.jpg)
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Why do people unfriend companies
Here's a great graphic on why people turn away from brands on social media. The top reasons are predictable: too many posts, repetitive content, too much marketing without enough good information. Companies, however, are much more likely to be shunned on email than in social media.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Google Adwords or Pay Per Click
I've now talked with several people who have stopped me when I've mentioned the term "adwords" or they've simply gotten that confused look that most people reserve for the Swedish directions that come with Ikea furniture. Other's confuse adwords with metatabs or SEO. So, here's your one-minute explanation.
Google adwords are words or phrases that prompt your listings or ads come up in the search page of Google. This is also called Pay-per-click advertising because you typically, well, pay... per... click through to your site. It gets complicated in that you have to bid on the word or phrase in an auction to determine the rank of the sponsored listings. Click through rates are typically 8% for the first listing, 5% for the second and it goes down from there.
Along with the auction, the order is also determined by Google's quality score. The search-engine system calculates the quality score on the basis of historical click-through rates, relevance of an advertiser's ad text and keywords, an advertiser's account history, and other relevance factors as determined by Google. The quality score is also used by Google to set the minimum bids for an advertiser's keywords. The minimum bid takes into consideration the quality of the landing page as well, which includes the relevancy and originality of content, navigability, and transparency into the nature of the business. Confused yet?
There is also an art to finding the right keywords to get the most visitors to your site. That will have to be for another day.
Google adwords are words or phrases that prompt your listings or ads come up in the search page of Google. This is also called Pay-per-click advertising because you typically, well, pay... per... click through to your site. It gets complicated in that you have to bid on the word or phrase in an auction to determine the rank of the sponsored listings. Click through rates are typically 8% for the first listing, 5% for the second and it goes down from there.
Along with the auction, the order is also determined by Google's quality score. The search-engine system calculates the quality score on the basis of historical click-through rates, relevance of an advertiser's ad text and keywords, an advertiser's account history, and other relevance factors as determined by Google. The quality score is also used by Google to set the minimum bids for an advertiser's keywords. The minimum bid takes into consideration the quality of the landing page as well, which includes the relevancy and originality of content, navigability, and transparency into the nature of the business. Confused yet?
There is also an art to finding the right keywords to get the most visitors to your site. That will have to be for another day.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Changes to your Facebook page
Changes is inevitable. Online it's constant. Facebook is changing its format and anyone with a facebook page, which is everyone by now, will soon see them.
•Increase on the character limits on status updates from 500 to 5,000
•Added floating top navigation bar
•Gave users the ability to edit the left hand navigation menu
•Hid the poke button
•Streamlined the Birthday notifications feature
•Removed the ability for users to add custom messages to friend requests
•And don’t forget friend lists, introduced last week
The biggest update to the platform, however, is without a doubt the redesigned newsfeed section. With this update, Facebook has further defined and developed their relevancy algorithm. Now, the default newsfeed page has been redesigned to include a split stacked single column feed instead of two single column tabs.
The first, and primary section is for top stories, a contextually optimized feed which contains the “top” stories that were posted since the last time you logged into Facebook. These top stories are selected using Facebook’s EdgeRank algorithm, which can now be more easily refined thanks to the addition of a top story toggle button on the upper left corner of top posts.
What do these changes mean for brands?
1. These changes are like a filter to get what people want
2. Brands will game the algorithm. This is the next SEO.
3. It will be harder to get fans and keep them interested.
4. Companies will make rich content, like photos and video on their updates.
5. This type of content will get bigger.
6. Updates will reach for not only news but a higher level of engagement
Don’t panic. As with every major Facebook update, you’ll have to make some changes to your strategy. It will take marketers some time to catch up with these changes. But they will, and the savvy brands will ultimately become stronger and better at generating engagement on Facebook.
•Increase on the character limits on status updates from 500 to 5,000
•Added floating top navigation bar
•Gave users the ability to edit the left hand navigation menu
•Hid the poke button
•Streamlined the Birthday notifications feature
•Removed the ability for users to add custom messages to friend requests
•And don’t forget friend lists, introduced last week
The biggest update to the platform, however, is without a doubt the redesigned newsfeed section. With this update, Facebook has further defined and developed their relevancy algorithm. Now, the default newsfeed page has been redesigned to include a split stacked single column feed instead of two single column tabs.
The first, and primary section is for top stories, a contextually optimized feed which contains the “top” stories that were posted since the last time you logged into Facebook. These top stories are selected using Facebook’s EdgeRank algorithm, which can now be more easily refined thanks to the addition of a top story toggle button on the upper left corner of top posts.
What do these changes mean for brands?
1. These changes are like a filter to get what people want
2. Brands will game the algorithm. This is the next SEO.
3. It will be harder to get fans and keep them interested.
4. Companies will make rich content, like photos and video on their updates.
5. This type of content will get bigger.
6. Updates will reach for not only news but a higher level of engagement
Don’t panic. As with every major Facebook update, you’ll have to make some changes to your strategy. It will take marketers some time to catch up with these changes. But they will, and the savvy brands will ultimately become stronger and better at generating engagement on Facebook.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Trial by technology OR the frustrations of set-up
Technology is growing leaps and bounds daily. It's amazing to see. It's fun to experience. It's brutal to set some of it up.
So much of technology is trial and error. These days training is rare and to learn the tricks of the trade, many times, you just have to dive into the trade. It's not easy. Tonight, I've spent an hour trying to get a RSS feed to automate. The software doesn't seem to want to accept the feed URL. Not easy. Yet, once I get it to work, every part of this business' social program will update once the blog is updated.
The answer is I keep working at it, learning as I go. I look up references. I ask friends and mentors. I experiment. Success will be sweet. Until then, I just have to deal with the bitter taste of defeat. Once I learn from my mistakes, the next time around will be a breeze.
So much of technology is trial and error. These days training is rare and to learn the tricks of the trade, many times, you just have to dive into the trade. It's not easy. Tonight, I've spent an hour trying to get a RSS feed to automate. The software doesn't seem to want to accept the feed URL. Not easy. Yet, once I get it to work, every part of this business' social program will update once the blog is updated.
The answer is I keep working at it, learning as I go. I look up references. I ask friends and mentors. I experiment. Success will be sweet. Until then, I just have to deal with the bitter taste of defeat. Once I learn from my mistakes, the next time around will be a breeze.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
How Social Media Picked The Last Presidential Nominees
As I've said before, I'm taking a class to get a certification in Social Media. This week, we went over a timely case study of one company and how they predicted the outcome of the 2008 Primaries well by looking at how the candidates used Social Media.
At the time, the leaders for the Democrats were John Edwards and Hillary Clinton. For the Republicans, Mitt Romney and John McCain held the public's attention. So, the social media company created a grading criteria to track the candidate's social media use. The candidates were graded on 1. Awareness 2. Publicity and 3. Importance.
They installed the SEO Quake plugin on each candidate's site to tell them the page's rank on Google, how many pages Google ranked and how many other sites are linking to the site. Then they looked at the Alexa Ranking, which is how many unique users are going to the site and how much time they're spending on the site.
They also used SEO Digger to find how many times the site comes up in the search engine searches. They also looked at how many videos were made about them, the number of friends, the number of blogs writing about the candidates, the use of Twitter. They also looked at how many emails they were sending out (probably asking for money).
From this they saw in August before the primaries that Obama and McCain would win their primaries. You may think this was a fluke or coincidence. Could be. But they then predicted Obama winning over McCain using these analysis.
Analytics are powerful. In the last race, social media was a major influencer. In this election, it's even more powerful. It can be powerful for you too. You just need to keep up with it or pay a content specialist to keep up with it.
At the time, the leaders for the Democrats were John Edwards and Hillary Clinton. For the Republicans, Mitt Romney and John McCain held the public's attention. So, the social media company created a grading criteria to track the candidate's social media use. The candidates were graded on 1. Awareness 2. Publicity and 3. Importance.
They installed the SEO Quake plugin on each candidate's site to tell them the page's rank on Google, how many pages Google ranked and how many other sites are linking to the site. Then they looked at the Alexa Ranking, which is how many unique users are going to the site and how much time they're spending on the site.
They also used SEO Digger to find how many times the site comes up in the search engine searches. They also looked at how many videos were made about them, the number of friends, the number of blogs writing about the candidates, the use of Twitter. They also looked at how many emails they were sending out (probably asking for money).
From this they saw in August before the primaries that Obama and McCain would win their primaries. You may think this was a fluke or coincidence. Could be. But they then predicted Obama winning over McCain using these analysis.
Analytics are powerful. In the last race, social media was a major influencer. In this election, it's even more powerful. It can be powerful for you too. You just need to keep up with it or pay a content specialist to keep up with it.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Stats from my Social Media Class
I'm taking a class from University of San Francisco to become certified on Social Media and Google Keywords. These stats were given by the teacher and social media guru, Jim Kukral.
1. 60% of people interact with companies with a social media presence
2. 93% say companies should have a social media presence
3. 85% say a company should interact with customers via social media
4. 56% feel better served by companies with a social media presence
5. 43% say a company should use social media to solve customers' problems
6. 41% say a company should use social media to solicit feedback from customers
What does this all mean. Social media is now as mainstream as any media. It's now the "obvious" media.
1. 60% of people interact with companies with a social media presence
2. 93% say companies should have a social media presence
3. 85% say a company should interact with customers via social media
4. 56% feel better served by companies with a social media presence
5. 43% say a company should use social media to solve customers' problems
6. 41% say a company should use social media to solicit feedback from customers
What does this all mean. Social media is now as mainstream as any media. It's now the "obvious" media.
Friday, January 6, 2012
My Social Media Resolutions
2. I will read more about new trends. This one goes along with...
3. I will use pipes.yahoo.com to aggregate all my RSS feeds and save some time. I need to know more about their tools
3. I will try to create better content that drives traffic.
4. I will discover and use at least one new social media site.
5. I won't rely on the "5 best" types of posts that EVERYONE uses on their blog.
6. I will retweet more.
7. I will redo my website. I also say this every year.
8. I will change up the podcasts I listen to and maybe even create more audio and video files for this blog.
That's enough for now. I'm already exhausted. Happy 2012 everyone.
Friday, December 23, 2011
Content Marketing
I've been a copywriter for the last 15 years, creating ads, radio spots, newsletters, advertorial, articles, tv commercials, power points, web sites, blogs, brochures, white papers and even annual reports. I just found out there's now a term for everything I've written in the past: Content Marketing.
According to Wikipedia:
Content marketing is an umbrella term encompassing all marketing formats that involve the creation or sharing of content for the purpose of engaging current and potential consumer bases. Content marketing subscribes to the notion that delivering high-quality, relevant and valuable information to prospects and customers drives profitable consumer action. Content marketing has benefits in terms of retaining reader attention and improving brand loyalty.[1]
So, here's 5 rules that I've had for "Content Marketing" even before there was a Content Marketing.
1. Keep writing. Even if you can't think of anything. Keep writing until something comes.
2. Speak in the voice of the Brand. When I taught copywriting at The Portfolio Center and Creative Circus, the first mistake beginners had to learn to avoid was only writing in one voice.
3. You get points off for gammer, I mean grammer, and spelling. I hate it, but it's true.
4. Even if your audience are only tax attorney's, try to make it understandable for everyone. It widens your audience and even the tax attorney's appreciate it. Trust me.
5. Rewrite. You may think it's brilliant after you've stopped typing, but give it a second or day and then reread it. You'll end up rewriting as well.
According to Wikipedia:
Content marketing is an umbrella term encompassing all marketing formats that involve the creation or sharing of content for the purpose of engaging current and potential consumer bases. Content marketing subscribes to the notion that delivering high-quality, relevant and valuable information to prospects and customers drives profitable consumer action. Content marketing has benefits in terms of retaining reader attention and improving brand loyalty.[1]
So, here's 5 rules that I've had for "Content Marketing" even before there was a Content Marketing.
1. Keep writing. Even if you can't think of anything. Keep writing until something comes.
2. Speak in the voice of the Brand. When I taught copywriting at The Portfolio Center and Creative Circus, the first mistake beginners had to learn to avoid was only writing in one voice.
3. You get points off for gammer, I mean grammer, and spelling. I hate it, but it's true.
4. Even if your audience are only tax attorney's, try to make it understandable for everyone. It widens your audience and even the tax attorney's appreciate it. Trust me.
5. Rewrite. You may think it's brilliant after you've stopped typing, but give it a second or day and then reread it. You'll end up rewriting as well.
Friday, April 29, 2011
PetSmart's Facebook Photo Contest
Photo and video contests were popular on our roundup of featured Facebook campaigns this week. Virgin America, PetSmart and Tourism New Zealand each used a variation on that theme. Meanwhile, film director Peter Jackson used his official Facebook Page to promote a film not due out until next year, Warner Music is set to create a virtual world for one of its featured artists and a Tblisi, Georgia-based bank is using Facebook to engage its customers when they’re out of the store.
Below is a recap of PetSmart's campaign:
PetSmart’s Just Doggin’ Around Photo Contest and Sweepstakes
Goal: Engagement, Network Exposure, Page Growth, Product Purchase, Brand Loyalty
Core Mechanic: The Just Doggin’ Around Photo Contest and Sweepstakes allows users to submit photos of their dogs, use their networks to get friends to vote for their photo, and have a chance to win prizes.
Method: The contest is Like-gated, so users first must Like the PetSmart Page, then submit photos of their dogs caught “doggin’ around”, with a brief description to enter the contest. Entrants may win a daily drawing, one of 9 runner-up prizes or the grand prize. The runner-up prizes include gift cards, pet apparel or a dog makeover, the grand prize is a four day, three night trip to Miami, Florida where your dog can stay at a per spa, plus a cash prize and more merchandise. Daily winners win $50 gift cards to PetSmart.
Perhaps one of the best things about this campaign is that the branding is wound through and through the contest. Not only with the prizes, the Like-gating of the promotion, but also the promotion directs users back to PetSmart services, such as providing grooming tips for your dogs (PetSmart provides this service. When a user participates in the promotion a feed story with a thumbnail is published to the stream.
Impact: The Votigo-powered promotion ran from March 28 through April 24, the Page’s total Likes recently numbered 245,6500 and entries total about 10,100. Multiply that 10,100 by the network exposure every time someone voted or uploaded a photo and PetSmart likely received a lot of exposure for their money on this particular promotion.
Below is a recap of PetSmart's campaign:
PetSmart’s Just Doggin’ Around Photo Contest and Sweepstakes
Goal: Engagement, Network Exposure, Page Growth, Product Purchase, Brand Loyalty
Core Mechanic: The Just Doggin’ Around Photo Contest and Sweepstakes allows users to submit photos of their dogs, use their networks to get friends to vote for their photo, and have a chance to win prizes.
Method: The contest is Like-gated, so users first must Like the PetSmart Page, then submit photos of their dogs caught “doggin’ around”, with a brief description to enter the contest. Entrants may win a daily drawing, one of 9 runner-up prizes or the grand prize. The runner-up prizes include gift cards, pet apparel or a dog makeover, the grand prize is a four day, three night trip to Miami, Florida where your dog can stay at a per spa, plus a cash prize and more merchandise. Daily winners win $50 gift cards to PetSmart.
Perhaps one of the best things about this campaign is that the branding is wound through and through the contest. Not only with the prizes, the Like-gating of the promotion, but also the promotion directs users back to PetSmart services, such as providing grooming tips for your dogs (PetSmart provides this service. When a user participates in the promotion a feed story with a thumbnail is published to the stream.
Impact: The Votigo-powered promotion ran from March 28 through April 24, the Page’s total Likes recently numbered 245,6500 and entries total about 10,100. Multiply that 10,100 by the network exposure every time someone voted or uploaded a photo and PetSmart likely received a lot of exposure for their money on this particular promotion.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Here's a topic I know we all need. How do we get more done with what seems to be less time. I know that almost everyone I know says they are twice as busy as they were two years ago. Why is that? Here's Sean Malarkey's solution.
In the last few months I have been using Google docs to make my todo lists. It is awesome tool to keep all of your to-do lists in one place and also to delegate tasks to other team members.
If you like simple solutions – you’ll like my method.
This short video shows you exactly how I do it.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Facebook Fan Page tips for business users. Or the Fan Page cheat sheet.
Remember main goal of the page and ask yourself before posting if the post is on topic.
Leave a little room for fun. Your fans will enjoy it if it doesn’t overwhelm the reason they fanned you in the first place.
Delegate a project ownership, if you don’t have time to post continuously.
Give the page a username for unique and memorable Facebook URL (facebook.com/“brandname”). Go to facebook.com/username – select your page from “My Pages” and then apply for username. MAKE SURE YOU’RE NOT SELECTING FOR YOUR PERSONAL PAGE. Then double check, because you can’t change it. Maybe even have someone watch you do it, really.
Don’t forget there may be a larger community discussing your category, you can join and post there, too. Feel free to post respectfully.
Monitor daily at best. Weekly at worst. Set alerts so you know when someone has written on your wall.
Facebook should only part of your online presence. Use it to capture fans and then drive them to deeper content on a blog, connect on Twitter, and promote video on YouTube. But, most importantly, they need to be moving toward business goals.
Use other online vehicles to recruit Facebook fans including links on your homepage, ads, promotions and other social media sites.
You are only a small reason your fans are on Facebook. Be respectful and don’t over-promote or you risk losing them.
Put fans first. Consider what is valuable to them and link to it or post about it.
Consider promoting others on your page who have done something significant in your area.
Listen, converse, energize, help, support, or embrace are six things you should ask if your post do.
Keep things as positive as possible.
Promote offline and integrate with other marketing materials. (Example: Put that unique URL on your ads.)
Respond to comments.
Thank people for becoming fans.
Ask people to use the “share” button if it’s a particularly important post.
Ask fans what they think about a subject or post, when appropriate.
Consider using apps to give your fans something interesting to do.
Promote real-world events. This connects online and offline.
Facebook isn’t just for kids anymore – consider that FB is getting more mature, less edgy. Don’t treat fans like kids.
Put a fan box on blog and site.
Take notes. Make an Excel spreadsheet with stats. (Don’t rely on Facebook to store your data.)
Occasionally use Fan Page as focus group and consider giving a prize for participation.
Track fans. See if you have people leaving or coming. Try to figure out why.
Frequency is key. You can’t ignore fans and expect them to stay interested.
Leave a little room for fun. Your fans will enjoy it if it doesn’t overwhelm the reason they fanned you in the first place.
Delegate a project ownership, if you don’t have time to post continuously.
Give the page a username for unique and memorable Facebook URL (facebook.com/“brandname”). Go to facebook.com/username – select your page from “My Pages” and then apply for username. MAKE SURE YOU’RE NOT SELECTING FOR YOUR PERSONAL PAGE. Then double check, because you can’t change it. Maybe even have someone watch you do it, really.
Don’t forget there may be a larger community discussing your category, you can join and post there, too. Feel free to post respectfully.
Monitor daily at best. Weekly at worst. Set alerts so you know when someone has written on your wall.
Facebook should only part of your online presence. Use it to capture fans and then drive them to deeper content on a blog, connect on Twitter, and promote video on YouTube. But, most importantly, they need to be moving toward business goals.
Use other online vehicles to recruit Facebook fans including links on your homepage, ads, promotions and other social media sites.
You are only a small reason your fans are on Facebook. Be respectful and don’t over-promote or you risk losing them.
Put fans first. Consider what is valuable to them and link to it or post about it.
Consider promoting others on your page who have done something significant in your area.
Listen, converse, energize, help, support, or embrace are six things you should ask if your post do.
Keep things as positive as possible.
Promote offline and integrate with other marketing materials. (Example: Put that unique URL on your ads.)
Respond to comments.
Thank people for becoming fans.
Ask people to use the “share” button if it’s a particularly important post.
Ask fans what they think about a subject or post, when appropriate.
Consider using apps to give your fans something interesting to do.
Promote real-world events. This connects online and offline.
Facebook isn’t just for kids anymore – consider that FB is getting more mature, less edgy. Don’t treat fans like kids.
Put a fan box on blog and site.
Take notes. Make an Excel spreadsheet with stats. (Don’t rely on Facebook to store your data.)
Occasionally use Fan Page as focus group and consider giving a prize for participation.
Track fans. See if you have people leaving or coming. Try to figure out why.
Frequency is key. You can’t ignore fans and expect them to stay interested.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Window Into Your Company
My grandmother and I used to tour the department store windows on Madison Avenue. We'd love to look at the elegant displays and the glamorous products they were selling. They had style. They also told you everything you needed to know about the company without having to say a word.
Your website is a window into your company. Just like the displays on Madison Avenue, before a client or customer reads a word, they tell that person who you are.
Whether it's as spare as Google's landing page, as busy as cnbc.com, the look tells the vistor whether you are easy to use (like Google) or full of information (like CNBC). It gives a personality and intangible qualities to your company. Look at Target.com, Macys.com and LizClaiborne.com. What do these sites tell you about their company and what they stand for? These companies have windows in New York and on the net. It's just how they use them that's different.
What this means to you is look at your site and think about the messages you're getting just through the design and headlines. Most people spend less than 10 seconds per site. So what's the takeaway in three blinks of the eye?
Whether it's as spare as Google's landing page, as busy as cnbc.com, the look tells the vistor whether you are easy to use (like Google) or full of information (like CNBC). It gives a personality and intangible qualities to your company. Look at Target.com, Macys.com and LizClaiborne.com. What do these sites tell you about their company and what they stand for? These companies have windows in New York and on the net. It's just how they use them that's different.
What this means to you is look at your site and think about the messages you're getting just through the design and headlines. Most people spend less than 10 seconds per site. So what's the takeaway in three blinks of the eye?
Friday, February 25, 2011
Social Media Factoids of the Week
Facebook
1. The average Facebook user has 130 friends.
2. More than 25 billion pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photo albums, etc.) is shared each month.
3. Over 300,000 users helped translate the site through the translations application.
4. More than 150 million people engage with Facebook on external websites every month.
5. Two-thirds of comScore’s U.S. Top 100 websites and half of comScore’s Global Top 100 websites have integrated with Facebook.
6. There are more than 100 million active users currently accessing Facebook through their mobile devices.
7. People that access Facebook via mobile are twice as active than non-mobile users (think about that when designing your Facebook page).
8. The average Facebook user is connected to 60 pages, groups and events.
9. People spend over 500 billion minutes per month on Facebook.
10. There are more than 1 million entrepreneurs and developers from 180 countries on Facebook.
1. The average Facebook user has 130 friends.
2. More than 25 billion pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photo albums, etc.) is shared each month.
3. Over 300,000 users helped translate the site through the translations application.
4. More than 150 million people engage with Facebook on external websites every month.
5. Two-thirds of comScore’s U.S. Top 100 websites and half of comScore’s Global Top 100 websites have integrated with Facebook.
6. There are more than 100 million active users currently accessing Facebook through their mobile devices.
7. People that access Facebook via mobile are twice as active than non-mobile users (think about that when designing your Facebook page).
8. The average Facebook user is connected to 60 pages, groups and events.
9. People spend over 500 billion minutes per month on Facebook.
10. There are more than 1 million entrepreneurs and developers from 180 countries on Facebook.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
What Social Media Rarely Does
Social Media will not lead to instant clients. If you are looking to put up a Facebook page and get instant clients, well good luck.
There is an old marketing adage that says a consumer must come into contact with your brand seven times before he of she will make a purchase. That’s what your social media CAN do.
As Shama Hyder Kabani says in her book “The Zen of Social Media Marketing,”
Ideally the formula works like this:
CONSUMPTION OF CONTENT + TIME = CLIENT
Time is a variable. Some people may buy right after sampling your product or service. Others may need much longer.
Newsletters, calls, webinars, emails, ads and websites are all influencers for that first purchase decision. Once they have made that move, it’s your offering that will make them clients.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Webinars, Webexes and other Webbed Presentations
In the last few weeks I've decided to jump into the deepend of the webinar pool. I've helped produce three webinars now. The one on H1N1 was particularly fun. At first, I found that it was a really cool, new media that plays to a very diverse audience. This week, however, I realized that the "new" word doesn't apply.
There are dozens upon dozens of companies doing webinars. For those of you who haven't gotten your webinar doctorate yet, a webinar, Webex or online presentation is basically a PowerPoint presentation given over the computer. It can be on any subject and there is a webinar on just about everything out there, from rocket science to science fiction. What's great is that it has an unfettered potential for reach.
Here are some of the traits the best webinars have in common:
1. They don't just read the slide (this one applies to any presentation).
2. They use fun graphics, humor and charts to make it as visual as possible.
3. They have a theme and an outline. Nobody likes to listen to someone rambling.
4. They give critical information and not just a sales pitch of where to pay for critical information.
5. Most important, there is call to action and follow-up.
Here are some of the worst traits of webinars I've seen:
1. They start slowly. Start with a bang or else your audience is already checking their inbox.
2. The speaker isn't flexible enough to make it interactive. Don't just answer questions at the end, use questions.
3. Roll with it. If a slide doesn't advance or if there's an issue, just keep going. If you spend a whole minute stopped, trying to figure out the program, you've lost your audience.
4. Practice. Show the presentation to an internal audience so if you stumble it's not in front of possible clients.
5. Energy, energy, energy. Your audience can't see you. The only way for them to stay engaged is through your energy and passion.
There are dozens upon dozens of companies doing webinars. For those of you who haven't gotten your webinar doctorate yet, a webinar, Webex or online presentation is basically a PowerPoint presentation given over the computer. It can be on any subject and there is a webinar on just about everything out there, from rocket science to science fiction. What's great is that it has an unfettered potential for reach.
Here are some of the traits the best webinars have in common:
1. They don't just read the slide (this one applies to any presentation).
2. They use fun graphics, humor and charts to make it as visual as possible.
3. They have a theme and an outline. Nobody likes to listen to someone rambling.
4. They give critical information and not just a sales pitch of where to pay for critical information.
5. Most important, there is call to action and follow-up.
Here are some of the worst traits of webinars I've seen:
1. They start slowly. Start with a bang or else your audience is already checking their inbox.
2. The speaker isn't flexible enough to make it interactive. Don't just answer questions at the end, use questions.
3. Roll with it. If a slide doesn't advance or if there's an issue, just keep going. If you spend a whole minute stopped, trying to figure out the program, you've lost your audience.
4. Practice. Show the presentation to an internal audience so if you stumble it's not in front of possible clients.
5. Energy, energy, energy. Your audience can't see you. The only way for them to stay engaged is through your energy and passion.
Friday, December 17, 2010
The Twitter Police
There's actually such a thing now. Check out this article from the Seattle Times Newspaper:
SEATTLE —
Seattle police say their new effort to publish stolen car information on Twitter has helped recover a car.
Police say a woman called 911 on Tuesday night to tell them the location of a previously tweeted stolen Honda Civic. An officer recovered the car and notified the owner.
Earlier this month, Seattle police announced they would begin publishing the color, year, make, model, body style and license plate of stolen cars on a Twitter account dubbed "Get your car back."
Police say the average number of cars stolen per day in the city has risen from 8.46 last year to 9.9 this year. The department reports that 3,011 cars were stolen through October.
The department encourages Twitter followers who spot stolen cars to call police.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
LinkedIn No-Nos
In every field there is jargon that everyone says, but seems so unnatural outside that realm. Corporate America is full of them. I hate when things are "socialized," "run up the flag pole," or "gone through the approval process." And whever uses "drink the Kool-aid," just stop. LinkedIn has just released the "Top 10 overused buzzwords" used in profiles.
Among the 85 million profiles on LinkedIn in the U.S., the most overused buzzwords are:
Among the 85 million profiles on LinkedIn in the U.S., the most overused buzzwords are:
Extensive experience (But it's so alliterative!)
Innovative (Jonas Salk was innovative, not you)
Motivated (If you have to tell someone you're motivated...)
Results-oriented (i.e., you consider the means to those ends...ahem..."flexible".)
Dynamic (Let me be the judge of that.)
Proven track record (Use this AND "extensive experience" in the same profile, and I will hunt you down.)
Team player (Which means you're not.)
Fast-paced (If that includes talking fast, pass.)
Problem solver (Are you suggesting my company has a problem that needs solving?)
Entrepreneurial (Rube Goldberg was also entrepreneurial...)
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
To Understand Small Healthcare Marketing I Look At Big Healthcare Marketing
When a doctor has only 10 minutes per patient, how many minutes do you suppose he has for his blog. So, to look for case studies I had to forgo the small business and look to the bigger ones--the insurance companies. The one that first came on my radar is Anthem Blue Cross / Blue Shield.
So what is the company doing in the social media arena? The health insurer is piloting a program to use Twitter to identify members with possible questions or concerns about health benefits. Twitter lets Anthem communicate and stay connected through quick, real-time conversation, and respond to each tweet about Anthem. The AnthemHealth account on Twitter has 225 followers, and includes messages to members complaining about long hold times, customer service complaints, and complaints about cancelled coverage.
Also, ever wonder why so many celebrities are pushing their Twitter account. It's because they get paid. Anthem is also working with reality show celebrity Bob Harper of the TV program, The Biggest Loser to provide information on healthy lifestyle through Twitter at Harper's account, BobHarperAnthem, which has 12,191 followers. That's quite an extended reach.
"Tools such as Twitter and Facebook provide an additional means of communicating with our members and all consumers in the communities we serve in a way that's convenient and of interest for them," said Anthem president Larry Schreiber in a statement.
The company also is using Facebook as a forum for it's members. On YouTube they are showing Bob Harper videos and
On the Anthem Facebook page, the company is looking to provide a forum where members can interact with Anthem and each other. Though, neither of these seem to be getting many visitors. The facebook page isn't integrated with the company page and only has a few hundred visitors and the You Tube videos don't have many views.
SO WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR YOU?
Any company can do this type of program on a smaller scale. Look for someone local in your field with a lot of followers on twitter. They don't even have to be that popular. Someone on facebook with 500 friends, that you partner with, still has 500 people that you wouldn't ordinarily be reaching. Perhaps a small partnership where you pay a few hundred for say a dozen posts over a year, could reap you more reach and views than most listings on a traditional source.
The other case studies I looked at an may report on in the future are the University of California San Francisco Medical Center and Mayo Clinic. Both organizations are using social media to connect with patients.
So what is the company doing in the social media arena? The health insurer is piloting a program to use Twitter to identify members with possible questions or concerns about health benefits. Twitter lets Anthem communicate and stay connected through quick, real-time conversation, and respond to each tweet about Anthem. The AnthemHealth account on Twitter has 225 followers, and includes messages to members complaining about long hold times, customer service complaints, and complaints about cancelled coverage.
Also, ever wonder why so many celebrities are pushing their Twitter account. It's because they get paid. Anthem is also working with reality show celebrity Bob Harper of the TV program, The Biggest Loser to provide information on healthy lifestyle through Twitter at Harper's account, BobHarperAnthem, which has 12,191 followers. That's quite an extended reach.
"Tools such as Twitter and Facebook provide an additional means of communicating with our members and all consumers in the communities we serve in a way that's convenient and of interest for them," said Anthem president Larry Schreiber in a statement. The company also is using Facebook as a forum for it's members. On YouTube they are showing Bob Harper videos and
On the Anthem Facebook page, the company is looking to provide a forum where members can interact with Anthem and each other. Though, neither of these seem to be getting many visitors. The facebook page isn't integrated with the company page and only has a few hundred visitors and the You Tube videos don't have many views.
SO WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR YOU?
Any company can do this type of program on a smaller scale. Look for someone local in your field with a lot of followers on twitter. They don't even have to be that popular. Someone on facebook with 500 friends, that you partner with, still has 500 people that you wouldn't ordinarily be reaching. Perhaps a small partnership where you pay a few hundred for say a dozen posts over a year, could reap you more reach and views than most listings on a traditional source.
The other case studies I looked at an may report on in the future are the University of California San Francisco Medical Center and Mayo Clinic. Both organizations are using social media to connect with patients.
Friday, December 3, 2010
The FDA At Work With Boring Podcasts
ER, Grey's Anatomy and MASH definitely make medicine seem flashy, exciting and funny. Then you get the information produced by the AMA and FDA and you realize how really boring it is. Why do a podcast if your goint to make it sound like the one titled: FDA Drug Safety Podcast for Healthcare Professionals: FDA recommends against the continued use of propoxyphene.
I think it's great that professional and science groups use social media to express themselves. But being a science based organization doesn't mean you have to be a boring organization. Add some production and personality to your blog, podcast or videocast.
For a good example listen to this podcast on autism at: http://www.medicinenet.com/audio/doctorsonhealth/autism1.mp3. I admit it's not Howard Stern, but at least it's got some interest to it.
I think it's great that professional and science groups use social media to express themselves. But being a science based organization doesn't mean you have to be a boring organization. Add some production and personality to your blog, podcast or videocast.
For a good example listen to this podcast on autism at: http://www.medicinenet.com/audio/doctorsonhealth/autism1.mp3. I admit it's not Howard Stern, but at least it's got some interest to it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
