Teen cell phone ownership nearing adult numbers doesn't sound like cutting back to me.

11. Shoe cobblers will find their business increase

Answer 11. Shoe cobbler buzz is trending down.

12. Parents will start to pressure schools to remain open during holidays and possible weekends so kids can have free school lunch. (urban areas)

Answer 12. Schools should go year around in my opinion anyway.

13. Libraries will cut back hours or raise late fee fines just as more patrons come in due to budget cut backs.

Answer 13. This is sad but true.

14. Food staples will rise in price.

Answer 14. Inflation is trending down.

15. Treasuries will be sold off by other countries, causing our dollar’s value to dip. How much is anyone’s guess.

Answer 15. China isn't selling US and other treasuries. China's just not buying as much.

16. Gas prices will rise again. As this happens, more inflationary pressures will occur.

Answer 16. Gasbuddy.com says otherwise.

17. Towns and states will start laying off even more workers. The problems in California will hit Georgia, New York, Rhode Island, and various other states. At least 10 states will have to lay off drastically.

Answer 17. The state of Rhode Island just laid off 1,000 workers.

18. Court houses may shut down for longer furloughs on holidays, or not open for weeks at a time.

Answer 18. Budget cuts are affecting law enforcement everywhere.

19. Crime is headed up, but not way up.

Answer 19. Crime rates have fallen in some areas.

20. Gardening will become a new passion as people looking into new “Victory Gardens”.

Answer 20. Online buzz for gardening is trending down.

A quick review shows that Dody may have not been too far off with her predictions. At least half of her predictions are correct. I'm impressed that she took some initiative to make these predictions, despite not having a background in Economics. I certainly didn't make any bold predictions like these.

Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions or comments regarding my responses. You can find out more about Dody by reading her profile on Examiner.com.

Deposit Market Share vs. Deposit/Checking Online Buzz

I’ve been gathering some preliminary data comparing deposit market share to checking/deposit buzz. The chart below looks at 2008 deposit market share data
(7/1/07 – 6/30/08) from the FDIC. 2009 data (7/1/08 – 6/30/09) is not available yet, but I will report on this data as soon as it becomes available.

A strong correlation (r squared = .91) correlation exists between % of Deposit Market Share and % of Deposit/Checking buzz currently. Banks with more deposits tend to receive more online buzz. I can't say the finding is completely surprising. More customers making deposits means more interaction with a financial institution. More interaction leads to a higher propensity for customers to go online and discuss experiences.

JP Morgan Chase / WAMU, Bank of America and Wells Fargo/Wachovia receive the highest percentage of deposits within the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Deposit Market Share vs. Deposit/Checking Online Buzz for 2008 (July 1, 2007 - June 30, 2008)












Let me know what you think about this data. I look forward to updating the results with 2009 information once it becomes available.

How Do Financial Companies Use Social Media?

Mashable published an interesting article hightlighting ways banks use social media. As for me, I'm impressed by banks using social media to service customers. In my opinion, banks really put themselves out on a limb by going outside their organization (e.g., call center) to reach consumers.

Kudos to all the banks using Facebook and Twitter to service their customers!