So I’ve noticed a strange sort of tug-o-war taking shape among those managing social media programs and without going into all the details here, I’ll just say the tugging typically gets down to this question: where should you put your time, energy and money? Should it be with” on-domain” strategies (e.g., brand communities, business blogs, corporate video, etc., basically any sort of effort that folds into a company’s existing website)? Or should it be with “off-domain” strategies (e.g., microblogs, social networks, monitoring projects, etc., basically any sort of third-party platform or service that could be ‘officially’ adopted to help the company participate with the larger web outside its walls). I guess the ’strange’ part is that this split, this tug, really shouldn’t exist at all, because it’s not an either-or situation. The best programs will inevitably be those that strike a balance between how social media is used on-domain to communicate and connect with people, and how it’s used off-domain to accomplish this exact same thing. I think finding the perfect blend between those two experiences is where every marketer ought to be focusing their time, energy and money right now.
Updates from April, 2009
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On Domain vs Off Domain Strategies
mike manuel
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Machine-Based Sentiment Analysis is Flawed
mike manuel
So, it’s sad, but kind’a comical too to see how quickly the everyday use of the web for communication is eroding everyone’s grammar and syntax (cough, Twitter). What’s truly tragic, however, is the frigg’n pandemic spread of companies promising machine based linguistic and sentiment analysis services, all of them knowing oh too well that the web has damn-near its own dialect now, be it acronyms (FTW!), abbreviations (RT) or any number of adhoc classifications (#[hashtag]), and maybe more importantly, a growing appetite for unspoken gestures of expression and opinion (be it thumbs, stars, likes, or otherwise), yet, for whatever reason, these companies continue to over-promise mountains of insight and perspective into “how your customers think and feel,” based only on what a bot and an algorithm spits back!? I don’t know, it’s just, uh, flawed. Update: check out Microsyntax.org, this entire organization is diving into the ‘new’ unconventions of communication on the web.
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Corporate Social Media Teams Are Growing
mike manuel
So not that it’s terribly surprising, but the headcount for in-house (corporate) social media teams seems to be growing — very quickly — despite the economy. Two years ago, even in the biggest companies, you had, at best, a collection of quarter-timers, loosely coming together around launches and campaigns. Thereafter, part-time social media/community/online strategists started to take foot, now, shit, most companies have *at least* one dedicated person, with many, many companies having far more. The other observation worth noting here are the organizational models, (err, model), which seems to in a lot of companies boil down to a very lean, very skilled cross-functional strategic team that establishes standards, protocols and practices that are then pushed out to a much larger set of business unit practitioners and regional teams for local implementation. It’s just interesting to see familiar patterns of corporate organization and structure finally taking hold around a new discipline, a sign of the industry’s maturation?
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Defining Social Media ‘Expertise’
mike manuel
I joked (mostly) about social media expert-itis in a previous post, but if you really had to try and dig into what makes someone a “social media expert,” it’s really not that difficult of a thing to deconstruct, I mean, if you just focus on direct experiences. So…uh…that’s what I did. Well, it’s a start at least. Keep in mind, I’m approaching this from a communications consultant’s point of view, in-house folks have some unique skill requirements that I’m skipping here. Also, it bears mentioning, while it’s helpful to try and draw some simple distinctions between what it means to have an understanding of this industry verses real-world know-how and knowledge, let’s be honest, in the end, “expertise” will always be relative to need, so yeah, your mileage will vary, but hopefully this is a start. [cross-posted to Voce Nation]
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Social Media Education, an Ongoing Challenge
mike manuel
I just chewed through Jennifer Leggio’s piece today which analyzes the results from her second ‘Social PR Survey,’ it’s a good read, and while I can’t say much of the findings were terribly surprising, still, there’s some interesting data points for agency folks at all levels. One of the sections touches on agency education and training, something the lion’s share of respondents seemed to oddly dismiss as a ‘non-issue.’ Really? Really!? I’m telling you, based on my own experience, plus what I hear from my peers at other firms, this dismissal is either our industry spinning itself in the worst sort of way, or people are absolutely clueless about what social media training and education efforts really entail (hint: “learning” and “changing”). I’m not convinced we’ve seen enough of either yet. Oh, and one more thing related to all of this: too often this industry points and prods at undergrads and junior staff as needing the most ‘training and education,’ when sadly, in reality, there are some senior folks who could use a kick in the pants too. In fact, I’d argue if the end result of agency training is, well, organizational change, then top down learning is where it all starts.
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2 Tactical Tips for Corporate Video
mike manuel
Okay, so as a quick follow up to my previous post on video distribution, here’s two tactical tips for companies.
Tip #1: Who has the best embeddable player? I think Viddler does (full disclosure, they’re a Voce partner). I say this less for Viddler’s technical merits (even tho I consider them quite good), and more for the simple fact that the Viddler player can be branded with your corporate logo AND embedded with a custom link back to a site of your choosing (example). And this folks is frigg’n *gold* if you want to squeeze more value (over time) out of all the people discovering and spreading your videos on the web.
Tip #2: How do you maximize the reach (and quantify the metrics) of *all* your video services? Try using TubeMogul. It’s a great service that allows you to centrally upload and then syndicate your videos to all the video sharing sites (e.g., YouTube, Blip.tv, MetaCafe, etc.) The central management and control of your videos from TubeMogul allows you to track all sorts of performance metrics, not only for your videos, but for the video networks you’re using too.
So, net-net, Viddler + ‘other’ video sharing sites + TubeMogul = a pretty powerful combination if you’re serious about milking your online videos for all they’re worth.
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3 Ways to Think About Video Distribution
mike manuel
So video distribution is one of those inevitable parts of any social media program. A lot of people, well, too many people will say YouTube’s the easy fix to all your worries. Man, trust me, it ain’t. Yeah, there’s a place for services like YouTube, but my advice is to think about video distribution three different ways: 1). Think about the player. Which service offers the *best* embeddable player? This is particularly important if you’re producing HD content. 2). Think about the reach. Which services offer the best possible reach for your videos? YouTube’s a frigg’n virtual Times Square, so just ask yourself: is that *really* going to reach my target market? And 3). Think about metrics. Which service offers the best access and insights into the performance and spread of your videos? There’s a lot more to video metrics than a simple tally of views. The thing about this three-way slice is that for a nominal amount of effort, it puts you in a position to use a mix of services to help squeeze more value out of your video investments, and hey, right now, given the trajectory of video use and the web, this is a good thing.
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Integrated Programs Are The “New Normal”
mike manuel
Alright, the need to integrate marketing and comms work these days makes a world of sense, trust me, I get it, but you know, when that need requires competitors to come together and work directly with each other, perhaps in ways they might not otherwise, it really forces you to rethink what were once comfortable business boundaries. Case in point, I’m spearheading a social media program and working with an ad firm (that offers social media services), a PR agency (that offers social media services) and a web shop (that, yes, offers social media services). It’s unique for sure, and yeah, at times, it tests an already unhealthy paranoia most service folks have over their IP, but it’s also becoming more common, especially in this market, so maybe in an odd sort of way it’s just slowly turning into the new normal?
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The Rise of Agency Apps
mike manuel
So earlier this week a reporter asks what I considered to be “some interesting agency trends?” Aside from the chronic spread of social media expert-itis, oh and some Grade-A Twitter shilling, the one I felt the strongest about was what I’ll just call, for now, the “rise of agency apps.” Net-net, I think we’re starting to see some early signs of agencies developing all sorts of custom-built web apps — each app designed specifically for the way it does business and packaged up as a value-added service/perk for clients and prospects. Converseon’s been doing this for a while now (see “Conversation Miner“), Edelman got in the game too (see “StoryCrafter“), WaggEd as well (see “Twendz“), and yeah, Voce’s keeping in step (see “Bridge“). I think we’ll see a lot more firms roll their own apps this year, probably suites of apps too. Watch this…
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Social Media “Generalist vs Specialist,” a Tired Debate
mike manuel
Ugh, okay, the “social media generalist vs. specialist” argument is really getting tired, especially within agency circles. I’ve always thought it’s healthier to think of social media experience as a spectrum: on one end you’ll always have the laggards and on the other you’ll always have the early adopters. And it’s the space between these two extremes where the large majority of practitioners sit (i.e., the generalists). As a result, every firm needs its early adopters, it’s specialists, it trail guides to help pull the majority further across the spectrum (while the early adopters themselves continue to push forward and define new experiences, new skills and new boundaries). This being said, why some folks continue to wag their fingers at those agencies that have service teams comprised of early adopters focused on social media is, well, beyond me…
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Corporate Social Media Must Keep SEC in Mind
mike manuel
The WSJ just posted a piece on clients Intel and eBay, but with a focus on eBay and the story behind its use of Twitter for corporate news. This was actually something I pointed to here a few weeks ago that kicked-up quite a bit of discussion (check out “How to Tweet Material News”). I’ve known Richard Brewer-Hay for years now, he works hard and has the support of some very smart people inside eBay. It’s good to see he and the team leading the way on things and getting a little bit of recognition in the process. It’s well deserved. RBH will be sharing his story inside eBay at two upcoming events, including the NewComm Forum and TWTRCON.
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Social Media Will Lead Interactive Spending
mike manuel
So an upcoming Forrester report (for release, I’m told, later this spring) indicates growth in social media budgets will outpace all other forms of interactive marketing — they even have this colorful chart, so shit, this *must* be true. Now don’t get me wrong, these numbers are all fine and good, but here’s the problem with the data: the dollars for social media programs are coming from *all sorts of pockets* within companies — PR, HR, IT, Web, customer support, etc. — social media programs are by no means the exclusive line item for corporate branding budgets. And you know, generally speaking, I think that’s a healthy thing because we’re still seeing a lot of interesting applications that cross organizational boundaries.