Remember the days of playing Pac Man on your Commodore 64? Sigh. Those were simpler times. Yes, I had a pager longer then was deemed cool and I was admittedly one of the last of my friends to join Facebook. That said, like many people today, I’m trying to keep abreast of what is going on in the world of technology to stay competitive in the workforce. I have jumped on the preverbal technological bandwagon, hee, haw! I’m stumbling my way through a complicated web of technology that is constantly in a state of flux. I want to take you on my ongoing journey and would love to hear feedback on your adventures in using technology!! Be brave, my fellow tech-warriors!! Ahead, warp factor 6!!
Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
9 Oct
Social Media as a Research Tool
There is social media as a research tool for professionals and then there is social media as a research tool for personal use. These are two very different beasts.
I remember when I would think about something that I wanted to research and would need to leave the ‘comfort’ of my computer and go to my local Vancouver Public Library, often relying upon a liberian’s expertise for conducting research.
Now, nearly anything I think of that I want to know about I can find out about on the internet, usually in a matter of minutes.
I use Rotten Tomatoes when deciding what movie I want to watch. It’s user-driven based on individuals reviews. In my mind, I think that if at least 100 people reviewed the movie, the aggregate opinions are statistically significant and I’ve been able to watch a lot of fantastic movies that way.
I subscribe to Consumer Reports and use it when I make certain purchases. The idea is that unbiased researchers test the products on the same factors and come up with a score that ranks the products depending on how they perform. I’ve found this site consistently reliable.
The list goes on and on.
On a professional level, I used to work for a very large, international research firm. The company helps its clients test and evaluate brands, products, promotions, advertising, etc.
The company conducts interviews through telephone interviews, face-to-face interviews, and online survey panels. They continue to rely more and more on online survey panels because everyday more and more people use the internet and internet surveys are significantly cheaper than other survey methods.
People sign-up to receive surveys and answer screener questions that let the company know if they qualify for the survey. This allows the company to target a market, even if it’s quite specific / a niche market.
Survey panelists receive instant win opportunities, sweepstakes entries and prize giveaways as incentives to fill out surveys.
People who participate in online surveys often don’t represent the demographic being tested. For example, it can be argued that people that respond to financial incentives might fall within a lower income bracket. Also, people often do not take enough time and care to properly fill out a survey. Many people probably rush through surveys that aren’t very interesting to quickly finish it and get the incentive, so accuracy could be an issue.
30 Sep
4 Things Social Media and Wine Have in Common
1. Both are used as a social lubricant
2. Both are dangerous to use/drink while driving
3. Millions of people use Twitter and/or drink wine
4. Both are highly addictive
28 Sep
Love it When People Retweet Your Tweets?
I’ve seen numerous ads on how to get people to retweet your tweets. It says look at me world, someone values what I have to say and wants to spread it to the masses. Taken to the extreme, some people fondly remember the first time someone retweeted their tweets and felt all warm n’ fuzzy inside. Kick it up a notch on the extreme-ometer and what do you get? A guy romanticizing about getting his first retweet akin to having a first kiss! Enjoy!
Q: Do you remember your very first retweet?
A: It happened some time ago… I was at the Blue Dragon hotel. It was about 10 minutes before midnight. As I sat directly in front of my laptop and logged into my Twitter account longing for my first retweet. I felt butterflies in my stomach, then all of a sudden it happened my first retweet. Oh, yes. I remember it. It was something magical, like something out of a Harlingen romance novel.
Dear reader, do you remember your first retweet?
Photo credit: RenzoFerrante
27 Sep
10 Components of a Social Media Audit
1. Who is your target market? What are their demographics? How are their needs being met?
2. Is your target market online? Where are they online?
3. Does your company have a blog? What are your goals for the blog? Are they realistic? How effective is your company at meeting your blogging goals? For example, what is the frequency of posts for your blog? Asks these questions for each of your social media websites.
4. What social media strategy is in place? How effective has your company been in implementing your social media strategy? Is it part of an integrated marketing communications strategy, including offline?
5. What is your cocktail of social media metrics?
6. What calls to action are in place?
7. What are the legal implications of social media that dictate what is acceptable? Is there social media policies in place to legally protect your company?
8. What is your social media presence relative to each of your competitors?
9. Are you consistent in terms of brand image across all marketing initiatives?
10. What social media websites are giving you the most traffic?
What have I left out?
25 Sep
10 Things I’ve Learned from Reading Social Media 101 by Chris Brogan
It has been deeply challenging to summarize what I’ve learned from reading Social Media 101 authored by Chris Brogan simply because I’ve learned a lot, so this list comes with a caveat. It represents the main things I’ve taken away, but by no means covers all topics, however, it will give you a glimpse at the value of buying this book. This is what I’ve learned:
- How to hit the ground running with starting effective social media initiatives, how to hire social media personnel, and measure their effectiveness.
- Information from a very well chosen plethora of useful websites.
- In depth, practical ways of becoming a successful blogger.
- How to create and sustain a strong personal brand.
- Importance of actively listening, finding your customers, interacting and engaging with them and giving them something they value.
- Importance of trust and transparency.
- Importance of using social media to reach your consumers.
- How to effectively create and execute a social media strategy.
- How to leverage key social media websites to work for you.
- Real-life experiences of companies using social media.
Enjoy!
24 Sep
What Makes a Website Interactive?
Various definitions abound. Here’s my stance. A website is interactive when there is some sort of two-way interaction that puts the consumer in the driver’s seat.
That said, it is possible for a website to be engaging, but not interactive. Yes, I mean who doesn’t like clicking? For example, the click-happy kook in you likely gets some measure of satisfaction in being engaged enough to click a Like button, click.
Does a Like button on a website make it interactive? I argue the Like button makes for a potentially engaging website, but not an interactive one.
23 Sep
What is Your Favourite Interactive Website?
My vote is for Jones Soda. Why?
- Jones Soda allows users to customize the label on their product and have it delivered to you. This product screams originality and personalization! When would you use such a product? You can personalize the bottle as a wedding favour for your guests, a birthday gift for your best friend or a Mother’s Day gift.
- You can enter the 7-11 Photo Contest where they pick two photos a day for the month, each getting prizes. All submissions get posted to their gallery for viewing, shazaam!
- You can also play a Jones Soda-themed memory game and see how you rank compared to your peers, but, I think that veers more on the engagement side, then being interactive, but it is a cool website feature so I felt compelled to share it with you.
Your turn, what’s your favourite interactive website?
22 Sep
Social Media and Transparency 101 – Part 2
What do other people in the blogosphere have to say about the importance of transparency when engaging in social media marketing? Lets pick Toby Bloomberg’s brain on his posting called Where Does ‘Transparency Fit in The New Social Media Marketing Model? at http://bit.ly/cxhv1p. Toby asserts that transparency is important for “communicating and forming relationships in the world of the social web”.
If you are not involved in this process, the probability of your social media strategies failing, ceteris paribus, increases significantly. As a collective, consumers engaging in social media have proven to have enough reach to out companies that are deceiving them.
When is there appropriate limits to transparency? A company needs to reveal themselves as marketers before engaging their consumers on social media platforms. Beyond that, a policy should be in place for company employees on what should be kept confidential, such as employee files.
21 Sep
Social Media and Transparency 101 – Part 1
Transparency: full disclosure that you are a marketer. I’ve sifted through a string of tweets from a group of people that I’m following on Twitter that I fondly refer to as my ‘Geek Squad’. I also cosied up with my trusted social media books* of choice in hand and hunkered down in a local cafe shop to ponder:
Why is transparency so important to an organization? Transparency is the foundation that our customers need to trust us. We need our consumers to trust us for our social media efforts to be effective. That’s huge! Trust is your social lubricant applied liberally; therefore, it follows that if you’re not prepared to be transparent to your customer, you are using the wrong medium, adios!
*Social Media Marketing, an Hour a Day, Dave Evans.
