maggie+media

Why social media?

A Pew Study out this week tells us something most of us would have assumed naturally: The majority (66%) of Americans who use social media do it to stay in touch with friends and family members. Interestingly, 18% of older Americans (54+) use social media to conenct with new people who share similar interests, vs. 10% of the younger group.

For all the fretting about how the internet is changing relationships, and how “real life” is falling by the wayside, about how we can’t truly have as many friends as we do on Facebook (we don’t, and that’s okay), it’s clear that social media actually strengthens relationships rather than weakens them. It’s a tool to stay in touch, to deepen a connection, rather than make another superficial one. I find that very heartening, but not at all surprising. If you spend any time on Facebook, it’s clear it’s a tool to keep relationships familiar and strong. 

According to the study, most people who use social media don’t specifically use it to connect to public figures, and many of the ones who do use Twitter. Again, this isn’t very surprising, but it does underscore the difference between Facebook and Twitter. 

What does this mean for brands and marketing? It seems to me the most important thing is to understand and respect how people use social media. On Facebook, people are there to connect with their friends and family, not necessarily have a deep relationship with your brand. On Twitter, they may be there for news and public figures, but it’s also about friends and family connections. It’s critical to be authentic and embrace your role as a brand. Be friendly, but not too familiar. Keep it casual. Offer discounts and coupons. In other words, don’t try to force yourself into the fundamental friends/family relationship, but rather focus on how you can best complement it. 

Twitter Sins

This list of Twitter sins from Hubspot is great:

• Thou shalt not spam.
• Thou shalt not drift. (AKA: Show up and be active—I’ve been remiss on this blog, hence today’s post…)
• Thou shalt not blatantly self-promote. 
• Thou shalt not use only 140 characters.
• Thou shalt not bash.

I’d add a couple more to the list:

• Thou shalt not ghost-tweet.

I’ve heard folks on the executive level talk about trying to have an assistant run their Twitter account and tweet in their place. Online identity is about authenticity, and it’s a big mistake to misrepresent yourself on social media. There’s no substitute for your own voice, and there’s no denying the anger of people who find out they’ve been misled. Leveraging social media to build relationships takes work, but it’s worth the time.

• Thou shalt not tweet in the heat of the moment.

No, I don’t mean mid-coitus. Rather, I’m talking about where you’re upset or worked up about something. Take the time to cool off and think about what you’re going to say—it’s easy to fire off an angry tweet, but no matter how quickly you delete it, some eyes will have been lain on it, and you can do a lot of damage!  

What other sins would you add to the list? 

Advertising on the Social Web

I talk often about how important it is to engage with social media as a marketing tactic, and most often I’m referring to using social platforms to communicate with users. I’m a strong believer in the power of communities and word-of-mouth marketing, not least because I’ve seen DailyLit’s userbase grow through these channels and know other people, like June Publishing Point speaker Gail Horwood, EVP of digital at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, have seen success that way too.

However, recently I heard David Kidder of Clickable speak, and he discussed another important element of social media strategy: social advertising. Here’s some of the statistics he shared (via the Clickable blog):

• Of $22.7 billion total U.S. online ad spend in 2009, 50% went to search advertising and 35% went to display (source)
• From display’s $8 billion in spend, an estimated $800 million went to Facebook and MySpace (source)
• Americans received 1.1 trillion display ads in Q1 2010, a 15% bump versus year-ago, led by Facebook (source)
• Facebook now is the largest publisher of ad impressions (source)
• Time spent each month on search engines: 1 hour (source)
• Time spent each month on social networking sites: 6 hours (source)

Compelling numbers, made even more so when you remember that Facebook ads can be targeted by demographics, location, and more. And given how much time users are spending on social sites vs. search sites, these display ads offer very valuable real estate indeed (and six hours is definitely lowballing it, at least in some demographics.)

Engaging with social media gives you a lot of face time and influence with your customers and targeted potential customers. I’ve said before that it’s critical to think about your social media presence as part of your overall marketing strategy (i.e. don’t just create a Facebook page and wait for something to happen), and it’s worth thinking about how user engagement and social media advertising fit into your plan.

Advertising Winner Doesn’t Go It Alone

AdAge posted the past month’s Top 10 Most-Liked and Most-Recalled Ads. (Open the link in another tab to see the lists I’m talking about—can’t show the content here. Sorry!)

Interesting that the top three “Liked” spots are occupied by ads that cross promote or tap into another brand presence: Target-Lost, Aflac-Toy Story, and McDonald’s-Shrek.

The list of ten most-recalled ads, interestingly enough, doesn’t overlap all that much with the “liked” spots, but note that again, four of the top five spots take advantage of another media presence (three Target-Lost ads and the Pantene-Stacy London spot which, although it doesn’t mention “What Not To Wear” directly, clearly draws on her fame from that show).

I’d say the winner this month is Target—which, if you know me, you know makes me happy. Lurve Target.

But the lesson is just how powerful the result can be if you (cleverly) tap into current trends and popular properties.

And also: how funny are the ad summaries? “Man wrestles with children at summer barbecue, then runs to grill and eats sausage.”

The End of Search

Well, no, Google isn’t going anywhere. But something I’ve been thinking about a lot recently is how the primacy of Google search as a way of interacting with the web is changing. As the social web matures, we’re discovering and engaging with content that’s brought to us through friends on Facebook, or newsletters from ecommerce sites, or business colleagues on Twitter.

Talks I’ve heard in the past week have shared this spirit. Last week Fred Wilson spoke to the Publishing Point, a book industry group I co-organize, and I was blown away by how much of his web engagement was with crowd- or friend-curated content—boxee, WeAreHunted, etc. These “filters,” which give value and power to certain shares on the web and  are absolutely central to what Fred discovers, shares—and buys. (Read my post on Fred’s talk here.)

Similarly, when Susan Lyne, CEO of sample sale site Gilt Group, spoke at MediaBistro Circus, she did so from a somewhat unique perspective: Gilt is by invitation only, so its entire site is hidden from Google. The business, however, is taking off, and one of the ways it’s doing so is by functioning as a filter. The sales are tightly curated by trusted Gilt staff, offering a narrow selection of designer goods. Gilt also takes the time—and expense—to take their own photographs of all the merchandise they sell, which unifies the look of the site and improves the shopping experience immeasurably. And they’ll soon let users select designers, styles, and sizes so Gilt can serve up customized emails to individual users. Putting this kind of curated, personalized content in front of users—who are never more than two clicks away from buying something—is incredibly powerful as a way of giving your brand real value in the eyes of your users: you become a trusted source of recommendations, which is an invaluable thing to be. (I loved hearing Susan speak and think Gilt is doing lots of things brilliantly—I’m working on another post to delve into it more deeply!)

These are just a few of endless examples—Tumblr, Polyvore, and MySpace (yes, there are still millions of users on MySpace—more than Twitter) are just a few more. Millions of users are spending the vast majority of their time online at places like these, not searching on Google. And even when the time comes to make a purchase, it’s often unnecessary to go through Google. It’s worth thinking about that when you evaluate how much time and money you should invest in SEO and SEM.