Three Minds On Digital Marketing @ Organic

Brand advocacy is a term that is thrown around a lot within the social media spectrum. Conversations usually center on finding brand advocates who will serve as a social media lightning rod and generate an avalanche of user-generated content from a community based on their actions. Marketers are just as likely to find these mythical advocates as they are to track down Big Foot riding a unicorn.

Igniting a social media avalanche does benefit greatly by finding exceptional advocates; however, marketers can't simply rely on finding the right catalysts to spark success. Here are five myths brands need to free themselves from before they can deploy a successful brand advocacy program:
   
1.  They aren't out there looking for you.

Guess what? People have been sharing tips and advice on products brands they use and love long before advertisers realized the power of word-of-mouth (WOM) marketing. Consumers will continue to do so regardless of a brand's interaction, to help their friends, being acknowledged for their expertise, and sharing something they have found. It's the brands that need these people to help them authenticate and speak to potential customers they can't reach with ad dollars. However, marketers cannot expect these advocates to fall into their lap. If marketers don't have a CRM program, a strategy to reach out to bloggers and loyalists in niche forums, or any other venue for consumers to raise their voice, then you don't have a brand advocacy strategy.
   
2.  Some of your best advocates might not be your current customers.

What many brands fail to realize is that sometimes advocacy has nothing to do with a particular product and everything to do with a lifestyle. People who love Jeep, for example, may be fans of the brand in spirit as they associate with the car maker's branded outdoor adventure lifestyle long before, and even long after, they are owners of the vehicle. Some of your brand's biggest loyalists might not be talking about the company at all but talking about other products or activities that fit in with this lifestyle, including GPS devices, off-road trails and quality tires. While a truly great advocate will be able to speak about a product passionately and authentically, marketers shouldn't limit their search to current customers.
   
3.  It's not the size of your pool of fans, it's how you use them.

Coca-cola has 4 million fans. FAGE Greek Yogurt has 36K fans. Does that mean that Coca-cola is over 100 times more successful than FAGE in terms of brand advocacy? Well, that depends. What is the value of an advocate for Coca-cola versus FAGE or any other brand for that matter? I find myself asking, what does Coca-cola even need a Facebook fan page for? Coca-cola does not lack in awareness, but the purchase decision is largely made in the last steps at the grocery store as the result of a sale or coupon or is tied to beverage brand loyalty. But for FAGE, a small-time yogurt brand without much awareness, each one of their 36K fans could represent an opportunity for a new customer, coupon-pusher or a new voice piece to spread awareness to their circle of friends.
   
4.  A Facebook fan does not directly equate to a brand advocate.

For many people, becoming a "fan" of a brand on Facebook is as meaningful as acquiring a new bumper sticker or a patch on a heavily collaged backpack. It's a symbol of a lifestyle, it's a funny statement to their friends and is as temporarily interesting as the flow of the newsfeed that day. Ninety percent of the time a user spends on Facebook is in the newsfeed, so after they hit that "fan" button they likely will never return to your fan page. So while your fan page might say 10,000 "fans," that doesn't mean you have 10,000 "advocates." What it does mean, however, is that you have as many as 10,000 opportunities - but realistically probably much fewer - to create advocacy.
   
5.  Recognition, while always important, is not one-size-fits-all
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Some advocates are altruistic, so in love with your brand and what it means to them that they aren't particularly looking for a reward. Others need to be motivated by the allure of something a little extra to come out of their shell. In either case, recognition can't hurt as it lets people know their participation is appreciated as they further the brand's awareness goals. However, approaches to recognition are not one-size-fits-all, as they have to be evaluated closely by audience and by industry. In other words, what does your audience want? The prize of "front page of YouTube" exposure that might appeal to the 18-year-old girl posting a video of herself singing about a new energy drink is likely going to terrify the middle-aged man or woman opening up about their use of incontinence products. Both should be rewarded, but not in the same way.

With the right mixture of targeting, motivation and recognition marketers can create the wave of user-generated content and goodwill that they crave from their social media strategies. There are many ways to do this but developing a stable of knowledgeable evangelists is a boon to marketers. Rather than simply locating brand advocates, marketers must also inspire evangelists within their community by delivering fun, engaging social media experiences to create a thriving online community. Once a community is effectively promoting members from within to carry the brand torch, marketers can claim victory in the social media space.

Marta Strickland

Editor's Note: This piece originally appeared in DM News.

Check this out: Nutella's top three Facebook fan pages gather more than 5 million Nutella spooners or spreaders and the numbers are growing exponentially. The main page is No. 3 on Facebook, on the heels of Barack Obama (No. 1) and Coca Cola (No. 2), and boasts 3.5 million fans. How's that for social media success and what are they doing right?
 
To be perfectly honest, nobody really knows.

People Are Talking
In 2008 Jennifer Laycock reported about Nutella's popularity at a blogging convention and not even a year later, Nutella was already No. 4 in the Facebooksphere. Today, Nutella's FB page is the talk of the town with the  Los Angeles Times, Brandweek and Creative Match. It's even become a case study in social media workshops (see slide 33 of this slideshow). So ... what's the fuss about?

Possible Reasons
Social media buzz experts credit Nutella's Facebook popularity to these characteristics:
1. It's European and people think Nutella is cool.
2. It reminds people of memories/trips to Europe.
3. It has such a unique taste. And oh yeah, it's too good to be true.
 
The Fans Take the Reins
The unbelievable part? The Nutella FB page was started by a fan. Not Nutella. Nutella only spent $300,000 on marketing (not even social marketing) in 2008 so clearly, they're just happy when sales go up. Some see this as a shocking example of a brand ignoring its online community.

Sounds like the only online marketing effort of Nutella USA has been an online sweepstakes (that I shamelessly entered) to win a case of Nutella. All you need to do is answer 5 basic questions about your Nutella consumer habits. The survey has been online for 2 years. What are they getting out of it? I, for one, hope to get a case of Nutella.
 
Yes a case, and I'll eat it. I'm a die-hard Nutella lover. When I buy Nutella, it's actually by the case. I have the official Nutella cookbook on my bookshelves. I use an empty 10-lb jar of Nutella to store my sugar. My 4-year-old will only eat Nutella on toast for breakfast. And if I needed an excuse to spread the word, the Nutella World Day is today. Now, I should probably become a fan of Nutella's FB page too and do my share to contribute to Nutella's fan-fueled online popularity.

Are you a fan? Tell us why.

Laure Latham Guyot

The President of the United States responded to questions from the public in a live YouTube interview at the White House on Monday, February 1st, at 1:45 p.m EST.
 
When all was said and done, it brought in almost 800,000 votes on 14,464 questions from 64,968 questions. Not bad, but I would have expected much more from somebody running the country.

I suspect because it was so poorly advertised. I heard about it from colleague Craig Ritchie the morning of the broadcast. Russ Hopkinson mentioned he saw it on Google's home page "in the same way they are advertising the results now... in a one liner below the search bar."

Citizen Tube reports that people "submitted over 11,000 questions and cast over 667,000 votes after the President's State of the Union address last week." When I viewed the live stream around 2 p.m. it had only received a handful more than 47,000 votes.

Bridget McKinley agrees about the lack of publicity. "I didn't hear about it until people were tweeting about the answers. And I'm a political and media junkie. Not well publicized/marketed at all..."

I'm perturbed at the reason for this. What makes Jason Derulo's "Whatcha Say" video more popular (at 31,970,491 views) than getting your own question asked by the President?

Has President Obama outdone his digital presence?

Sarah Jo Sautter

(Illustration via Wired article)

Your client has something great to share, and they want to prove that they're listening to consumers. So you set up Twitter and Facebook accounts, and then hope for as many followers as possible. Right?

Well, according to Clive Thomson's Wired article "In Praise of Obscurity," maybe not. He writes:

"When you go from having a few hundred Twitter followers to ten thousand, something unexpected happens: Social networking starts to break down."

This is certainly true on a personal level. Your Twitter page, or your Facebook news feed gets cluttered and you get overwhelmed so you clean house, only leaving the folks you want to hear from the most. The thing is, when you're a marketer and everyone's following you, that's not really an option.

So, how does this translate to social media as a marketing tool? That depends on your goal for, say, your Twitter account. Some brands just want to prove their existence, or send a one-way message. Others are there for "customer service," only looking for and responding to problems. And, some are truly there to have a conversation.

If you just want to make your presence known, or push your message, congratulations on your 50,000 followers. If you're only responding to issues with your brand, you could hire a contractor to monitor your "@ replies" and you might do OK.

But if you're there to hold a true ongoing conversation, I'm not so sure. Does one of our key bragging points about social media - the size of your network - eventually lead to a lull? How do we manage this?

Tell us what you think. We'll try and listen.

Nate Rogers

Editor's Note: You can hear what Threeminds has to say on twitter @threeminds and read about the latest happenings at Organic, including recent Threeminds blog posts @OrganicInc.

With the Grammys this weekend in Los Angeles, we thought we'd take a look at the marketing effort. An immediate opinion blossomed around the "We Are All Fans" social aspect, which offers a dynamic assortment of aggregated content and connections to major social platforms. Here's the cross-office response: two very different opinions.

From: Kai Wright (NY)
Subject: The Grammys go social.

Calling all music lovers - checkout the new Grammys site. It's a seamless integration with social media, also. I think they did a nice job.

------------

From: Craig Ritchie (TOR)
Subject: RE: The Grammys go social.

It's really difficult to keep up with what's going on here. I'm not sure anyone would spend much time here. Yes, you can aggregate this stuff. but you have to answer, "Why?"

It reminds me as well of the CP/B site - and the Threeminds post Marta and I wrote last year.

------------
Where do you stand on things that appear 'social-for-social-sake'?

Editor's Note: For those in the biz, a tweet like this likely inspires a few immediate thoughts...here's two from us. Add yours in the comments and let's look at the good and bad of asking obvious questions.

From: Elliott Smith
Subject: If you have to ask...

...then you're already too late.I thought it was worth sharing.

Not to dump on CTV, but surely they must know millions of people already are following "an account dedicated to all the news about your fave sport." No? Or am I the only one who follows hockey and football on Twitter?

Who would ask this? And why? It has "terrified brand manager transferred from another department" written all over it. Otherwise, I'm sincerely mystified.

---------------

From: Craig Ritchie
Subject: RE: If you have to ask...
 
If we knew the person behind this account, and if they were actually listening to suggestions, and they could actually implement them, and they actually did, then, well, you'd have a great use of social media and a humanized brand.

image credit: geek & poke

NOTE: This is a continuation of yesterday's post on re-thinking your position in advertising and considering a Community Management role.

How To Become a Qualified Community Manager
If you're considering a role as a Community Manager, here are three things you can do to build your expertise.

1.  Engage. Create your profiles on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Yelp, FlickR, YouTube and participate. Immerse yourself in the communities and talk about your passions. Learn about proper online etiquette and language so you don't unknowingly publicly embarrass yourself. Many local chambers of commerce or community colleges are offering workshops about basic social media usage.

2.  Volunteer. Combine your thirst for social media knowledge with the opportunity to help a local non profit organization build an online community.  Cristina Lorenzetti, a Detroit-based freelance copywriter and social media neophyte, volunteered her services to be the community manager for "The Bottomless Toy Chest" a non-profit devoted to pediatric cancer patients. This allowed her to practice community manager skills while benefitting the organization. Prospective employers will now be able to view her writing and community manager skills in real-time on these social channels.

3.  Network. There are many resources for community manager wanna-bes to network with others." Web strategist, Jeremiah Owyang hosts a list of community managers on his blog. Peer groups such as Community Manager, Advocate, and Evangelists on Facebook or Online Community Managers on LinkedIn are available to join and learn from those doing the job today.

Likewise, companies should consider these types of experiences as must-haves when seeking out candidates.

Traci Armstrong
@tannarmstrong

Is Community Management for You?
The digital era is creating new jobs that recruiters are having difficulty finding talent for. One such area of job growth is social media and the evolving role of a "community manager". This role may be an ideal career succession for out-of-work copywriters or journalists because many already possess the key components of being a community manager: excellent writing skills, an understanding of marketing, and strong research experience. But, where most traditional copywriters fall short are having a solid understanding of on-line cultures and trends.

Considering a job as a community manager not only requires writing skills and social media know-how, but it also requires a passion for the brand you'll be representing.

Can You Play The Role?
Recruiters approach community manager hiring as part job interview + part casting audition. Finding the right fit of person based on the brand persona can be just as important as writing skills and social media knowledge.

Here is a checklist a recruiter might use to consider you as a candidate:

__ Do you have a presence on social media sites like Facebook, LinkedIn,
      Twitter, FlickR, or You Tube?  Does the content on your profiles reflect that
      you have a good understanding of etiquette in the social media space?  

__ Do you have a blog?  For how long?  

__ Do you use a book-marking site? Which one?

__ Do you have writing samples - including headlines?

__ Do you have examples of generating story ideas and editorial strategy?   

__ Do you subscribe to RSS feeds? Which ones? What are your favorite blogs?

__ Have you done community management for any other organizations? What was your approach?

__ What email service to you use? Does it reflect your brand? Are you using a cutesy email handle? Are you using an outdated email provider?

__ Is your personal brand a good fit for the brand you will be representing? Will you be able to relate to the demographic of the community served? Are you passionate about the cause?

What would you add to the list?

Check out tomorrow's post for ways to help you build your expertise.

Traci Armstrong
@tannarmstrong

A new campaign by LG hopes to get the message out to teens -- particularly females -- to think before they text. The PSAs are pretty humorous and the site is simple, direct. The iPhone app grows a beard as you text. The message even boils over to Twitter and Facebook.

Great Twitter advice:
Some folks say that you are what you text. Well, I don't know about you, but I don't want to be a picture of a giraffe scrotum.

Taking back mean texts is very difficult. Like trying to get a 4th wish out of a chintzy genie.

Forwarding mean texts is kind of crazy. Like accusing a cloud of being racist.

Their message is smart and flavorfully spot on. But I'm not sure they are reaching the teens as well as they could. How many of PonderBeards's Twitter followers are really in high school or college? Doesn't appear to be many, if any. The videos are hilarious, but the print -- what I suspect most of the teens will see first (if positioned in schools strategically) -- leaves me...pondering what the heck is that supposed to mean? But I'm not a teen, so what do I know?

It's good to be social, but I'm not sure Give It A Ponder is socializing in the right crowd. Do you think LG hit their target?

Note: Thanks to Teresa Nord for the link.

Sarah Jo Sautter

(Photo: "Digital Mask" by Fabrizio Laurenti)



It's not news that people can adopt online personas that differ from their offline selves, both in appearance and behavior. But on Facebook or other platforms where there is no username or avatar to hide your identity this seems to be less common.

So now, using judgment based on personal moral and social values starts to come in to play. Sometimes the level of honesty on Facebook is a bit brutal for my taste, but at least it's honest. But is it enough to qualify as a cry for help? Is there a correlation between inappropriate or high-risk behavior on social networking sites and the same pattern of behavior offline? And does it truly depend on the anonymity factor?

I was recently in a bar in northern Michigan, sitting next to a woman named Debbie. At the beginning of the evening, she told me a story about being embarrassed that someone had tagged her in a rather compromising photo, posing with a pool cue, on Facebook. I said that it was simple enough to remove the tag, although she didn't seem to believe me - "I tried it," she said, "you can't do it!" It didn't matter that I told her that I basically do Facebook for a living.

As the night wore on and she was on her tenth or eleventh glass of straight tequila, it seemed that this "pool cue" photo was actually more a point of pride than an embarrassment. She brought it up constantly; "I'm on Facebook with a pool cue between my legs!" she told every stranger she happened to stumble into.

"I'm low down nasty on MySpace, but on Facebook I'm legit," she told me. Apparently - I must have missed this part - she told my boyfriend that her MySpace user name is Dirty Debbie Deepthroat (I already tried to find her and failed, so don't go rushing to Google, especially if you're at work right now).

Did I mention that this woman was in her late forties? And married with a grown son? I initially found her description of her online behavior foolish. I couldn't believe that a grown woman would be okay advertising herself as Dirty anything. But her offline behavior was no different. At one point I had to point out to her that she was, ahem, falling out of her shirt - I think it was the one with the Led Zeppelin tattoo - as I watched her remove her stockings at the bar.

I searched around for research on whether a predilection toward high-risk behaviors (binge drinking, drug use, unsafe sex, etc.) offline correlated to similar behaviors online (posting drunk pictures, advertising sexuality - the kind of things that might get one fired if seen by the wrong person). I was unable to find any research about adults. However, I do know from my time working with nonprofits, that a study was published within the last year that confirmed that teenagers who engage in high-risk behaviors offline tend to be more likely to do risky things online, while young people who tend to take the straight and narrow in real life usually do the same when given access to the Internet.

In an interesting twist, some of the teens who use social media to portray themselves as engaging in high-risk activities in their real lives may actually just be posturing, according to a study published in the January 2009 issue of Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine. Which makes sense, considering that teen culture often applauds and respects behaviors that most adults consider inappropriate or downright stupid.

What I want to know is this: Do you know anyone who seems relatively well-behaved offline but behaves badly on Facebook? Or, conversely, do you know anyone who behaves badly on Facebook but not in real life?

--Jordan Miller