Ventura and Company

Social Media in Time of Tornadoes

Most of us have seen or read about the role that social media, particularly Facebook and Twitter, played in the recent political revolutions in the Mid East. When oppressive governments shut down the traditional media channels, “social” channels rise to fill the void and keep people connected. The recent tsunami and nuclear incident in Japan is another example of people using social media to connect with others when traditional channels are down.

We can imagine that in distant countries, but we never imagine that happening here at home. Until last night.

As I write this, several states in the south are awakening to horrendous damage from a massive storm front that spawned more than 150 tornadoes across Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina yesterday afternoon and last night. Alabama and Georgia were particularly hard hit with 150 dead in Alabama and 13 lives lost in Georgia. Tuscaloosa, AL and Ringgold, GA were tornado epicenters.

Tornado damage in Spalding County, GA

I have many friends in the areas impacted by these devastating storms. Many of them are among the more than 1 million people across the south without power. No TV, no radio, no internet access – except by mobile device.

I was very fortunate. I live in the City of Atlanta and all we experienced was heavy rain and strong winds. I did not lose power.

I was on Facebook as the storms began, and as these social groups do, many of us were posting storm updates from local news or the Weather Channel. Then I began to get messages from friends asking for specific information for their area via Facebook as they could access Facebook from their mobile devices after they lost power.

For a couple of hours, I was glued to the TV weather folks, and posted away on Facebook. One couple, good friends of mine, were very near the path of a huge tornado several miles south of Atlanta. I was updating them using text messages. Suddenly, I got a text from them saying that they thought they heard a tornado pass their small farm. This morning, it appears that is the case.

That couple has some damage to their property, with trees and some fences down. They still have no power, but I’ve just been looking at photos of their property that they are taking and posting to Facebook with a smart phone. They are using Facebook to let their friends and family know that they are OK and can show the photos of their damage.

We are Facebook messaging back and forth as I type this, as my friends are asking for more info about the damage in their vicinity. They are posting more photos and their friends and family are checking in, grateful that they are OK.

Some lessons learned:

1) When bad weather is approaching, establish contact with friends and family using your social networks. If you lose power, use your friends to \keep you updated via social networks or text on your mobile device.

2) Make sure that your laptops and mobile devices are fully charged before the storm arrives.

3) Have a car charger for your mobile devices. If you are without power after the storm passes, you can recharge your mobile devices from your vehicle.

Our thoughts and prayers are with all those impacted by this horrendous storm.

What are your thoughts? Did you use your social networks to stay in touch during this massive weather event?

Posted by Mike Ventura |  Read More |  No Comments
Filed under: Facebook,Social Media

Your Customer is Telling You How They’ll Do Business

I recently attended a seminar focused on residential real estate and technology / social media. While the spotlight was on residential real estate firms, brokers and agents, the takeaways apply to any small or medium sized business.

One of the keynote speakers started her presentation deck with slides showing some well known brands: Blockbuster; Barnes & Nobel; Borders; Tower Records. Then she asked, “What do these brands have in common?”

Of course, the answer was obvious – they are all out-of-business, or on their way out. But, taking that to the next step, why? What happened to these businesses? The easy answer is “the Internet.” And that’s part of the answer, but we have to go a step further.

The Internet did not put these, and others (see: your local newspaper) out of business, but the Internet fostered a change in consumer behavior. No longer did you have to drive to the nearest Blockbuster Video store on your way home from work on Friday night to select a video for your “movie night.” And, you had to remember to return it on Sunday to avoid the late fee. A combination of NetFlix and on-demand services killed Blockbuster. You could get movies on the spur of the moment or via the mail, without ever leaving home.

Barnes & Nobel? That’s an interesting story. Not only did they not adapt to ecommerce, in this case Amazon, but they farmed out their meager online operation to Amazon for fulfillment! Doh!

iTunes? It made an entire manufacturing and distribution system irrelevant in about two years. ITunes was the demise of Tower Records and your local CD store. And, while they were doing that, they changed the music business paradigm. Music consumers no longer had to buy an entire CD full of songs to get the one or two cuts that they wanted, they could just download the cuts that they wanted.

The point of this is: consumer behavior has made a major shift to online. And it is causing online businesses like Amazon, Zappos, Expedia, hotels.com, eBay and others to garner bigger and bigger shares of the pie. Soon, these etailers will also threaten the brands that once ruled those retail spaces.

I watch my daughter, mother of two small children, order everything under the sun from Amazon while she touts the advantage of Amazon Prime, the one time-payment shipping option. I’m happy that Zappos made me a VIP customer and guarantees me overnight shipping at no additional charge to thank me for my business. I love ordering shoes at 10pm and having them on my doorstep by noon the next day. These businesses have created a relationship with valued consumers based on satisfying my needs to order whatever I want whenever I feel like it and to get it tomorrow.

As a marketer, you are not going to reverse this shift in human behavior. Consumers expect to be able to sit in front of their computer monitor at 10:30 at night in their jammies and find and buy whatever they want and have it show up on their doorstep tomorrow. What’s your strategy to maintain your market and serve the econsumer?

How has your consumer behavior changed due to online options?

Posted by Mike Ventura |  Read More |  No Comments
Filed under: Ecommerce,Web Strategy

T-Mobile Gets the “Social” in Social Media

Every so often, a client will ask us if we can produce a “viral” video. You know, the ones that are included in emails from your friends, or are posted on your friends’ Facebook walls. These videos often gain so many views that they are picked up by the mainstream media and become an overnight sensation, like the recent Keenan Cahill phenomena. I think that some marketers think that there’s a “viral”  button, just like the “Easy Button” in the Staples’ commercials. We produce the video, press the “viral” button, and Voila! the video is all over the web! It doesn’t quite work that way.

A very few marketers understand how to use video on the web. That’s unfortunate, because the use of video increases engagement on virtually every social platform. A video on a Facebook wall increases engagement three times versus no video.

T-Mobile is the head-of-the-class when it comes to understanding how to use video on the web! T-Mobile is in a product category (mobile phones / devices) where “cool” is major brand attribute. As a technology based company, their marketing message is created to encourage the use of their latest devices. Ergo, video that is now easily accessed on phones and tablets. T-Mobile has a history of creating videos and video events that go viral. In fact, they’ve created a brand, Life’s For Sharing, and applied it to their YouTube Channel. They’ve created events that have exploded virally across YouTube and other social platforms, like the Sing-Along in London’s Trafalgar Square in 2009 that included over 13,000 people and has been viewed over 5 million times on YouTube and other social platforms.

Recently, T-Mobile produced a spoof of the upcoming royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton that has racked up over 6 million views in a short time. Just this morning, six of my Facebook friends had shared it!

Watch the video, and follow below to see what made it go viral.

Here are some of the elements that caused this to go “viral:”

First, it’s very topical. We are being inundated with “Royal Wedding!” They tied in to an event that is getting massive press weeks before the event takes place. They don’t have to explain the concept or create a “set-up.”

Secondly, the production value is very high. Great casting for the principals – Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, Camilla, Prince Harry, Prince William and Kate. The setting, while not Westminster Abby, certainly contributes.

Third, it’s short. There’s a two-minute rule for video. This one runs 2:13. Any longer, and our mouse finger starts to twitch and we’re on to something else. Studies show a huge dropoff in video engagement right around the two minute mark.

Fourth, it’s fun!  Many people watch it more than once. That’s what causes it to go viral. People see it and want to share it with their friends.

Lastly, there’s no sales message. Just the T-Mobil do-dee-do-dee-do sounder at the end. T-Mobile doesn’t have to tell us that they are cool, we get that because they gave us the cool video. Lots of people have bookmarked the Life’s For Sharing You Tube Channel because they’ve come to expect entraining videos from T-Mobile. They’ve created a strong audience base for this and future productions. And, isn’t that what “social” is all about?

What do you think? Leave a comment below.

Posted by Mike Ventura |  Read More |  No Comments
Filed under: Social Media,You Tube
My Atlanta Moms on "Good Day Atlanta"

We launch “My Atlanta Moms” with FOX 5.

Moms – what’s not to love about them? We do! In fact, we’re so into “moms” that we are partnering with Atlanta’s FOX 5 TV to launch the ultimate “mommy blog.” It’s called “My Atlanta Moms” and you can access it at www.myatlantamoms.com.

Anchored by our four host bloggers, My Atlanta Moms allows Atlanta and North Georgia moms to share advice and opinions with other local area moms. It’s local moms with local opinions on local issues.

We’re not the only ones who love moms. Marketer’s do too! Why? Because the typical mom is responsible for more than 80% of the purchases for a typical family, and she’s usually buying for three or four people.

Moms blog. It’s the #1 social media activity for moms. There’s a reason. Blogs provide moms with relationships with other moms and allows them to share their experiences, provide an ear, trade information and create reassurance that she isn’t the only mom that has experienced that situation.

According to the 2009 Women in Social Media Study, 32% of all moms have a blog. Eighty percent (yes, 80%) of moms read a blog at least 2-3 times a week and 57% post or comment on a blog 2-3 times a week.

Atlanta is a great market for blogging and other social media. According to Forbes Magazine, Atlanta is the #2 “wired market” in the country in terms of broadband internet access. Georgia is the #3 state in the US in terms of percentage of the population with Facebook profiles, with over half of all Georgians on Facebook as of July of last year.

Atlanta’s FOX 5 understands the importance of moms’ use of blogging and social media. They’ve created a relationship with their popular locally-based morning show, “Good Day Atlanta” (airs Monday – Friday 4:30am – 10am) that will feature, from time to time, our host bloggers – Lorraine, Krystyn, Sojourner and Meghan – giving a mom’s perspective on the topics of the day.

We have some unique opportunities for select marketers to reach and engage Atlanta area moms on My Atlanta Moms. If you are a marketer and you’re interested, click over to the contact page and drop us an email.

And, if you are a mom (or a dad), take a look at My Atlanta Moms and join the conversation.

 

 

 

Posted by Mike Ventura |  Read More |  1 Comment
Filed under: Social Media

The Millenial Generation will change your business!

Who are Millennials? If you are a marketer, they are the generation that you need to learn about. There’s some discussion as to when the members Millennial Generation were born, but most demographers and sociologists place the date of the start of the Millennials between 1977 and 1982. That would make the oldest of this population subset between 27 and 34, and the youngest are still in their early teens.

Week before last, I attended conference focused on the residential real estate industry. The question that was posed was: “Will Millennials Save the Real Estate Industry?” Closing keynote speaker Travis Roberston, a technology and Millennial marketing expert answered, “No, but they will change the real estate industry!”

Travis is not a real estate person, but his perception of how Millennials think and act was a real eye-opener for those real estate professionals in attendance. The Millennials, for the most part, are children of the Baby Boom generation. Yet, they have their own distinct cultural and sociological traits. This is the digital generation. The grew up with current technology and take it for granted. Some of them delay the rite of passage that their parents navigated in their early 20s, much to their parent’s chagrin.

Nevertheless, they account for 38% of the current workforce, and within three years, will make up half of all workers in the US.

Listen to Travis Robertson talk about Millennials, and then ask yourself “How is this going to impact my business?”

Posted by Mike Ventura |  Read More |  4 Comments
Filed under: Millennials
cobra

A Slithery Trend

I cannot let this week go away without sharing my new favorite OBSESSION.  Yes, folks I am talking about @BronxZoosCobra.  I tend to be a little leery of the latest Social Media fad because they come and go so quickly.  But there was something about this snake that really drew me in.  In a short amount of time, this snake went from a local NYC issue to the newest, hottest and most infamous star coming out of the Northeast – and that is saying something, they have Snooki up there.  As I write this, I am happy that the Cobra was safely found and returned to her habitat, but am saddened that I won’t see any more tweets from her like this and this.

Personal entertainment aside, there is something we can learn from the tweets behind the snake and as a digital marketer I am incredibly impressed.  Ms.Cobra set Twitter records gaining 60,000 followers in the first day, growing to 100,000 the second day and finishing off at over 200,000 followers.  Twitter was the perfect platform to tap into the awareness of the loose snake and give it a personality.  I always stress that social success works if you are genuine and authentic.  Corporate speak fails on Twitter.  The snake’s tweets were entertaining, no agenda to push and no sales undertone. While we all knew about the Cobra, someone did an incredible job of giving her a personality and making her real.  They made the best use of conversation that is at the heart of any social platform’s success.  They were witty, funny and smart – which encourages the mighty Retweet (RT), which can help to drive fast growth of followers.

They were also able to take a local news story (as “local” as NYC is) and tweet about locations that were familiar to all of us and not just a small niche. I  have to wonder if NYC Tourism had something behind the tweets and soon we will all be able to take the “Cobra” Tour on our next trip to the big apple.  While zoo keepers and residents of the Bronx were wondering where the snake is, her twitter following was enjoying every morsel of her big adventure.  The well written tweets made the Cobra relatable – human in fact.

At Vco, we are always asked by brands and marketers, should we be on Twitter?  I always believe that you should use a medium by leveraging the strength of its capabilities to satisfy your goals.  While, Ms. Cobra did not have marketing objectives, she did leverage Twitter to its fullest.  She entertained.  She tapped into a national news story and gave it human emotion.  She had fun and did not try to push an obvious agenda.  She became viral.

So bravo @BronxZoosCobra!!  On your next adventure, how about some celebrity sightings in the Hamptons?

-Beth

Posted by Beth Ventura |  Read More |  No Comments
Filed under: Social Media

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