Social Media Pundit Quotes

“This is clearly the direction where social media campaigns are headed – going beyond simply having a presence on key social sites and also doing something creative that engages customers with your brand.”

Adam Ostrow, Mashable

“Consumers base their buying decisions on reputation, repeat exposure to the brand and being able to relate to the brand. And that’s what this app does. It allows the consumer to go beyond the 30-second television commercial and interact with brand itself.”

– Joe Couceiro, Busch Entertainment Exec VP CMO

“…US ad spending on widgets and applications is projected to reach $70 million, up 75% from 2008.”

– Debra Aho Willimson, eMarketer

“A downturn opens up rare opportunities to outmaneuver rivals.”

“Companies that injudiciously slash marketing spending often find that they later must spend far more in order to recover.”

– David Rhodes and Daniel Selter, Harvard Business Review

“Basically, in a recession, the consideration phase is more important than awareness — and that’s where advertising flops and social applications succeed.”

– Josh Bernoff, Forrester Research

“Social networks are where consumers feel comfortable expressing their feelings—good or bad—about companies, products and services. Marketers, retailers and social networks have an opportunity to tap into this stream of information-sharing.”

– Debra Aho Williamson, eMarketer

“Social media is perhaps the most powerful communications platform of the future. Making it viable is more than a VivaKi priority: it is an industry imperative.”

– David Kenny and Jack Klues, VivaKi managing directors

Your Brand has an Application on Facebook, now what?

Your VP just ran to you in a panic after reading that Facebook had hit 200 million users “We NEED to develop an application and get on Facebook”!  As a good employee and student of the Social Media world, you went out, hired someone to develop the application.  The application is launched and everyone is happy. You send the application to your boss on Facebook, he shares it with his friends, and everyone is happy, right?

Well, sort of. After a few weeks your boss asks you “how’s the application doing?  You say “what do you mean”?  The application is…well the application right?  We followed the rules; we’re interacting with our consumers on Facebook. We GET Social Media….WRONG.

Relevant actions that your consumer can take within your application to gage success:

• Contest/Sweeps Entries – Perfect for companies like Bluefly, Coke (my coke rewards), Publishers Clearing house etc.
• Coupons Downloaded/redeemed
• Games played
• Videos Viewed
• Uploads (e.g. images, videos)
• Poll Votes
• Messages sent (*e.g bulletins, Updates, Emails, Alerts)
• Invites sent
• Newsfeed items posted
• Comments Posted
• Friends Reached
• Topics/forums created
• Number of Group Members or Fans
• Reposts *”Shares”

The Application has become the new Ad Unit

The job of a brand right now, when interacting in the Social Media eco-system is to get the most effective ad unit in front of an ever elusive group of consumers.  Currently the only way that this can occur in a cost effective manner is via an appropriately designed and implemented application. 

Think of it this way: if you pay for development of an application at Buddy Media the media buy is strictly performance based, once you pay for the initial installation of the app, you no longer pay a fee. Meaning that if consumer #1 installs, then passes you appropriately viral application to their friends and family (consumers #2 -#30), you don’t pay a red cent beyond consumer #1.  Suddenly the ground swells. You start to leverage the power, and see the value.  A guaranteed media buy within the most engaged attentive ecosystem of educated, consumers…ever. Keep in mind that the largest growing group of facebook users is 35+. Now we start to see the truly viral nature of the social web.

Social brand loyalty results in trial or adoption of a page, education of the brand features and benefits, extended reach to a broader demographic target (remember my post regarding the network neighbor).  Rapid lift in awareness of the brand.  Applications are the most powerful Ad Unit online today.

 

Buddy Media Continues to Experience Record Growth; Adds Industry Veterans to Expanding Sales Team

This entry was posted by Buddy Media on May 27, 2009

New hires to help meet tremendous market demand for Social Media Applications & Strategy.

Buddy Media, the leading media company for social media campaigns and branded app-vertisements, today announced it has experienced record growth and has undergone a significant expansion with several new appointments to its sales team. The company has run programs for more than 100 clients and is on track to post a 300% increase in revenue in 2009 compared to 2008.

The new hires include Andrew Goldberg and Chris Dessi who join the company as Directors of Sales for the East and Mark Sarsha as Director of Sales, West Coast. All three bring relevant media and advertising sales experience to help Buddy Media meet increasing market demand for smart social media strategies and app-vertisements that help bring brands and social networkers together in meaningful ways.

Andrew Goldberg has more than 15 years of experience in media sales and joins Buddy Media from XM Satellite Radio, where he was Director of Advertising Sales and was responsible for building XM’s Northeast ad sales team.

Chris Dessi brings more than a dozen years of experience to Buddy Media, having previously held the positions of Vice President of Sales and Business Development at Miva (NASDAQ:MIVA) and Zanox, Inc., a Berlin, Germany based multinational ad network. Dessi has also served as Director of National Ad Sales for Epic Advertising (formerly AzoogleAds, Inc).

Mark Sarsha joins Buddy Media from OK! Magazine, where he served as Western Sales Director and built a team that grew sales volume by more than $3 million during his tenure. Prior to OK!, Mark was the Western Advertising Sales Director at USA WEEKEND magazine and usaweekend.com.

“We continue to grow by leaps and bounds because brands see the value in engaging the hundreds of millions of people on social networks wherever they exist,” said Buddy Media Chairman and CEO Mike Lazerow. “Chris, Andrew and Mark bring exactly the kind of experience and track records that we look for in Buddy Media employees. All three will be invaluable to driving our success and that of our clients.”

About Buddy Media

In today’s social media world, every brand needs a Buddy. Buddy Media, the leading media company for social media strategies and branded app-vertisements, offers proprietary technology solutions – including Builder, BuddyBrain and the Social Page Management System – to help brands engage their audiences by extending their advertising campaigns into the social world. Some of the world’s largest brands, including FedEx, New Balance, Time Inc. & Microsoft work with Buddy Media to create social brand loyalty and social brand advocates. Based in NYC, Buddy Media is a privately held company backed by Softbank, European Founders Fund and GreyCroft partners amongst other investors.

The Total Facebook Makeover for Brands

“Facebook marketing requires communicating, not advertising” Forrester Research, Inc

Facebook users are aging.  Over 35 may not be the largest group that is interacting on Facebook, but they’re the ones that are growing the most.  What worked for your brand on Facebook yesterday will not work on Facebook tomorrow.  What does that mean for your brand? You need to hire professionals.  Don’t always look for the silly hook. Sometimes slow and steady wins the race. Just do it. Get engaged, and get into the Social Media sphere. If you work with a partner, your applications and pages will evolve with your brand.  Ads on Facebook are horrible, and don’t convert.  Ads that are INSIDE applications are powerful.  Sponsorship deals will continue to grow. 4-26% CTR for Sponsored feed stories.  Read and respond to comments.  Enable discussion by leveraging your pages, and a page management system.  Be transparent about your role and perspective. 

Finally, create useful apps that model what friends do naturally – share info, experiences, and laughs

How to Ensure Your Facebook Application & Page will Crush it! 3 Tips for Advertisers

Freshness and relevance is appropriate regarding anything in social media, but are especially important for brand pages, and applications.  Even though Social Media offers a unique manner of communication with your consumer, that’s not to say it’s easy to engage said users.  Pages must have a dedicated page manager to update posts, and content.  Content management by a third partly is also strongly recommended. Full Disclosure – I work at Buddy Media which provides these services.  I fully feel they are essential if you’re to engage with your users appropriately.  Management, and tracking of these activities will place your Brand ahead of the game.

Consider this: Branded Social Media Applications or App-Vertising campaigns, deliver six times the number of impressions that traditional banner display campaigns.  SIX TIMES!  Essentially what you get as an advertiser is an accelorator.  Applications surpass banner placement on social networks.  When utilizing an appropriately designed, well thoughtout and appropriately implemented application a brand is paying almost 80% less for each engaged user than if they were to purchase display advertising on a social media network.  

1. Applications should have a fresh “hook” to them to facilitate viral growth

2. Don’t reinvent the wheel – if your current UI is loved by your users, request that your application developers replicate the look and feel

3. Give the users a reason to re-visit the application. Anything where they may be competing against friends always works. 

Rich Page, Poor Page – Not every Facebook Page is created Equal

Pages are becoming more and more an essential part of major brand’s Social Media Arsonal. Facebook has recently allowed brands to increase the breadth and depth of information available on said pages. Essentially these pages (if developed and tracked properly) can become micro-sites assisting in all marketing efforts for a brand. They’re easily modified, appropriately engaging, and at times can become the central hub of information or PR for major brands. 

Because you cannot track how many “fans” you have on your page, brands should look to alternate ways to track success of a page.  Firstly, ALL brands should have a page presense. If you don’t I can almost guarantee that one of your customers has already taken the liberty of starting a fan page, and or (worst case) and negative page about your brand.  Once your page has been launched, your message and voice conveyed appropriately you must of course have a media dollars to help support the page. If you build it, unfortunatly they don’t always come. 

• Number of Fans
• Active Users – Total users that interact with your page over a specfic time frame, usually per day, week, month. 
• Fan Profile – mining the information about the fans of your page can offer optics into a consumer base you may have never tapped into before.
• Unique user reach – percentage of those users that have become a fan among the total social media audience (or calculated as active page users per audience)
• Growth – Average numer of users within a specific time frame
• Influence – Average number of friends among each “fan” of your page
• Number of pages your fans are also fans of

Tweetliers – Why Twitter Has Already Changed Marketing

Yesterday Will Akerlof posted an article on MediaPost titled “Twits: Why Twitter Won’t Change Marketing” I thought perhaps the title was a bombastic contrarian comment to suck the reader in. I was wrong. Mark feels that in a couple of years we’ll look at Twitter as

another online flash in the pan that the press and digerati got all excited about until they found the next new thing.

 Finally he compares Twitter to a Ponzi Scheme Stating:

One could argue that social networks operate like Ponzi schemes. They require rapid growth to maintain interest and draw more users. There is inevitably a point where growth is limited by the size of the potential audience and the appeal of the service. When growth slows and the shine of newness fades, the network begins to wither and die

Here’s my comment I posted

While twitter may not be the final iteration of the micro-blogging/social media sensation, the power of twitter lies in the “changing of the game”. Those that are participating in Twitter realize that they can leverage, and influence large numbers of like minded people. Ask Gary Vaynerchuk – (350,000+ followers). He owns a wine store in New Jersey, and rates wine on his online Vlog. He has the wine industry shaking, and is leveraging the power of Twitter. This type of influence is hugely impactful for marketers. To say that Twitter may be gone in a few years is possibly true, but that’s not to say that this type of social interaction will be gone along with it. This is word of mouth on steroids. If you look at it as if we were growing in the social sphere along the same line as in Maslow’s hierarchy, we have yet to come to self actualization. Twitter may take us there (obviously currently they are not), but what they are allowing people to do is to become experts, and receive esteem from their peers and to contribute in a community. Your post is well written, and obviously well thought out, but I’d recommend perhaps getting more involved in Twitter before passing judgment. I personally didn’t see the point until I fully immersed myself. Yesterday I found a solution from my followers regarding how to remove a stain from a marble counter, shared images from a car wreck on the Saw Mill Parkway to warn other travelers, and passed on a great vacation deal that lasted only 48 hours. Twitter works…for now. Ponzi schemes offer perceived reward. Twitter has already given back with human interaction and information sharing. Final thought – you should follow me @cdessi

here is Mr. Akerlof’s reply

Christopher: I appreciate the argument that I really just need to know Twitter better before I understand the value. I’ve only been using Twitter for a couple of months. I did go over to @garyvee on Twitter and in the first 3 pages of his tweets, don’t see any about Wine. It’s all random comments and a thread about his book on marketing. I think this proves my point about Twitter being an echo chamber. If the proof of Twitter’s success is that there is a man who has had success selling a book on having success using Twitter. I believe you, but I am not convinced it’s a new marketing paradigm.

I appreciate Mr. Akerlof’s contrarian view, and I commend him for sticking to his guns and offering a thoughtful, and gracious response to my comment.  I still disagree with him.  Again, I’ll state that Twitter may not be the savior here, but what it has done is shine a light on the fact that the game is changing and that marketers must evolve or die.  This instead of saying this isn’t your father’s marketing: it’s more like – this isn’t the marketing you did 2 years ago. The world has changed, Twitter is the Tipping Point.

What’s the Difference Between Widgets and Social Media Applications?

I keep hearing this question, so I thought I’d attempt to offer some brief insight:

Applications are platform-specific. (facebook or myspace). Widgets can function on any site that accepts external content. This includes social networks, blog platforms, start pages, desktop platforms personal web sites –

Widgets can function differently on different platforms. So for example a widget may not fully integrate with a specific social network, or deliver varying degrees of integration with a social network like accessing an using certain social data. The benefits of Widgets are that they encourage connectivity, self-expression or collaboration think – GAMES – TOOLS – INTERACTIVE CONTENT

Applications tap into sharing and data via a social network like facebook or myspace via friends, locations etc.

Twittershouldhireme.com and the controversy thereof

Last Monday I was let go from my position as Vice President of Sales and Business Development at a publicly traded company. Tuesday I woke up and decided that I would put the wheels into motion to follow my heart instead of my wallet while looking for my next position.

I wanted to be a part of the web 2.0 social marketing community and began to seek sales roles at companies that fit the description. Where better to start my journey than the kings of social – Facebook.com? I love Facebook and saw that they were hiring. I applied for a Sales Director role.

Enthralled by Social Marketing I began to test my knowledge and see if I could leverage the medium to help my search. I dove headfirst into Twitter and began scanning for like minded individuals. I quickly discoverd @jamievaron and her site www.twittershouldhireme.com.

I was amazed by her ingenuity. I immediately decided that I would start a “copy cat” site called www.facebookshouldhireme.com. I purchased the URL and implemented via Godaddy.com. I was thrilled. I shared the link with my friends and family via Facebook.com (where else).

A day later Facebook.com respectfully declined my application.

Ouch.

Well, not so fast. Personally, I think the whole experience was phenomenal, I also think Jamie is fantastic.  That’s mainly why I’m writing this post = I’m a bit disheartened to have read the following article today titled:

Why TwitterShouldHireMe.com is a bad idea

By Heather Huhman

The author notes 6 reasons why. I’d like to defend my position as well as Jamie’s and respond to each point.

1. She’s pigeonholded herself.

Regarding @jamievaron I disagree.  The only companies she may have alienated are most likely companies that she wouldn’t like to work for.  I’m sure the guys at Digg think she’s creative and interesting.

Regarding@cdessi I really disagree. I have a masters degree in Marketing, and I’ve been in online sales for 11 years.  I’m not supposed to be able to produce a site like www.facebookshouldhireme.com. As I attempt to make the jump into the social marketing space this can only help.

2. She’s coming off desperate.

@jameivaron – I think she comes off as articulate, creative and passionate.  She’s asking for the job of her dreams. I don’t think that’s desperate at all. I admire her for it.  She’s young. It takes some people a lifetime to articulate what it is that they’d love to do.

@cdessi I was 🙂 (sort of)  The economy is horrible, and I need a J O B.  Why not work someplace I love and get there in a creative way? After 7 days being unemployed, luckily I’ve already been given an offer. I’ve been boring my entire career – what the heck. I have a home, a wife, and a baby girl to provide for, I’m sure nobody will fault me for trying.  My personal brand has already been damaged by two lay-offs due to economic conditions in one year.  I have nothing to lose and everything to gain by the exposure.

3. She’s stereotypical Generation Y

@jamievaron – No way. No way at all.  The stereotype does exist, and I’ve experienced in some of the team members I’ve managed.  This young lady has initiative, creativity and a passion.  The stereotype smacks of entitlement.  An entitled stereotypical Generation Y would have been offered a job at Twitter and then would complain to anyone that would listen when Twitter announces they can no longer offer free breakfast because of the economy.  Her site is an omage to Twitter. Not to her.  She’s pledging her undying love and affection for a company that has become a part of her life.  I’d hire a young woman like her in a second.

@cdessi – Hmmm..I’m generation X – I wonder what this says about me?  Maybe that the game has changed, and the normal procedure doesn’t apply?

4. She’s unprofessional –

@jamievaron – I’m 34 and I’ve reported to 28 year old millionaires that show up at work in jeans and an Ed Hardy T-shirt. They negotiate million dollar deals via IM.  Professional has been redefined in the Web2.0 world.  If she walked in with a suit on and a brief case she wouldn’t fit into the culture at Twitter. The site is designed for  Micro Bloggin. It isn’t GE.  She’s being appropriately and refreshingly herself.

@cdessi – see above.

5. She’s controversial, and therefore a risk.

@jamevaron She’s part of a generation that has been posting personal photos of themselves on Myspace, facebook, friendster and the like since they were in their teens.  Their whole lives have unfolded online and shared with their entire world.  Considering the people she’s appealing to are her contemporaries I hardly think they’ll find this site controversial.

@cdessi – For me – a 34 year  – perhaps this could be a dangerous move.  Again I’ll reference my two lay-offs in less than a year as a liability as well, but sometimes the contrarian is the guy that’s most innovative in the board room.  I’ll take that risk.

6. It’s been done.

@jamievaron – This is way off.  Facebook wasn’t the first social site.  Twitter may be the first micro blogging site, but I’m certain it’s not the last.  To say that @jamievaron’s “angle” is never going to be reproduced is silly.  I’m sure you’ll see even better iterations on her idea. Done with more flare, perhaps to an even more controversial effect.

@cdessi – I’m sure this idea will be replicated (hopefully with better results than mine) 🙂  I’ve seen stories on executives standing on street scorners.  This will be replicated and built upon as the economy continues to worsen and people need to find more creative ways to distinguish themselves.