Ad Agency Social Media Training: Top 5 Questions Advertising Agencies have About Social Media Marketing

As advertising agencies continue to grow and evolve we do a lot of ad agency training to help them transition in to the digital and social media spaces.  All trends show both consumer attention and advertising dollars are shifting towards internet and digital marketing as well as social media marketing.

According to all projections internet marketing is projected to grow at around 10% over the next few years.  When looking at how consumers spend their time more consumers check Facebook each day than read a newspaper or listen to the radio (scary).

In training a number of ad agencies on social media marketing there are a number of questions that are frequently asked.

1) Is social media marketing really that important?

Some agency staff are still not  sold on the concept of social media as a tool for brand building.  I was recently asked if social media was a fad that might pass.  All signs show that social media is here to stay.

• There are now over 500 million people on Facebook – that is more than the combined populations of the US, Canada and Mexico.
• Consumers want to connect with brands.  The average  Facebooker is connected to over 60 pages/groups and events and over 88% of Facebookers are fans of at least one brand or business.
• 20% of all tweets reference a brand or business.

The reality is that brands and businesses are a part of our lives, and our social lives.  Not only are people using social sites but they want to connect with the brands they like on Social Media.

2) How do we create great social media campaigns?

This is a BIG question that can be answered in tens of thousands of pages.  But the simplest starting point is to get engaged yourself.  Engage in social media and digital marketing.  Look around at what different brands are doing.  Are there great executions in your industry? What do you think is good and bad about them? What brands engage you in social media?  Why are you interested in them?

Listening yourself and getting engaged is a great first step to “figuring out” social media.  In addition to that, many ad agencies are investing in training programs to help their staff see best practices and learn about how to harness the power of social media for businesses.

These are great first steps for traditional agencies looking to get up to speed with social media marketing.

3) Brands are increasingly going to smaller “social media” or “digital” firms. How do we get a piece of this?

The first step to winning social media business is to get your entire organization up to speed on social media marketing.  Excellent social media and digital campaigns are incorporated at the core of a campaign, and not “added on” after the fact.  Creating a solid level of digital kknowledge in your organization is the key to success.

Some agencies start by creating a “social media group” that people are assigned to.  Recruit great social media talent to evangelize and spearhead, but make social media a part of the fabric of the entire organization.

Traditional agencies have great creative talent, and creative is absolutely vital to a successful social media campaign.  When social media marketing started just showing up was pretty darn good.  There were only a few brands on twitter, and they got credit just for being there.

The bar is higher now.  Social media marketing requires a great creative idea that resonates with the target audience and is delivered in a way that is relevant to the medium.  Invest in your organization and you can win business.

4) Who should own social media in a company? PR or Marketing?

It isn’t the same answer for every organization, and there is plenty of debate.  Ownership should be determined based on the goals and objectives of the social media efforts and the core competencies of each organization.  Either way, both should play a role (and probably customer service too).

Marketing typically owns the overall brand strategy – equity, positioning and promotion of new products.  These are usually crucial elements in a social media program.  That being said, PR owns the external positioning of the brand and how they communicate with the public.  Customer service also plays a key role as the best suited to be on the front line responding to product questions or complaints.

The best strategy is one that includes all of these stake-holders (and probably others – like legal) each contributing in their area of expertise.  Brand should help identify the target audience, the brand character and overall strategy.  PR should own how the messaging is customized for “public” and external stake-holders and the overall positioning.  Again, these are only guidelines based on the typical roles of different departments.  The key to success in social media is to allow each function to contribute aligned with their area of expertise.

5) Who should execute social media? The brand internally or the agency?

This is a great question.  Again, there are multiple success models, but I think that the emerging trend is for internal to the brand community managers and agencies to work together.

Typically, someone on the brand team is best suited to manage social media on a day to day basis.  This ads credibility and humanity to the social media efforts.  For example – Donna from Brand X is more relatable than Sally from the agency.  In an age where people can do research and find out who you really are (on Facebook, LinkedIn, etc) it is best to leverage reall people vs. create characters.

That being said, the agency still plays a BIG role.  The agency should help create the social media assets (brand pages, twitter background and icon) and theme them.  What is the strategic purpose of each asset and what content will bring it to life?

Effective social media requires a strong content plan.  The agency can contribute to and bring to life a content plan that matches the brand strategy and character.  Also, in addition to the base social media many brands run “campaigns” on social media.  Like a Facebook contest, tweet promos, etc.  This is another example of where the agency comes in.  The agency can create and run social media promotions in addition to the base conversation and responding.

What other questions are you seeing ad agencies asking about social media?  Any additional perspective?

Mobile Web Market Share

Some marketing groups predict that by 2013 40% of web access will happen through mobile devices.  This is a dramatic shift in how web content is consumed.  Not just because it is changing from the web to mobile, but because mobile content is consumed differently.

Mobile internet access tends to include shorter and more frequent sessions vs. PC web access.  For example, on a mobile phone a user may browse the web 10 times a day for 5 minutes or less each time.  On a PC a user typically logs on once or twice a day for 20 – 40 minutes each time.  Since mobile web users have such short sessions the content needs to be designed differently.  With shorter sessions there is also less time for users to be lured away with ads.

In addition, there are limitations due to the screen size.  Smaller screen sizes means less room for advertisements.  Additionally content should be designed for the small screen and take advantage of the flexibility of touch screens.

Finally, applications are able to provide more efficient solutions to many traditional searches or web browsing sessions.  For example, if a mobile phone users is looking for a restaurant they may look for an application like Urban Spoon or Yelp.  On a PC a search for a restaurant would probably start with a search engine like google.

While the mobile web is changing the way we consume it is interesting to see the growth of web use and how different operating systems stack up.  Will the winner be iphones, android or blackberry?  The chart below for Quantcast shows Android is significantly gaining market share at the expense of the the apple operating system.

Only time will tell who the winner will be in the mobile operating system race.

Introducing Boot Camp Digital’s Video Podcast – First episode: FourSquare Part I

In Boot Camp Digital’s first-ever video Podcast, CEO Krista Neher discusses the popular location-based social media service, FourSquare.

Be sure to subscribe the Podcast through the Apple iTunes Store very soon.

SXSW Recap: Why it is THE place to be.

First, for those of you who are not familiar with South by Southwest (sxsw) – dubbed “Spring Break for Geeks” sxsw is one of the must attend events for those in the digital space.  While sxsw may be best known for music and film, the interactive component brings together all the best geeks to converge, network and make great ideas happen.  What makes the conference great is that it brings together marketing people, entrepreneurs, social media peeps, VCs, tech geeks, programmers, and all sorts of other people interested in technology and digital marketing.

As my good friend Steve Hall at AdRants points out:

But where else can you physically hang with so many people in the marketing/interactive/advertising/social/geek space all at once. Evan Williams. Kevin Rose. Bob Garfield (yes, I include him), Justine Ezarik, David Armano, Brian Solis, Henry Copeland, Gary Vaynerchuk, Chris Brogan, Violet Blue, Rick Webb, Ze Frank, Jason Fried, Guy Kawasaki, Pete Cashmore, Marshall Kirkpatrick, Jeremiah Owyang, Benjamin Palmer, Adam Pash, Jeff Pulver, Ian Schafer, Ariel Waldman, Adam Wallace. And, yea, Ashton Kutcher.

It is true.  SXSW has one of the best collections of people, and countless opportunities for networking, sharing ideas or just making friends.

SXSW is probably best known for the party scene, and while it may seem that partying isn’t work, the party scene is where some of the best connections are made.  My friend Lewis Howes (who I sadly hardly saw this year) points out that some of the best business is done at 2am (although I suppose that depends on how many drinks you have had).

During SXSW I had the opportunity to connect with many new and old friends.  For me, SXSW has resulted in 2 direct business opportunities and 2 opportunities to collaborate on projects with people I really respect.  I was also on the front page of the Thoora sxsw newsletter (above).  Next year, if you get the opportunity plan on joining us.

SuperBowl Commercial Recap

For those of us who aren’t into football, the superbowl is all about the ads #brandbowl #adbowl #sbads.

Millions of dollars are spent (this year it was 2.6 million for a single spot) by large and small brands, with creative execution highly scrutinized by superbowl fans.

This year, myself and Monika Roberts had the pleasure of posting our superbowl ad recaps and opinions in videos of the Museum of Advertising.

Monika has a creative background, and I have a marketing background, so our opinions on the ads were very different.  Here are my topline thoughts on the superbowl ads:

• Questionable Brand Value. Most of the ads that the creatives and ad agencies liked were hysterical (I the snickers spot) but I question if/how they achieved any marketing efforts.  The snickers ad was largely declared the winner (and it was hysterical), BUT are you going to buy snickers because they tackled old people? The best executions are those that can combine both the creative and the marketing objectives in a clear way.
• Not Enough Branding. Some of the ads had very little branding in them (ie. product shots or brand mentions).  The Flower Spot barely mentioned the brand name (I would bet most people thought it was for 1-800 flowers).  The Hotel spot with Chevy Chase also barely mentioned the brand name.  Even the squirrel car commercial didn’t have much branding – we had to look up what car the ad was for.  I liked the Doritos commercials a lot because they showcased the product as the hero – the brand was part of the humor.
• Boring Stuff – Yawn. Most of the advertisers were just plain boring.  The spot from GoDaddy was exciting and scandalous the first time.  Now it is just boring.
• No Calls to Action – There were only a few ads that provided clear calls to action.  While this may not have been a marketing objective for some brands, those that included calls to action will likely get better results.  I thought that the Dockers Free Pants promotion was great, and the Denny’s Breakfast spots hit the nail on the head with humor and relevance.  Even GoDaddy encouraged viewers to go to their site to see the rest of their spot.
• Where was mobile? I bet that over 75% of superbowl viewers had a cell phone within arms reach.  A mobile call to action could have been very successful for the superbowl.  Using the Godaddy approach (take action to learn more) brands could have had you text to win or to get the answer to a question or mystery.  Other than KGB (which is a mobile service) there were no mobile calls to action – big miss.

What do you think?  Who were the winners and losers and who actually achieved marketing success from their 2.6 million dollar spend?

You can see all of our videos here.

Social Media – Should your Intern do It?

This is a question that comes up over and over again.  I’ve even been asked to train interns at a University because their employers wanted them to “do social media marketing”.  Why was I training these youngsters who are supposed to know everything about social media and the internet?  Because they know how to use it socially, but not professionally.

It would be like asking the kid who watches the most TV at your office to “do tv advertising”.

The reality is that while younger people understand how social media works, they lack an understanding of how to use it strategically as a part of an integrated marketing strategy.  They know how to add friends and post photos, and sure they have probably even fanned a few brands.  But that doesn’t mean that they know how to represent your brand and drive business value online.

Marketers need to stop being intimidated by the technology.

Learning the technology isn’t hard.  It isn’t hard to create a facebook account, or even a page.  It isn’t hard to start a blog.  It isn’t hard to set up a twitter account.  The technology is the easiest part.  These sites are designed so that an average (or probably well below average) intelligence individual can use them.

The hard part is the strategy.  Who is the target market?  What are they interested in?  What can I talk to them about?  What will engage them and help me break through the noise and clutter?  How can I bring my brand equity and positioning to life?  What sites is my target on?  What opportunities are there for brands and marketers on these sites? Who in my organization should handle social media?

These are just some of the strategic questions that need to be answered.

Can an intern answer these?  Maybe.  Do they have training and coaching from an internal person who understands these things?  Is this similar to the way you handle other media?  Do you have an intern “figure out tv” or “tell us what to do with print”?

Social media is tricky.  It is new.  The rules change.  The downside can be big.

That doesn’t mean that you can’t tackle it correctly and strategically.

Don’t treat social media like the ugly duckling and pawn it off on the most junior person in your organization.  One of the biggest reasons that companies fail to see results from their social media efforts is that they don’t give it adequate attention.  ROI and results are there – and companies who do it right are benefiting from this.

I gave this answer at a presentation before, and someone in the audience asked if I was just trying to build my business by making it sound hard.

The reality is that I’m not asking you to think of social media or your digital strategy any differently than how you think of your other media.  Treat it the same way.  Be strategic.  Have a plan.  Execute consistently and with excellence.  Then you’ll see ROI.

Facebook Marketing – Getting the Most out of Facebook – The Circuit Cincinnati

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of presenting to the Circuit – an IT Networking Group based in Cincinnati.

I presented on Facebook Marketing – how to get more out of Facebook.

Most of the people in the room were on Facebook, but few were using it as a marketing tool.  Facebook can be difficult for marketers – figuring out the right ways to interact with potential audiences can be tough.  Facebook was created to facilitate social connections – not as a marketing platform.

Facebook is the #1 global social network and has over 300 million active users – 50% of whom logon to the site every day.  The Facebook audience is both active and committed to the network.

Prior to engaging in marketing your brand or company on Facebook:

1. Don’t be a dirty spammer. Be relevant. Use channels appropriately. Don’t annoy people.
2. Real world networking principles apply. Don’t immediately sell people. Don’t get in their face.  Like in the real world you will have no friends.
3. Give your audience something of value. People do you the honor of following you.  Repay them by giving them value.  It doesn’t have to be financial value either.
4. Know your target. Know who your target audience is.  If you fan page is comprised of your family and friends it probably isn’t very effective.  Come up with creative ways to engage with your target.
5. Focus on business value, not activity. It is easy to get caught up with tracking your activity – # of posts, # of fans friends and followers, etc.  The real question is what is the actual business value?

We then covered 4 key ways that brands can leverage Facebook as a part of their marketing strategy.

1. Create a Fan Page. This is the most popular way brands and companies are using Facebook.

• When you create a fan page build a content plan (what you will post when)
• Use photos and videos to engage – post yourself and encourage fans to post
• Provide valuable information
• Be a resource for questions
• Run a contest
• Integrate Facebook as a syndication and engagement platform for offline campaigns
• Use insights and analytics to track effectiveness and value

2. Create a Group – Create a group about something related to your product that people are interested in and passionate about.  Also, participate in relevant groups to get your brand out there.

3. Create an Event – Facebook events can be a great way to engage with your audience.  If you are having an event, creating a Facebook event increases your exposure and lets attendees see who else is going.

4. Facebook Ads – Facebook ads work best when they are targeted.  Target your ads as specifically as possible and you can get great results.

Any other thoughts or comments?

PubCon Las Vegas Presentation – Online Brand Management Issues

I had the pleasure of attending PubCon Las Vegas a few weeks ago.  Pubcon is a conference put on by webmasterworld covering internet marketing, affiliate marketing, search engine optimization, search engine marketing, social media, and pretty much anything to do with building a business online.

My presentation was on Online Brand Management.  I focused on why online brand management is important and how to respond to negativity in the social space (since this is an area that I usually get the most questions about).
See the presentation below.  Please share any thoughts/ideas or comments that you have – I’d love to hear them!

7 Mistakes Companies Make on FaceBook and how to Avoid Them

Facebook is big and getting bigger with over 300 million active users of which over 50% are active every day.

While Facebook is clearly an engaging platform for users to connect with friends, marketers have struggled with how to use the massive audience on Facebook to build their businesses.

Here are the top mistakes that companies are making on Facebook.

1. Not Starting with a Strategy

Where most people go wrong with Facebook is not starting strategically.  Like many social media tools (and any kind of marketing for that matter), a solid strategy at the outset is key to success.  Who are you trying to target, what is your message, how will you reach them and what is in it for them?

To Overcome This: Take time before starting the page to understand exactly who you are targeting and what your message is.

2. Focusing on the Number of Fans/Friends/Followers

Despite its lack of real relevance, many people focus on the number of fans or group members that they have.  Get over it.  I have met with a number of clients who have said “we need to get on Facebook because our competitor has X number of fans and we hardly have any”.  The number of fans doesn’t matter – it is how you engage them.

How to avoid this: Don’t let your manager use numbers as a key metric.  It isn’t difficult to get fans or followers, but it isn’t relevant.  Explain that a balanced approach helps measure what really matters based on your strategy.

3. Lack of Creativity

It isn’t just about creating the asset – the page, the event, the ad campaign.  It is about the creative execution.  To engage on Facebook you need to have a strong creative execution.  What is the content for the page? How does it ad value?  What is exciting or interesting for your fans/friends/followers?

A successful Facebook strategy requires a great creative execution – run contests, communicate with members, share photos and videos, do something interesting.

A great example of this is the Petcentric fan page – they have photo contests with voting that keeps fans coming back for more.

How to avoid it: Do creative brainstorming. Spend some time and energy coming up with an exciting creative plan for your Facebook assets.  Build a content plan.  Create promotions.

4. No Fan Engagement

Lack of creativity leads into the next point – no fan engagement. Many companies create a fan page, invite their friends or buy ads and then forget about the page.  An effective Facebook strategy actively engages fans.

To Avoid This: Build a content plan that is relevant and engaging to your audience.  What will you post when?  How will you engage and encourage your fans to post?  What is in it for them.  Build an engagement plan, not just a page.

5. Not Monitoring Discussions

Nothing looks worse than fan pages where the company is not active and responding to their fans.  Monitor your fan page for activity and respond to relevant questions or comments.

I was once on a fanpage where fans were questioning the company policy.  The company didn’t respond and looked weak.

How to Avoid This: Monitor your facebook page regularly and have someone who is empowered to respond on behalf of your organization.

6. Not Owning Your Fan Page

A number of companies have issues where their fan page is created and administered by an actual fan, and not the company.  The issue is that fans assume that fan pages are run by the company, and expect the company to play an active role.

While having a real fan own your page may not immediately present issues, you can’t predict when, why or how issues will arise.

How to Avoid This: Contact the fan who created the fan page and try to get the page back.  You can always work through Facebook, but that may upset the original owner (who is your biggest fan afterall).

7. Not looking at Analytics

Facebook fan pages now have insights and analytics.  You can see how engaging your page is.  This is a great tool to understand what is effective and to continuously refine and improve your Facebook fan page.

Analytics will help you understand what is working and what isn’t.

How to Avoid this: Look at analytics and make changes based on them.