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In this video interview, Etsy CEO Rob Kalin describes how Etsy let it's community of users do the heavy marketing lifting for them, talking about the site and the products they sell and spreading the word to their own customers and social circles. Using traditional advertising routes didn't get results for Etsy, and Rob didn't like the way it changed the face of the company. The "real human face" route was the way Etsy chose to move forward, and it's worked for the company thus far.
According to this Advertising Age article, a slew of new announcements from Google, Facebook, and MySpace indicate that closed garden social networks are getting ready to break down their walls -- as a way to survive. Whether this marks the next step in the evolution of the social web or just the next logical conclusion in a user-centric environment, it's certainly worth keeping an eye on. As consumers stretch themselves out, breaking through the confines of the current social network structure, what's on the horizon for marketers?
On his blog, Rohit Bhargava outlines "The 3 Philosophies of Word of Mouth Marketing," which are the three major categories WOMM falls into when being defined within an organization. According to Rohit, WOMM is being categorized most frequently as a channel -- because that makes it easier to explain WOM to people used to dealing in traditional marketing terms. WOMM as an outcome, alternatively, puts WOM at the core of all of a company's marketing programs, and implies an understanding that other forms of advertising will impact the shape and feel of the WOM spread. Of course, there's also the perception that WOMM is all about making things "go viral," which is just one slice of the whole WOM pie.
C-Suite executives have long been reluctant to let go of the paper world and plunge into the digital, but a new study from Ipsos MediaCT shows that the slow-but-steady adoption of digital media is taking hold at the C level, and executives are coming around. According to the Ipsos study, executives are still using a great deal of traditional media, but more and more are using video streaming, blogs, podcasts, etc. The most noted media being left behind for more time online? Television.
This AdWeek article looks at some of the brands that are leveraging their communities of loyal customers in order to grow their brands. The article zeros in on Zappos, Craigslist, Threadless, Etsy, and Yelp, but there are tons of others who are also drinking the "let's make connections" kool-aid, and what these companies understand is that taking the time to create relationships with their consumers in an investment in their future. It's what sets them apart from the competition -- but it's something that any brand with the right mix of enthusiasm and ingenuity can pull off.
When writing a story about Twitter for Business Week, Stephen Baker decided to get the -- impassioned, chatty, enthusiastic -- Twitter users to weigh in on the article. In keeping with the form, he posted 140-word questions and answers, generating lots of response. On her blog, B.L. Ochman offers an interesting perspective on why this is such an important step in Web 2.0-meets-journalism: While lots of publications allow readers to comment and follow-up, seldom are they included on the front end of the editorial process.
Companies are getting on board with the idea that their customers want to be heard -- and will find a way to get their opinions out there whether the company likes it or not. According to this article from The Boston Globe, more and more consumer-oriented businesses are accepting honest feedback from their customers -- allowing them to post reviews and comments that aren't always flattering -- directly on their websites. The driving idea behind this approach seems to be "they're going to say it anyway, so why not let them say it here," and is opening a previously closed line of communication between consumers and companies.
According to this article from eMarketer, more than twice as many 10- to 12-year-olds reported using social networking sites in 2007 as in 2006, and according to Harris Interactive's April 2008 "Youth Trends," more than half of girls aged 13 to 15 used social networking sites in 2007. Social network usage among girls was significantly higher than for boys (57% of 13- to 15-year-old girls compared to 38% of boys), and blog use among teen girls was also reportedly higher than among teen boys.
On the ReadWriteWeb blog, Bernard Lunn offers some predictions about the impact a recession would have on the web -- and specifically Web 2.0. Some of his predictions venture into the world of social media, including perspectives on how online social networking will fare in a recession considering the fact that most of these networks have yet to be sufficiently monetized. The article also looks at the role digital content creators -- from bloggers to online video makers, etc. -- will play in the changing web landscape.
For as much attention as microblogging site Twitter is garnering among the social media elite, it's still considered a niche platform and hasn't yet gained traction among the mainstream internet users. This article from The Washington Post provides a simplified look at what Twitter is and what Twitter can do -- for the common user. It's worth a look for the Twitter-curious, and worth passing along to your Twitter-oblivious friends.
According to this article from the Chicago Tribune, nonprofit organizations are testing out using online social networks as a way to raise awareness and collect funds. The trend is a departure for most of these organizations, which have long relied on direct mail efforts and financial contributions from an older demographic. Most are hoping that the social media trail will lead to new marketing and funding sources. Overall, social media efforts offer nonprofits increased opportunity for real engagement -- something that the organizations think will drive deeper relationships and, ultimately, more dollars.
On the Online Spin blog, Joe Marchese examines social media's divided role as both a communication devise and a marketing medium. According to Marchese, social media has yet to rise to the "how did we ever live without it" communication status of, say, cell phones, and -- simultaneously -- marketers are still at the early stages of learning how to use it. How social media's split personality works itself out will influence both its longevity as a communications platform and its ability to be monetized.
The majority of the $1.6 billion that marketers are projected to spend on advertising on social networking sites this year is being pumped into small, niche sites. Part of the lure for marketers is the targeted audience these smaller networking sites offer -- something that the larger social sites, with their one-size-fits-all policy can't provide.
MySpace is giving their advertisers control of their own profiles -- as a way to make the advertising process less labor-intensive, as well as to foster the idea of creating relationships between brands and MySpace users. The move is tied directly to advertisers' request for a format that allows them to work to build standing relationships within the social networking space rather than completing a one-off campaign and dissolving their online presence.
Dallas Mavericks owner and blogger Mark Cuban has opened his locker room doors to all bloggers -- after having a ban on bloggers revoked by the NBA, which insisted that he couldn't ban bloggers from credentialed news organizations. The new influx of bloggers has put pressure on a growing issue in sports media, namely: Who owns the rights to sports media coverage?
There are a variety of reasons for why some companies are resistant to social media adoption. Whether it's friction from the legal department, trouble with the lack of ROI, or fear compounded by lack of internal expertise, there are ways to meet these social-media-skirting tactics and turn them on their heads. This article from blogger Shel Holtz gives some tips for how to counter some of the most common fears companies have when it comes to social media.
We still don't have all the answers about how to best use, best leverage, or best manage microblogging site Twitter, but we've come a long way in building history and knowledge since the site launched. According to this ClickZ article, Twitter has raised the standard of accountability with its instantaneous -- and often off the cuff -- flurry of commentary, so what's a company to do? This article offers some tips for how to navigate the Twitter pond.
A new whitepaper from the Interactive Advertising Bureau gives an overview of some of the digital marketing techniques employed by marketers -- with a special focus on social media and consumer-generated media. The report includes a variety of tools and techniques that fall under the word of mouth marketing banner as well, including reviews sites, blogs, wikis, social networks, content sharing platforms, and more.
On the Online Spin, Joe Marchese takes a look at the "black and white" debate that has been going on regarding the value (or lack thereof) of influencers. Marchese argues that a middle-ground theory between influencers as all powerful and influencers as powerless is probably more likely. As he puts it, there are many variables that factor into someone's influencer status -- including the number of people they are capable of reaching and the quality of influence they exert, just to name a few.
There's been a lot of talk lately about whether or not Twitter has the social muscle to phase out Facebook -- with parties weighing in on both sides of the divide. On the Direct2Dell blog, Lionel Menchaca lists the functionality pros and cons of Twitter and Facebook and gives a great overview of both sites' strengths and weaknesses.
On the Better Communication Results blog, Lee Hopkins warns marketers to stop complaining about the difficulty of mastering word of mouth and social media marketing and set their attention, instead, on gaining mastery. Hopkins gives some stats that highlight the importance of WOM, and underscores staying on top of new media as a way to keep yourself informed and employable.
As people spend more time on a variety of social networking platforms, they are spending less time blogging, and it's having an effect on the blogosphere. Social networks, according to this blog post from Robert Scoble, are replacing a lot of the functions that blogs used to perform -- and are doing them faster, better, and in a way that's more targeted.
According to this article from the BBC, the reported slow down in online social network growth is less a sign of its imminent demise and more a natural phenomenon in the growth of any trend. Eventually, terminal velocity is inevitable with any trend. That said, to stay viable, online social networks are going to have to continue to evolve, taking on new roles within their populations and incorporating new ways to be useful and relevant.
Social gaming is upping the ante (pardon the pun) in the online gaming world, exposing new demographics to online games and giving them an added incentive to use it. Game-based applications on social networking sites have been some of the most popular and have users flocking to use them. And for long-time online gamers, the advent of social gaming allows them to double up their online efforts and communicate with members of their social networks while playing.
In February, traffic to The Huffington Post blog beat out The Drudge Report with 3.7 million unique views, according to research from Nielsen Online, and Technorati ranks the site as the second-most-linked-to blog behind only TechCrunch. This New York Times article investigates the secrets behind The Huffington Post's rising status, including its "internet newspaper" aspirations, which might lead to sections focused on local content and a broader range of subject matter.
Successful technology blog builders Michael Arrington, of TechCrunch fame, and Rafat Ali, PaidContent founder, sparred off in a recent New York Times article, each coming out with their views on what blogging is, as well as what the future of blogging looks like for their respective companies. Arrington's blog style is personalized and emotional, and he came out swinging on the side of organic growth in blogging business. Ali, alternatively, has a more reserved, journalistic blogging style, and sees blogs taking shape more like traditional media, covering news and a wide range of content categories.
Last week social encyclopedia Wikipedia accepted its ten millionth article entry. Articles on Wikipedia appear in more than 250 languages, and the site reached two million English language articles in September 2007.
More and more musicians are taking a step away from popular social networking sites such as MySpace -- which has long been known for the presence of bands and aspiring recording artists -- and are creating their own social networking sites. Why the relocation? Having fans come to their own site instead of a third party site gives musicians more control, access to fans' email addresses, and more options for directly contacting users. The proprietary sites aren't meant to replace a Facebook or MySpace presence, but to augment it.
On the All Things Digital site, Kara Swisher is calling for increased portability of something she claims she should own ... her data. According to Swisher, users should be able to move seamlessly from social hub to social hub, and companies should make it easy for them to take their data with them. While some steps are apparently being taken -- Swisher noted that Facebook joined in a Microsoft initiative that aims to allow social site users to move their data between the various social networking sites -- thus far a real solution doesn't exist.
According to the Emergence Marketing blog, consumers define your brand, true enough, but it's not true that companies have lost all control of their brands. What a brand stands for is determined by the user interface between the company and the customer -- which is influenced by a multitude of factors, including advertising, customer service, packaging, etc. It's wrong for companies to assume that they no longer control their brand's image in the mind of consumers, as it sets them up to miss important, influential opportunities.
Gone are the days of using bullhorns to corral and communicate with crowds of protesters. These days, platforms such as Twitter that offer instant message alerts as a way to deliver information to individuals or groups make the efforts easier to synchronize. The Direct Action to Stop the War group used Twitter to orchestrate its San Francisco protest on the five-year anniversary of the Iraq war. The group also regularly uses Twitter to call for volunteers and to organize other events around the city.
The ReadWriteWeb site kicks off a debate about whether or not employers should check out the social networking profiles of their potential hires. On one side of the fence, there's the argument that putting something up publicly means you assume the responsibility that someone -- even a future employer -- might see it and draw conclusions about you based upon it. On the other side, the argument is that social networking sites are not necessarily an accurate reflection of how a person conducts his or herself in a business setting. The bottom line: No matter the ethics behind the debate, companies are using social sites to get a better look at employment candidates, and social network users monitor their profiles accordingly.
CBS recently launched a unique web network that syndicates local news content for bloggers and other social media site users to draw on. Local sites that publish the CBS news widgets and link to CBS videos and stories will be given a share of the company's advertising revenue.
In his ClickZ article, WOMMA Board member, Pete Blackshaw makes a case for why Wikipedia should be on marketers' radars. Blackshaw contends that Wikipedia is "far and away one of the Web's most potent and powerful affirmation drivers," especially as it has become less an "elite" destination and something used, contributed to, and trusted by internet users with varying degrees of Web 2.0 expertise.
This article takes a look at how small businesses are putting WOM techniques to work. Small companies, the article contends, are more adept at executing WOM efforts because their limited infrastructure allows them to be nimble and follow through on programs quickly -- in time to get the most out of their buzz.
Everywhere Magazine has found a way to fuse user-generated content and a "substantial" glossy publication. According to Rohit Bhargava, every month Everywhere's editors vote on what user-generated content to include -- taken straight from the enthusiastic travelers who know the information best. Everywhere Magazine found the right formula to harness that enthusiasm, and Bhargava suggested that the format might apply in industries outside the travel industry, as well.
On the Conversational Media Marketing blog, Paul Chaney posits that the trouble with Facebook Groups comes from the fact that there are just too many of them. You get an invitation, you join the group, and don't have time to interact beyond that. Chaney suggests that the same applies to online social networks in general -- that folks are spread too thin over a plethora of sites to give any one site any real, meaningful attention.
This article from the Associated Press takes a look at how convenience food makers are courting bloggers with the hopes of getting good reviews and generating positive word of mouth. Targeting bloggers, the article contends, allows marketers to cherry-pick more niche audiences and gets the word out about products that don't get a lot of traditional advertising attention.
On his blog, Jake McKee, the Community Guy, discusses how WWII propaganda changed the way people do business, transforming BtoC interactions from conversational and communal endeavors into the business culture of secrecy we still see today. In a society where information is risky, truly embracing social media is a difficult step -- which is one reason, McKee posits, why organizations sometimes find social media principles unwieldy.
In a ruling that has implications for all companies that publish consumer-generated content, a federal appeals court found Craigslist not responsible for discriminatory ads that were placed by users of the online classifieds site, and stated that the federal Communications Decency Act doesn't allow people to "sue the messenger just because the message reveals a third party's plan to engage in unlawful discrimination."
This pair of articles from Buinessweek plays point/counterpoint with the topic of widgets. Peter Yared's Feb. 29 article posits that the functional, opt-in usability of widgets make them a savvy way for marketers to play into consumers' desire to filter the content they take in. Alternatively, Ben Kunz's Mar. 3 article asserts that widgets fly in the face of consumers' online objectives -- which are to "do" things rather than to simply receive information.
On the heels of some interesting research highlighted marketers' dissatisfaction with agencies' understanding of social media, this list of nine reasons why agencies "don't get" social media attempts to explain the perceived information gap. The list, which is originally taken from the Marketing Conversations blog, runs the gamut, covering everything from the lack of a revenue model to general technology skittishness on the part of agencies.
On the Communities Dominate Brands blog, Alan Moore takes a look at what companies can do now to bridge the communications divide between themselves and their customers. The blog post, which pulls research from a recent Ketchum study, references the idea that companies are out of touch with the way consumers use media, and makes some suggestions for how to sync back up and get -- and stay -- on consumers' radars.
Ninety-five percent of senior marketing executives believe social media's importance is set to soar over the next five years, according to new research from WOMMA member company TNS Media Intelligence/Cymfony. Nearly half of the marketers surveyed believe social media to be an integral part of corporate communications -- one that should be monitored at the executive level and allocated significant resources.
This video, which features an interview with Baby Einstein founder Julie Clark, was put together by Microsoft to tout the power of word of mouth marketing, especially in the context of small business marketing. According to Clark, traditional advertising -- whether in the form of a T.V. commercial or magazine ad -- is something she skips and ignores. When she's looking for something she really wants, she trusts the word of mouth from friends -- and applied that common sense philosophy to marketing her own products.
According to new research from WOMMA member company TNS Media Intelligence/Cymfony, marketers aren't pleased with their agencies' grasp of social media techniques. The marketers surveyed claimed that their vendors treat social media channels like traditional media and that many times they lack practical skills -- including evidence of experience using social media tools and techniques for their own purposes.
Contests that feature consumer-generated content have recently spiked in popularity, but for every Super-Bowl-worthy competition that manages to rally the creativity and imagination of a brand's fans, there's a slew of others that fall short. So what makes the difference between a contest that generates interest and one that falls flat? This ClickZ article takes a look at some of the elements that make for an effective consumer-generated contest.
Recent articles have suggested the onset of online social networking fatigue, but sites like FriendFeed make it easy for users to manage multiple social networking sites from one online destination. Social network aggregation allows users to keep tabs on their social spaces without taking up more of their time -- and makes it even easier for word of mouth to spread.
This article from Wired.com is all about the value of giving your stuff away. One of the main tenets of word of mouth marketing is creating great products and services that people want to talk about. What better way to get the word out about how great your stuff is than to put it in consumers' hands and let them try it for free.
A Colorado company sued social complaint site, Ripoff Report, after some consumers labeled posts about the company with tags that read, "con artists" and "corrupt companies." The defamation lawsuit brought against Ripoff Report was dismissed, and the court ruled that the federal Communications Decency Act protects site operators from liability for user comments -- even if the company creates the specific tags commenters can choose to label their posts.
On his blog, Micro Persuasion, last week, Steve Rubel proposed that SEO "shenanigans" were having a negative impact on social media. On the Emergence Media blog, Daniel Riveong counters this argument, saying that since marketers can't actually create social media -- consumers create, marketers facilitate -- attempts at SEO don't compromise social media at all. What do you think?
If you're not already taking advantage of the social media and online networking opportunities available -- via a variety of platforms -- you're missing a great opportunity. This article takes a look at several of the communications technologies that you could be putting to work for your business -- as well as how other organizations are already using them.
Sixty-two percent of marketers say traditional television advertising is losing effectiveness, according to a study from Forrester Research and the Association of National Advertisers. More than half of the marketers surveyed reported that they are experimenting with "new media" forms of advertising as an alternative.
In a move that has caught the attention of the blogosphere, CNN fired "American Morning" producer Chez Pazienza, stating that his personal blog "violated its standards for journalists." Pazienza started his blog, Deus Ex Malcontent, in May 2006 while he was recovering from an operation to remove a brain tumor, and he speculates that it was his invitation to start blogging on The Huffington Post that elicited the attention that cost him his job.
This BusinessWeek article offers up the advice that, when it comes to social media, it's either: "Catch up ... or catch you later." According to the article, blogs and social media represent the biggest change in information exchange since the advent of the internet itself, and social media has the capacity to impact every organization -- whether the organization chooses to embrace social media or not.
The International Olympic Committee has issued blogging guidelines for the Beijing Olympics. This marks the first time competitors and officials have been given the green light to blog -- albeit with some restrictions. According to the IOC, the Olympic bloggers' posts are sanctioned only as a "legitimate form of personal expression" and "not a form of journalism." If the IOC should choose to leverage it, giving fans easy access to athletes' blogs would be a great way to pump up pre-Olympic enthusiasm around the world.
Peer-to-peer shopping sites, which allow online shoppers to interact around purchases and to exchange product and recommendation information, are having an impact on niche and luxury categories. The influence that shopping communities exert within their specialized spheres has the potential to drive niche trends into the mainstream at record rates -- and is giving traditional luxury vetting sources a run for their money.
Online video is being run through a gamut of tests as media outlets and marketers alike apply it to a variety of formats to see where it fits best. This article -- using a focus-group-style setting -- explores what people are really using online video for, as well as reactions to several new and popular video platforms.
The words "transparent," "human," and "authentic" get tossed around a lot in the word of mouth marketing context. So what does it mean for a company to genuinely embody those principles? There are several key things a company can do to stop hiding behind its brand and embrace the idea of real consumer communication.
On the Freakonomics blog, a group of professors, professionals, and other big thinkers -- including Martin Baily, Danah Boyd, Steve Chazin, Judith Donath, Nicole Ellison, and William Reader -- present their opinions on how online social networking sites are impacting our society from economic, psychological, and sociological perspectives.
In his Marketing Profs Daily Fix article, Jim Kukral suggests that journalists and marketers alike are reluctant to embrace online video because of the way the format is shaking up the established modes of information dissemination. Kukral argues that the move toward formats like online video mark a clear move away from long-form journalism, and that this transition is having an effect on communications across the board.
On her blog, marketing consultant Mary Schmidt makes a case for the necessity of a shift to WOM marketing. Consumers have been conditioned to ignore/delete/fast-forward/screen/skip marketing messages, which means that if marketers want to break through the clutter -- really break through, not just shout louder -- they've got to try a totally different approach. Schmidt mentions "quality, integrity, and honesty" as qualities that make the brands she chooses stand out from the rest -- and it's just those qualities that make something WOM-worthy.
Social media has fundamentally changed the corporate framework, and some dinosaur organizations -- whose infrastructures were built around a model that is quickly becoming outdated -- are having trouble making the leap. Getting all of the right stakeholders -- not just marketing and communications -- involved can make a big difference in a company's ability to adapt.
On the Buzz Marketing for Technology blog, Paul Dunay discusses the terminology mistake marketers make when they refer to their social media efforts as "campaigns." Campaigns, according to Dunay, involve defined starting and ending points, while social media marketing is an on-going, two-way communication cycle.
With all of the potential good that corporate blogs can do for a company -- from boosting natural search results to creating a consumer communication channel -- it's hard to believe that many Fortune 500 companies are still reluctant to start their own blog. Here's a look -- from a BtoB perspective -- at just some of the good a corporate blog can do for your company, as well as some tips for getting one started.
Nickelodeon loves it when its happy customers use its content. Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group CMO Pamela Kaufman announced at the BRITE CEO Summit last week in New York that the company's newest marketing plan involves taking steps to make their content "slippy" as a way to promote even more consumer-generated content around the brand.
On the What's Next Blog, B. L. Ochman posits that the very idea of dipping a toe in social media marketing is counter to what the medium does best: creating communications channels that lead to long-term trust.
According to a recent Forrester report, a looming economic recession -- which usually spells trouble for advertising budgets -- will actually be good news for social media marketing. The report indicates that, while marketers will likely back off from traditional media spending, they will continue to invest in social media and brand building initiatives, should a recession occur.
On Cymfony's Influence 2.0 blog, WOMMA Board member Jim Nail discusses whether the true value of social media lies in its predictive powers or if it's better suited for providing companies with a real-time pulse on what consumers are talking about and reacting to. Using what consumers are saying now as a way to predict their behavior in the future doesn't take into account all of the environmental changes -- competitor messages, shifts in perception, new research, new trends -- that inevitably impact consumer decisions.
According to recent research from Aberdeen Group, Best-in-class companies are 680% more likely than Laggards to use social media for actionable consumer insights. Sixty-five percent of these companies also have a formalized process for monitoring CGM, 52% have personnel on staff whose job it is to monitor CGM, and 42% use CGM for reputation monitoring.
[Disclosure: WOMMA is one of the sponsors of this research.]
According to Joe Marchese on the Online Spin, proper use of social media can help brands get the most bang out of their advertising buck. Marchese points specifically to how some of this Sunday's Super Bowl ads directed fans to online destinations, where they could continue their brand experience and often engage in social media activities around the brands in question.
According to this article in DM News, word of mouth marketing has come a long way in the past several years -- from a fringe marketing method to a fully indoctrinated part of the integrated marketing mix. The article takes a close look at WOMMA member company BzzAgent's work on a campaign for Philips Sonicare as an example of WOM in action.
CMO job tenure is generally low, clocking in at around 26 months, according to June 2007 research from Spencer Stuart. One thing CMOs are doing wrong, according to this CNN Money article, is being slow to adapt to the changing media landscape. In the last decade, the role of the CMO has morphed from being someone who oversees the creation of a clever ad campaign, to someone who can make a product or service worth talking about.
On the Communities Dominate Brands blog, Alan Moore takes a look at some of the fundamentals of co-creating, including, dialog, access, risk reduction, and transparency. According to Moore, for maximum success the principles of co-creation and engagement should be driving forces of a brand -- not simply a by-product
According to a recent survey from Jack Morton Worldwide, more than 75% of marketers report that they will increase spending on experiential marketing in 2008. Ninety-three percent of those surveyed reported that they believe experiential marketing practices generate word of mouth for a brand.
According to a report from the Center for the Digital Future at the USC Annenberg School for Communication, 15% of U.S. internet users belong to an online community, and within that group, 94% claim to learn about social causes via the internet. Increased awareness is driving increased participation, according to the report, which found that 75% of community users take part in communities around social causes, versus 30% in 2006.
Many of the top brands that are advertising in this year's Super Bowl have created consumer-centric contests to get people involved. KFC launched a contest where customers can upload videos of themselves doing a "chicken dance" to ShowUsYourHotWings.com, Alka-Seltzer asked customers to rewrite it's "Plop, Plop, Fizz, Fizz" jingle, and Canon invited users to submit photos from amateur football games -- just to name a few.
According to a report, titled "Harnessing the Power of New Media Platforms," from Guideline, 23% of BtoB companies have used viral video marketing, 21% have used podcasts, 17% have used blogs, 14% have used wikis, and 10% have used social networks. While BtoB companies still lag behind their BtoC counterparts in embracing new media, this study shows they are warming up to WOM.
On his blog, Rohit Bhargava underscores the importance of a trend he claims too many marketers are ignoring: microsharing. In microsharing, people pass along information to other members of smaller, niche groups and communities (as opposed to posting the same information on a blog, for instance). While content creators play an important role in the dissemination of information, so, too, do these content aggregators.
Ian McKee from WOMMA member company Vocanic presents one theory as to why marketers still cling to traditional media platforms, even as research proves them less and less reliable.
On his blog, Jeremiah Owyang makes a case for corporate marketers relinquishing their role as "controllers" to become, instead, "enablers." According to Owyang, while the marketer-as-message-controller model worked well enough in the past, now other groups within a company are also communicating with consumers -- via a variety of social media platforms -- and marketers should be using leadership and education to enable that communication.
Current TV and T-Mobile have teamed up to ask Current TV customers to create ads for the Sidekick LX cellphone. It's part of Current TV's ongoing efforts to move toward more CGM ads. Thus far the company has converted 50% of its ad inventory to consumer-created messaging, a transition that is based on research which indicated that 90% of Current TV prefer CGM ads.
When creating a standardized methodology for training professionals to use social media, what better platform to use than the wiki, a social media darling in its own right. And that's just what some folks in the industry are doing. Check it out.
Big players in online social networking have been amping up their efforts to create advertising models that make good use of their standing social functionality. Sometimes successful, sometimes unsuccessful, these efforts still serve to usher in a new way of approaching the social media marketing model.
When Twitter aficionado Susan Reynolds was diagnosed with breast cancer, she was able to tap her Tweeting network in order to raise funds for cancer research. Her online community contributed cash, and supporters of Reynolds changed their profile pictures to peapods to show their solidarity and support after hearing the story of her using a bag of frozen peas to ease her pain after having a biopsy.
On yesterday's Buzz Canuck blog they posted a list of 31 must-read word of mouth marketing blogs. It's worth checking out ... and adding to your feed reader.
On the 10e20 blog, Jake Matthews explains why social marketing is critical to the internet marketing mix. From SEO benefits to linking and viral potential, social marketing offers many potential benefits that savvy internet marketers can tap into.
Looking at the year to come with optimism, Angelo Fernando posts on the Valley PR Blog five of the top things social media marketers can look forward to in 2008. The list includes things such as unexplored technologies and the maturation of specific social networking practices.
When the crew of an in-production Star Trek movie created a set in a civic room, it invited Long Beach city staff members to watch the filming. Of course, word got out about the set's unusual open door policy, inspiring movie buzz a full year before the film's release.
BtoB marketers know that word of mouth is one of the best tools in their box, but getting a BtoB perspective on techniques that are typically BtoC often takes some extra leg work. With that in mind, here are eight strategies that BtoB marketers can apply to their mobile social efforts.
On his blog, Forrester analyst Peter Kim discusses Twitter's measurability. According to Kim, since Twitter has standing usage/reach metrics and a valid "reputation score," the only thing missing in assessing a Twitter user's influence is a measure of authority.
Twenty-four percent of marketers have a word of mouth marketing strategy in place according to a new report from Ketchum and the USC Annenberg Strategic Public Relations Center. According to report analysts, this underscores the fact that marketers need to re-evaluate their communications in order to best meet consumer needs.
According to a recent study by the American Marketing Association, this holiday season 47% of consumers report they would use a social networking site to hunt for coupons or gift ideas, 45% would use a social networking site to shop around for deals and discounts, and 22% would read or write a product review online.
Sometimes a pleasant surprise is all it takes to get someone talking about the good stuff your company does. Delighting customers is something that every company should do. It can make all the difference in creating a good experience for customers and prospects -- and that's something they'll talk about.
Google is making it easier for users to tap into the social networks that they are already a part of by integrating its Gmail address books into the social aspects of its other applications -- such as Google Maps and the newly launched social feature on Google Reader.
Former NBC correspondent David Hazinski is causing a ruckus in the blogosphere by asserting that blogging and other forms of citizen journalism needs to be regulated by traditional media. Hazinski stepped squarely on bloggers' toes by contending that blogging isn't really journalism at all.
Treating social media as a direct marketing channel, instead of as the relationship enhancing, two-way consumer touch point that it is, greatly underestimates its potential. Embracing the ways that social media can add value for users is a better way to aim for success.
This article from Knowledge@Wharton takes a close look at how some companies -- from WOMMA member companies Dell and Southwest Airlines to Unilever and Careerbuilder.com -- are using word of mouth marketing initiatives to take their brands to new heights.
While social media can help a company meet many of its marketing objectives and should be a part of every smart marketer's arsenal, there are many prevalent misconceptions that you should be aware of. On the Search Marketing Gurus blog they tackle the top ten things that "social media isn't."
As faked profiles make it more difficult to navigate the MySpace universe, record labels looking for the next break-out band are having to shift their radars to spot the real deals in the midst of the fakes. Some say the proliferation of spam means the days of fans rallying behind bands on the social site are numbered, but some are still diligently working to find diamonds in the rough.
By appealing to consumers' playful sides with their branded viral games, companies are hoping to create a buzz that increases awareness and inadvertently puts their products and services in the hands of folks eager to play their games. Here are some examples of companies who have successfully tapped into the word of mouth potential in viral games.
WOMMA Board member Pete Blackshaw put together this list of buzzwords that might make their way into the marketing lexicon in 2008. They include such WOM-related gems as "blog-groveling" (sucking up to bloggers to get them to try and write about your stuff) and "wombagging" (protecting your brand from negative word of mouth).
It's the M20 for December 2007: Want to keep abreast of what's new and now in marketing? Add these blogs to your feed reader. The list includes a handful of bloggers who hail from WOMMA member companies, including: Bazaarvoice, Dell, Fiskars, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, and Nielsen
The WOMMA Word