FRANKthoughts

A big shout out to everyone who attended our fourth FRANkademy on Friday, for what was another very successful social media session.  Thanks to MCN, Hardie Grant Publishing, Yaffa Publishing (AdNews), Carat, iProspect, Keep Left PR, Propeller PR and Austereo for their input and participation.

A special thankyou also goes out to our friends at Nuffnang, for making the big trip from overseas!

The session covered off a broad range of topics, including:

An introduction to the size of the opportunity social media presents
The importance of having an integrated social media strategy and not ‘grabbing at the tools’
What is Twitter?  Who is using it well?
Blogging, Blog Networks and Nuffnang Australia case studies
FRANkVizeum’s approach to bought/owned/earned media – a working case study

For anyone who missed Friday’s session and would like to attend our September event, please RSVP here and we’ll look forward to seeing you!

“Social media” is all the buzz now and clients want to “get on it”, “use it” or “leverage it”. Many people think social media is just another media. It’s not. (Tip: if it’s not a dialogue between your company and users it’s not social media). Many people also believe that social media is just another part of their “Marketing”. It’s not. Being social starts from the inside. From your organisation. You cant start a conversation only to leave the room a month later. To fully understand what needs to be done to GET IT RIGHT lets take a step back.

David Armano’s latest presentation (from the SXSW2010 panel picker) about “social business strategy” (what we call immersion).
I like the term “social business strategy” – probably the biggest and toughest part of social media because it’s not about paid for/set and forget marketing solution. It’s about asking questions first, research and probing. It’s not about “Lets do it” it’s about “Lets think about it”. It’s about your organisation being ready for it. So, bringing this down to the essential ingredients, it is about 1. strategy 2. tactics 3. measure. I also love Armano mentioning the scale element of this approach.

Seth Godin’s post “when tactics drown out strategy” is highlighting the difference between strategy and tactics. “Building a permission asset so we can grow our influence with our best customers over time” is a strategy. Using email, twitter or RSS along with newsletters, contests and a human voice are all tactics. In my experience, people get obsessed about tactical detail before they embrace a strategy… and as a result, when a tactic fails, they begin to question the strategy that they never really embraced in the first place. Seth is right. Most brands want to go viral/facebook/youtube before they have a clear strategy. It’s like attempting to drive a truck before taking any driving lessons.

Matt Dickman summarize this nicely in his post: Want better digital strategy, ban seven dirty words. If you don’t have a strategy you shouldn’t talk about “what we’ll do with xyz tool”.

To end this up here’s Paul Isakson’s post that started my search (Thanks Paul).
If you don’t want to fail in “social media” don’t treat it as an add-on. Have someone in charge of it, have a plan and create a budget. But first, start with a strategy. Only then you can start talking about “that viral idea on youtube”.

After an elaborate digital strategy process (aka Immersion) we’re very proud to launch Melbourne’s GPO new website.How did we start? The brief was to create GPO’s online experience. Here’s what we did:

1. Created an annual digital strategy which includes SEM, SEO and most importantly the community element that works alongside our media plan, creative, events and PR.
2. Found and employed the right person to manage the community of Melbourne’s GPO lovers and retailers (Welcome Sarah Willcocks -  Hi Sarah!)
3. Developed the new website with a strong focus on fashion editorial followed by an annual content plan featuring articles, photos, videos, competitions, events and more. Check out our first competition for your chance to win VIP tickets to GPO’s exclusive ‘Fashion at Altitude’ evening parade as part of Melbourne Spring Fashion Week on Wed 2nd Sept-  here.
4. Started a youtube, facebook, twitter and flickr profiles with measurement and management in place. (We didn’t jump at the tools. These were picked from the research and support our goals)
5. Understand that this is only the beginning, not the end product.

I’d like to thank all the people who worked on the project so far and to our clients ISPT and Tracey Winn.

Avid Twitter followers last week may have noticed a change in their number of followers, as Twitter HQ launched a campaign against spam bots, fraudulent accounts and inconsistencies in their data.  In their own words:

For some time, the follower and following counts we display have been incorrect for some folks. We’re soon to push a change that will address this issue. This means that the count you see in your sidebar should match what you see on your follower and following pages.

However, a consequence of this change is that follower counts will drop for some people. In particular, those with large followings may see significant changes as we correct for spam accounts and data inconsistencies. No legitimate followings should be affected—we’re just cleaning up artifacts in the system.

Personally I lost about 15% of my followers, despite keeping what I thought was a close eye on blocking suspect accounts.  But it’s great – it gives me more peace of mind that the quality of my online community is a lot higher after the cleanse.

It is interesting to see that Kyle and Jackie O continue on their social media rollercoaster of Twitter followers.  Twitterholic reports that in the past two weeks, they’ve gone from 268k to 580k to 320k in follower numbers.  This makes a mockery of their claim that all of their followers are genuine.

It’s fantastic that Twitter are clamping down on fraudulent use of social media.  As we mentioned in our earlier post on this topic, what’s the point of having thousands of followers if they aren’t real or active?

Who wants yesterday’s papers?
Who wants yesterday’s girl?
Who wants yesterday’s papers?
Nobody in the world.

Mick Jagger from the Rolling Stones wrote this about his ex-girlfriend Chrissie Shrimpton in the 1960’s – but today it seems consumers on a wider scale don’t even want today’s ‘paper’.  Much has been written about falling readership and the rise of new media, micro-bloggers and so on.  Sharp decreases in ad revenue, job losses and tangible changes in media consumption have also left The Independent Newspaper in the UK asking (in a very funky, interactive way) “What next for newspapers?’.

PriceWaterhouseCoopers thinks we should stop talking about the death of newspapers and start talking about the rise of news brands. To paraphrase their report, they believe trusted news brands will still hold sway, however the delivery mechanism and interaction with content will be radically different.  Of course, this is already happening.

The New York Times is one such ‘traditional’ media outlet grappling with the change.  Their Facebook (460,000 fans and an immense amount of content), Twitter (1.4m followers on the main channel alone with many other individual channels), and blog section (with 70-80 RSS feeds in specific areas of interest) give consumers options to access the media on their own terms – more opportunities for more people to interact more often.  Fantastic.  I am personally subscribed to a number of their online touchpoints, without needing to pick up a copy of the paper from a Manhattan street vendor.

This process of change raises two questions though – who manages this new space, and should all this stuff be free?

The first question of management – NY Times’ appointed Social Media Editor was recently criticised for not being fully immersed in the social media space.  Mashable wondered why Jennifer Preston, despite her job title, hadn’t tweeted in over a month (and then the day after the report was posted, why her frequency of posting went through the roof).  Her response was that she was in the process of ‘listening’ and working out how she can best bring value to the conversation and most effectively guide her journalists.

Mashable make a valid point.  Full credit to the NY Times for identifying the need to change and having a red hot go at it – but how can you be a social media editor and not fully utilise all the tools, participate in the conversation, and learn from inevitable mistakes when starting out?

I imagine an extensive amount of human and technical resource goes into managing the output and content of their social communities, without these consumers helping to pay the bills for their offices, computers, photographers, editors, and quality investigative reporters through newspaper sales and subscriptions (outside of online ad revenues).  And while the paper also ‘profits’ from increased user engagement, time spent with brand, and on a number of other metrics,  the second question arises – should it continue to be free?

NY Times are reconsidering the overall structure of their business model, recently asking subscribers if they would be willing to pay for online content.  The Wall Street Journal is already charging US$1.99/week for access to online premium content.  The possibility exists for New York Times to charge $US5 a month to access news/blog/multimedia content online.  They have already dabbled in this area – ending a 2 year experiment in 2007 that generated US$10m annually from premium subscriptions – which at its peak attracted 200,000 users.

The broader issue is that NY Times is only one publication – and that this trend can be multiplied across the hundreds and thousands of local and national newspapers globally.  Should all content be free?  Or should we move to a subscription model?  Should this be for all content, or premium content only?  How much is a fair price? And would you consider paying for all news sites?  eg. you would pay US$5 a month for the New York Times content, but not a cent for the Banbury Cake newspaper?

The danger of course (which is a frightening thought) is that after all the journalists have disappeared, future news services may be reduced to Today Tonight reports on extending your life by 20 years, celebrity gossip rubbish and popular content on major online portals funded by display advertising.  Is this where we want to be?  Or should we all pitch in and save credible journalism?

VW have developed an interesting new car campaign, teaming up with Twitter to recommend to users what their next new car should be (a Volkswagen, of course).

Through online flash creative executions, users enter their Twitter username in the creative.  The ad will then analyse the content of their Twitter posts, and based on this ‘personality type’ recommend a vehicle from their range.

It probably isn’t overly scientific, but it’s a fun way to tap into the curiosity of the online users it is targeting.  My Twitter account resulted in a VW Polo recommendation.

Kevin Rudd’s Twitter profile spat out a Beetle as the right choice for the modern, sauce-bottle-shaking PM.  Ashton Kutcher’s search suggested a 7-seat Routan minivan to lug around all of Ashton, Bruce and Demi’s rugrats.

What does your Twitter account say about you?

Launched recently is a new small business podcast from Small Business Big Marketing (SBBM)
Four small business owners chew the cud with Tim Reid and Luke Moulton .
This month the guys talk to Flip Shelton writer & muesli maker, Mel Bridge founder of GXY recruitment, Darren, the co-owner of St Kilda Boat Sales and John the founder of Wicked Campers
As any small business operator will know it can be a lonely business so the idea of this initiative is to create a forum for collective learnings and opinions. I’ve thought this has been an opportunity for a while and hope it gathers momentum.
The problem with most other small business sites such as this is that they can be bewildering and alienating. SBBM comfortably engages with successful entrepreneurs and provides the opportunity for dialogue and sharing.
It’s early days and the guys are finding their manner and tone but i can see this expanding to being a hub for all small business aspirants in time.
Great idea and good energy.

I got this email on how to be an ‘Online Social Diva’! There is an eBook dedicated to women which “reveals secrets to attract friends, fans and followers on social networks and create your own fame and fortune as online entrepreneurs and smart women”

The purpose? To inform women on how to harness and leverage the power of social media, social networks and social bookmarking

My initial thoughts… “oh dear” but it just goes to show that there are social media learning channels out there for everyone! Even ‘online social divas’!

With no particular order, some of most interesting ladies I’m following on twitter and why:

I owe twitter a big one for bringing back one of my favorite all time bloggers @KathySierra. This lady is the reason I’m calling customers “users”, talking about how to make them “passionate” and fond of Nordic horses. Bonus: Uses red font.  Follow or read the oldblog. Now.

Heather Snodgrass @likeomg is a social  media adviser at Amnesia/Razorfish Sydney. She’s witty, extra cool, sometimes silly (good silly) and usually, well… like OMG. She’s the kind of girl that will take your money and dye to blond just for charity. And fun. Bonus: cute overload. Follow or watch her tumblr grow here.

One of the first community/creative/media/social/strategy/blogger gurus is @KatieChatfield, a knowledgeable veteran who shares her presentations like holy bread. The author of Get Shouty will get you easily excited by memes, manifestos and monsters. Bonus: Bunny ears avatar. Follow here.

No idea if this is her real name but @vickysita from San Fran is constantly bringing home the goods. Her tweets about future/web2.0/social media always send me to interesting places and her avatar reminds me of Wednesday. Bonus: maybe she’ll put a link soon. Please follow.

Orli Yakuel @Orli is one of Israel’s top 2.0 bloggers. It seems like her fingers don’t leave the pulse even when she sleeps. Actually I think she never sleeps. Covering web2.0 for the last 4-5 years Orli is THE woman to know (Sorry blond2.0). Her blog go2web20 is jam packed with web2.0 app madness. Well after all it is the largest online directory for Web 2.0 applications worldwide. wow. follow. Bonus: addictive office games & rare videos of early morning dog walks.

A fantastic website has been developed to promote Britain amongst young people, in a far more irreverent way than regular tourism sites. Visit The Other Britain is, according to the site, ‘not like the stuffy image of Britain that was in your brain’.

The website looks like a mashup of a Sex Pistols album cover, a TimeOut London guide and a Banksy graffiti installation, with a significant amount of external links and content. Everything that beeps or flashes is animated on the site, prompting the visitor to take the initiative, and investigate the less obvious tourist sites of the UK.

It is interesting that the site has been developed in conjunction with VisitBritain, whose style of site is exactly what they are rebelling against, but the two separate websites are catering for different ends of the tourism market. Great stuff!