Atomic Ideas

Slicing the World of the Wide Web

I was at a marketing conference in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where many of the attendees left bemused and confused after listening to the well-intentioned panel talk about how you need to 'listen' with social media. Listen. Listen.

One of the guys after the conference said to me later, "Right. Listen. "Social media's like a cocktail party." So how do I sell my generators"? There comes a point where you need to stop listening, take what you learn, and engage. But where to start?

Marketing in a world without borders - the world wide web. What's happening more and more is that companies aren't trying to appeal to everyone on Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn, but to those groups most receptive to what they have to offer.

Ford is breaking it down to go after local customers, targeting 16 regional markets.

And a point can be made that the 'Big Four' of social media - Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube - are not necessarily the best road to find where your specific customers hang out. They are the most well-known, but not necessarily where people who buy generators, for example, are looking for information. Finding niche sites that align with your product narrows your focus, many times in a good way.

Instead of trying to conquer the overly heated, entire web world, try targeting the small worlds your customers live in.

Could Social Media Kill The Economy?

I haven't been sleeping well lately. Every night I wake up in a cold sweat thinking about what the hell I'm going to post tomorrow on the Atomic Ideas Blog, on Facebook on Twitter, on You Tube. The panic is palpable. If we're not participating we're losing out... on ratings, on rankings on relevance! Trying to keep up is excruciating.

For an old school guy like me, engagement used to be nothing more than finding a nice girl, convincing her I was the best thing since sliced bread, and then spending a large chunk of my salary on a rock to put on her finger. Elegant. Simple.

Now, everyone and their brother is telling me that engagement is the very future of my business. If my company doesn't take the time to do it, WE WILL DIE. Holy s%$t! No wonder I can't sleep.

After all, I fire up TweetDeck and I see my peers Tweeting merrily away - ALL DAY LONG.

I fire up Facebook and watch my "friends" doing the same thing. Updating, commenting, liking and, I guess, ENGAGING... ALL DAY LONG.

You can see why I can't sleep. I've got so many other things to do, I just can't keep up. I obviously don't have what it takes... a complete loser.

Truth is, I have not been able to figure out how to get all the real work I need to get done... well, done... and spend the amount of time the gurus tell me I need to spend ENGAGING to ensure the future of Atomic Ideas. The world is apparently full of supermen and woman who are able to get everything they need to get done, done AND make a living, whilst constantly informing me of their latest meal, or the 250 revolutionary articles they read today they think I might be interested in. Very helpful indeed, but where the hell do they find the time?

Frankly, I think I'm pretty productive. But that productivity is almost always focused on getting things done for our clients and our company... and that pesky secondary distraction, my wife and kids

I understand and embrace the importance of social media, but finding the time to do it right is a real struggle. I have to think that a lot of people are trading real productivity for pablum because they are addicted to building their "reputation" on Twitter, or just plain addicted to Facebook and all the other shiny new engagement tools out there.

On the other hand, I wonder that If trends continue, maybe everyone (me too, with your help) will spend all their time engaging and none of their time doing. When that happens, the economy will collapse and we'll go back to the dark ages. One bright light, we'll still have social media... smoke signals and cave art.

The bottom line here... I want the keys to the car, I want to climb aboard the train... I need help! I implore some of you folks who claim to have legitimate businesses, yet apparently spend every hour of your waking days online, to share your secrets! You'll help me sleep better. You may even save my life!

What do you think. Will social media lead to the Apocalypse? Weigh in. Save the world!

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/purplemattfish/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Anti-Social Media -- The dark side of the force.

Social Media presents us all with a great power -- the power to disseminate information around the globe with a touch of a button. But with great power comes great responsibility.  Of course, there will always be those among us who decide to use their powers not for good, but for evil.  Witness the video below, which sounds like it was put together by a high school student. How long can society hold up when the even the youngest among us has the power to instruct thousands (even millions) of their peers in one of the dark arts?  The real shame is that this is just one of dozens of videos on YouTube featuring lock picking and other potentially illegal activities. I strongly urge anyone who views this video NOT to try breaking and entering -- because on the other side of any given door, there could be an angry homeowner who is armed and ready to protect their property. Maybe with a weapon they fashioned after watching a YouTube video!!

Internet...Schminternet. (Nearly a third of Americans can't be reached online)

From a recent article that appeared on AOL, It would appear that almost one in three of us cannot be reached via the information superhighway.  Or even through any of the social media by-ways. (Of course, that means that 60% of us can be reached online!) All the more reason to first determine who your best potential customers are, and where they will be when you choose to deliver your brand's marketable truths.

Feb 17th 2010 By Jeremy Taylor

30 Percent of Americans Don't Use the Internet

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Our happy hour fact to amaze your drinking buddies with.

Almost one in three Americans don't use the Internet at work or home.

New census bureau data, collected from 54,000 households, finds that seniors, the poor, underrepresented minorities and folks who live in rural areas lag behind the rest of the country, technologically speaking.

While a good chunk of the nation remains offline, high-speed broadband has made significant inroads with those who are surfing the Web. By late 2009, 63 percent of overall households had opted for the faster service, which is up from 40 percent in early 2007.

Still, we can't help but be baffled, and slightly insulted, by those who continue to shun the information superhighway, which we call home.

His-Tweets....Major Events in Human History in 140 Characters or Less.

Twitter can be such a powerful marketing tool, it got me wondering. Could some of the most profound events in human history be winnowed down so as to be tweetable?  Sure!   

If Moses had to tweet the ten commandments: God says "Stop that!"

If the colonists had sent the Declaration of Independence as a tweet: "This relationships isn't working. You'll find your tea in the harbor."

If the Magna Charta had been sent as a tweet: "Who died and made you king? Oh right, your Dad. But still. That doesn't give you the right to treat us badly."

If Abraham Lincoln's assassination had been tweeted:  "Lincoln killed in Ford"

If the Hindenberg tragedy had been tweeted: "Sell Zepplin stock...now!"

A passenger tweet from the Titanic: "The icebergs are so close I could almost reach out and touch them!"

Hitler's Mein Kampf as a tweet: "Aryans rule, sub-species drool."

A tweet from the final day of the Jurassic period; "Look, a shooting star. Make a wish!" 

A tweet from the Roswell crash site, "They tried to probe me, that's when all hell broke loose."

Lindberg tweet after landing in Paris: " I made it! I flew the Atlantic. Now I'm just waiting for my luggage."

After the Lindberg baby kidnapping: " He was just here a minute ago!"

Madame Curie after taking first X-ray: "New photo technique makes me look as thin as a skeleton!"

Buzz Aldrin after setting foot on the moon: "I'm number two! I'm number two!"

Isaac Newton just before discovering gravity: "Ow, an apple just hit me on the head....hey...."

Tweet immediately after the final spike of the TransContinental Railroad was driven: "Experienced rail layer looking for work."

Orville Wright: I can see our house from here!

To the followers of the Knight's Templar site: "Anyone seen the Holy Grail? Seems someone --who shall remain nameless -- has misplaced it!"

Socrates after drinking the hemlock: "The pois jxw apjem lqwe zgrrrrrrrrrr....."

You could say a few of these are an example of anti-social media. Hope you enjoyed them. Have a great weekend

Surprise. People on Facebook Actually Like a Good Sale!

Is conventional wisdom about how marketers (particularly retailers) should sell their products and services with social media all wrong?

Most expert advice suggests that retailers shouldn't push their products or services too hard on platforms like Facebook. It should all be about conversation, engagement, influence... you know the drill. 

Now, nobody's saying that's all wrong. But a new study from ForeSee Results in Ann Arbor, MI presents some interesting, and rather surprising findings. It shows that Facebook is actually, "By far the most effective way to woo would be shoppers."

Whoda thunk it?

Retailers like Victoria's Secret are leading the charge by showcasing and promoting new products and sales on their Facebook pages. According to the article about the study at MediaPost's Marketing Daily, Victoria's Secret has 2.8 million Facebook fans, and its teen brand Pink, has 1.8 million fans.

Kevin Ertell, VP/retail strategy for ForeSee Results, tells Marketing Daily. "If you look at those pages, they are giving Facebook users exactly what they tell us they want -- information about new products, and special prices and promotions."

Contrary to what we might all think, this study indicates that online shoppers might actually want less fluff and more stuff.

Here is a recap of some of the findings:

• Of 69% of online shoppers who are social media users, 56% have chosen to "friend," "follow" or "subscribe to" at least one store.
• 61% of this group is connected to fewer than five companies. Another 21% is made up of more serious shoppers who follow between 6 and 10 stores, while just 18% is hardcore enough to have friended more than 10.
• Facebook is by far the dominant player: Among online shoppers who engage in social media, more than 80% are using Facebook. YouTube comes in second at 31%, followed by MySpace with 22%, Twitter with 16%, and LinkedIn at 12%.
• Yet 25% of the top 100 online retailers have no formal presence on Facebook and 25% have fewer than 10,000 fans. 
• 49% of those who follow companies through social media want to hear about deals, and 45% want to see products. Only 5% use social media primarily for customer support.

In the Marketing daily article Ertell says,  "The most satisfied and loyal customers are seeking out their favorite stores' pages, and then if those experiences are rewarding, they become even more loyal."

Interesting stuff! However caution is probably justified. As we all know, too much of a good thing is a bad thing. Until all the evidence suggest otherwise, engagement and conversation is still a wise strategy. And so, apparently, is the occasional, "And if you act now, you'll also get...!"

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Two Reactions to Social Media Marketing

"We can get a bunch of customers by having them follow us! Skip paying big hairy media costs! It'll be fun and quick and easy! The new admin can do it!"

 That's the placebo effect social media has on some companies we've encountered. They hear how easy it is and how little it costs compared to their other marketing efforts. It'll solve so many marketing difficulties. The bliss of tweeting and facebooking and youtubing and flickring, and posting any kind of wacky article and in a week 100,000 sites in the webisphere will link to the article and voila! Instant customers. 

It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt. With the truth. 

"We can't manage all these social sites. We're way behind and we'll never catch up. If we're socializing in social media all day we'll never get any real work done. What if someone says something bad about our company? We're doomed! Doomed, I tell you!!"  

This is the other reaction, the less understood but equally powerful 'nocebo effect'. If you think negative, you get negative. In one study, people were given a sugar pill and were told it induced vomiting. Later, 80 percent of them started throwing up.

It's all doom and gloom until someone dips a toe in the tweet stream. And they see they don't drown. They just get a wet toe.

Social media is neither easy nor is it terribly hard. It just takes time and energy. And some passion. Like most things in life that are worth doing.

photos: mare.bowe, nielsvk

Social Media and Social Commentary

A recent You Tube video brings home one of the benefits of social media: people can speak out (either positively or negatively) about your product, service, or political situation. And no matter how controlling your company, corporation or government tries to be, they cannot control what people will say or do in various social media channels. All any organization can do is try to influence what people are saying about them. How best to do that? Give the people what they want.

Groundhog Goes Tweet!

Happy Groundhog's Day!

Spoiler Alert: Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow -- so six more weeks of winter. But the fact that a rodent who has had no formal meteorological or psychic training can predict the weather is not the amazing part. What's amazing is that for someone who lives in a hole in the ground, he's exceptionally social media savvy. A smart marketer, Phil makes it possible for his audience to receive his prognostications via several mediums:

1) Twitter: @visitPA
2) Text: “Groundhog” to 247365 
3) Web site: Groundhog Day
4) Webcam: Webcam
5) e-card: Groundhog Day E-cards
6) Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/visitPA

By making it easy for his audience to follow him, and providing them useful and/or entertaining information (ie how much longer winter will last), he helps secure his place as the choice amongst all other choices for their rodent-based  meteorological prediction 
 needs. 

Smart marketers should look to the groundhog as an example of how to help promote their brand with their best potential customers.

Social Media: A Cure For Bad Breath?

Evidently, yes! 

OraBrush does a great job marketing their tongue scraper with entertaining YouTube Videos. They satisfy the three major requirements of successful social media campaigns. 1. They solve a problem (or fill a need) for their target audience. 2. They talk to their best potential customers in a way they can relate to - humor.  3. They are entertaining (or compelling) enough to be forwarded to others. 

Below is just one of the OraBrush videos that can be found on YouTube, on the OraBrush Web site and on OraBrush's FaceBook page. Wow, who would have thought that people would become FaceBook fans of a toothbrush company?