Posts Tagged ‘social media marketing’

Twitter’s 140-character limit not enough? Try Woofer’s 1,400-character minimum

August 25th, 2009 • Fun, Publishing
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For anyone too garrulous for Twitter, please meet Twitter’s evil twin: the macroblogging site, Woofer.

While Twitter limits users to 140 characters per tweet, Woofer requires each post to have a minimum of 1,400 characters. Similar to Twitter, Woofer counts down the amount of characters you have inputted with a big number at the top right of the screen. But you’re not allowed to post anything until you hit 1,400, according to Network World.

While Woofer claims no affliation with Twitter, Woofer’s user interface is near identical to Twitter. Woofer challenges users to post a 1,400 minimum character requirement for public posts and see what people did with it. The site instructs users to “Be eloquent, use adverbs and DEA (don’t ever abbreviate).”

The farcical Web site is run by Join the Company, a small company in Washington, D.C., which specializes in launching “entertaining websites that change the way people use the Internet.”

For the most part, it appears “copy and paste” is the preferred method of Woofer users to reach 1,400 words. Some of the first woofs reached the minimum by reciting the opening paragraphs of Moby Dick, the Gettysburg Address and the Old Testament.

As of Tuesday morning, 1720 users had posted 2059 “woofs” –for a whopping total of 39,683,934 characters. If you’re wondering, that’s about 20,000 characters per woof.

Pssst…. Have You Heard the Buzz? Word of Mouth Continues To Grow Despite the Economy

August 25th, 2009 • Industry News, Word of Mouth
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In the midst of the worst economic and media recession in more than a quarter-century, Word of Mouth (WOM) marketing has continued to flourish despite ad spending cuts across most media.

WOM activities have played a bigger strategic role as marketers are seeking cost effective ways to engage in conversations with consumers. Word of mouth marketing is one notable sector that has bucked the trend and continued to grow, increasing 14.2 percent to $1.54 Billion in 2008, according to PQ Media.

WOM is still a relatively small sector, but growing fast. PQ Media estimates that WOM spending this year will reach $1.7 billion, up 10 percent from 2008, at a time when outlays in most of the key media sectors are down, reports Ad Week.

By category, consumer package goods marketers spend the most on WOM campaigns, accounting for more than 17 percent of spending in 2008, according to PQ. Other leading product categories were food and drink, finance, business-to-business services, electronics, telecommunications and retail, per PQ. The researcher said that the automobile sector likely would have been a top-five WOM category last year but for the financial woes that beset the industry. PQ projects that spending next year in the WOM sector will reach $1.9 billion, up 13 percent. For the five-year period leading up to 2013, PQ forecasts that annual spending will climb an average 14.5 percent, reaching $3 billion.

Why the surge in WOM? Ed Keller, CEO of the Keller Fay Group, a New Brunswick, N.J.-based market research firm that specializes in WOM, explains it this way: “The number-one way that consumers make decisions is through word of mouth. Brands realize that consumers are willing to engage with them in conversation, and they realize that they have no choice but to participate if they want to be a part of the consumer decision making process.”

According to research conducted by the firm, some 3.5 billion brand-related WOM conversations take place daily in the U.S.

OMG! Check UR Facebook Page B4 Big Interview

August 21st, 2009 • Human Resources, Social Networks, Studies & Research
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After months of searching for a new job, you’ve finally scored an interview for a position that doesn’t require you to say “Would you like fries with that?” So, when preparing for that interview, you start making a mental checklist: Resume? Check. Interview suit? Check. Removing “Girls Gone Wild” pics from your Facebook page? Uh oh.

According to a new study conducted by Harris Interactive for CareerBuilder.com, 45 percent of employers questioned are using social networks to screen job candidates — more than double from a year earlier, when a similar survey found that just 22 percent of supervisors were researching potential hires on social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and LinkedIn.

The study, which questioned 2,667 managers and human resource workers, found that 35 percent of employers decided not to offer a job to a candidate based on the content uncovered on a social networking site. (The survey has no margin of sampling error because it was not drawn from a representative nationwide sample but rather from volunteer participants.)

More than half of the employers who participated in the survey said that provocative photos were the biggest factor contributing to a decision not to hire a potential employee, while 44 percent of employers pinpointed references to drinking and drug use as red flags. The top examples cited include:

  • Candidate posted provocative or inappropriate photographs or information – 53 percent
  • Candidate posted content about them drinking or using drugs – 44 percent
  • Candidate bad-mouthed their previous employer, co-workers or clients – 35 percent
  • Candidate showed poor communication skills – 29 percent
  • Candidate made discriminatory comments – 26 percent
  • Candidate lied about qualifications – 24 percent
  • Candidate shared confidential information from previous employer – 20 percent
Recently, a British woman was publicly fired on Facebook for defaming her employer.
The woman, whose identity was blacked out on internet blog Applicant, reportedly vented her frustrations about her boss and workplace on her Facebook status, according to World News Australia.

After posting “OMG I HATE MY JOB!! My boss is a total pervvy (sic) wanker always making me do sh*t stuff just to piss me off!! WANKER!” she was immediately fired by her boss. Unfortunately, the now-unemployed worker had added her boss as a friend, allowing him, and all other co-workers see her status. The boss then proceeded to identify her day-to-day mistakes while ending the post with a notice of termination: “Don’t bother coming in tomorrow.”

What’s the lesson here? Social networking is a great way to make connections with potential job opportunities and promote your personal brand across the Internet but, if not used appropriately, can hurt your job search and can lead to job loss. Job seekers need to be mindful of the information they post online and how they communicate directly with employers. Just because social media is all about transparency doesn’t mean you have to be transparent in everything you do. Transparency comes with a cost — in some cases, losing a job.

Twitter Has Hollywood Quaking in Its Jimmy Choos

August 20th, 2009 • Industry News, Social Networks, Tools & Resources
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The weekend is almost here, so you decide that you want to go to the movies this Saturday. Do you make your movie pick based on advertising or do you ask a friend for recommendations?

Your friend, of course. And, as we know, the loose definition of “friend” now encapsulates social media peers. With the rise of social networking tools such as Twitter and Facebook, word of mouth now moves at the speed of an iPhone. Think about it – as soon as someone leaves the movie theatre he or she can tweet instant raves — or pans — to hundreds of people just minutes after the credits roll. This phenomena has Hollywood quaking in its Jimmy Choos.

Gone are the days when TV commercials and newspaper ads dominated movie marketing. According to Nielsen’s “Trust in Advertising” study, only 14 percent of people trust advertisements whereas 78 percent of people trust the recommendations of their friends. Empowered consumers now have a greater ability to influence companies, brands, and yes, even movies.

Studios are trying to gauge the impact of an avalanche of tweets and how it affects the staying power of a movie. This summer, movies such as “Brüno” and “G.I. Joe” have had unexpected tumbles at the box office — just within their opening weekends — while “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” survived blistering critical reaction to become a blockbuster, reports The Washington Post.

What’s the learning from this? Word of mouth — particularly with turbocharged social media channels – is a real and powerful force that can’t be stopped. Studios now have the opportunity to engage in conversations and directly engage with consumers. People want real-time news, and suddenly a studio can give it to them in a first-person way. Also, this may prompt studios to create quality movies instead of shoving garbage movies down people’s throats through aggressive marketing campaigns.

SEC Fumble: Social Media Ban Revised

August 19th, 2009 • Industry News, Legal Issues
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The Southeastern Conference (SEC) has been tackled by the very social media channels it has been trying to ban.

The Southeastern Conference told The Charlotte Observer that the conference is revising its restrictive policy on social media. Why? Because of the negative reaction in the media and on social media. Previously, the SEC wanted a conference-wide ban on social media, such as Twitter, Facebook, and TwitPic.

“I know what’s being written,” said SEC conference spokesman Charles Bloom. “The thought process is to get it loosened up a bit.” Bloom expects a revision to be finished in a day or two.

Bloom also told the Observer that the main concern is video. That’s perfectly understandable — if not enforceable — considering the conference has a $3 billion, 15-year deal with CBS and ESPN. While video will still be off-limits, it looks like tweets, Facebook status updates, and even pictures will be acceptable, so long as they are for non-commercial use.

In contrast, the Big 10 also recently released a social media policy, but invites fans to take an active part of games. With this policy, the fans win.

Artificially Inflating Twitter Follower Counts

August 17th, 2009 • Measurement, Social Networks
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According to Mashable, Twitter has moved to shut down marketers promoting ways to artificially inflate Twitter follower counts.

According a press release issued by uSocial, who markets products like a “$1,000 Twitter followers for $87” package, “Twitter has recently moved to [shut us down], by claiming [we're] ’spamming.’” uSocial takes issue with this claim, saying, “the definition of spam is using electronic messaging to send unsolicited communication and as we don’t use Twitter for this, the claims are false.”

Last week, Mashable received press release from uSocial that not only claimed that the company “sold” Twitter followers, it also highlighted the fact that they ignored a “Cease and Desist” order from social news site Digg for selling votes. Twitter moved swiftly to prevent this company from unethically inflating followers.

While it’s good to know that Twitter is cracking down on shady marketing companies, this also opens up another issue: How far will marketers go to inflate their metrics within the social media space? While those of us who work within social media channels understand that measurement/metrics differ from advertising (e.g., the quality of interactions, engaging with key influencers, sustained conversations over time), many traditional marketers adhere to the antiquated notion that “more is more” when it comes to the number of users. It’s not the number of followers/friends/fans; it’s the meaningful relationships built over time. Social media is a long-term strategy, not a quick fix.

The challenge is to educate traditional marketers to inform them that it’s not quantity that’s important within social media; it’s the quality — that is, communicating with audiences in an authentic, relevant and engaging way over time.

Watching TV while Online….

January 26th, 2009 • 1 comment Tools & Resources
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The folks at Ipsos Reid have confirmed what all parents of teenagers already know - when you are online, you are probably watching TV and listening to the radio also.

In fact, 44% of Canadians (and presumably, a similar number of multi-tasking Americans) say they are consuming other traditional forms of media while scouring the latest that the Internet has to offer. Further, a lot of folks don’t bother with traditional media at all, especially quick-to-be-out-of-date categories such as magazine (40% don’t bother with them).

Multi-tasking is only part of this story – the other part is that media with interactive & real-time characteristics is where the audience is. The more one-way and out-of-date the message, the less an entire generation of consumers is interested.

Recently, a lot of bleeding-edge folks have been getting their news from emerging micro-blogging sites, such as Twitter. Over here at com.motion we follow one particular Twitter-er who seems to beat CNN regularly.

Hold on to your hats, folks, media is changing.

Social Media Without Borders

January 12th, 2009 • 2 comments Uncategorized
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The one tricky thing about marketing and PR in this digital world is the globe-hopping nature of all those little blue links on web pages. For marketeers it is a bit daunting – one minute your target American consumer is visiting your carefully crafted microsite, and the next minute he or she is reading a review of your product by an Canadian blogger. There is a tremendous amount of “marketing message leakage” as campaigns in one country inadvertently reach consumers of digital media over the border. This leakage is especially true across the American / Canadian border. The leakage is so great it takes a misplaced “u” in the word color or a detailed evaluation of a clickstream to really spot an online Canadian.

This is a big deal for many brands where product offerings and regulatory restrictions differ tremendously: Auto, pharma, consumer goods – they all have this issue.

Social media marketing campaigns are a uniquely equipped to handle the nuances of today’s cross-border brand leakage. Because social media conversations are authentic, one-on-one conversations, you have the luxury of pointing individuals to the information (or messaging) that is most appropriate for them. For example, you could direct a young Canadian to US sources of Scion info in advance of the Canadian Scion launch, and notify them of the Canadian offerings when they occur. You could facilitate conversations between passionate brand Molson drinkers on both sides of the border (does it taste different, really?) to spark debate. Same for Gatorade – does Gatorade taste better in Canada because it is served colder?

It is with this opportunity in mind that today I’m excited to announce the launch of com.motion USA. And to make sure we tap the brightest minds we are setting up shop in Boulder, Colorado – the heart of Social Media USA.

com.motion USA’s goal will be to offer global brands the opportunity to embrace social media and inspire authentic conversations between real people. This is marketing in the 21st century.

I’ve been kicking around the social media industry for a few years, and have helped some of the largest global brands think about their social media strategies. (MicroSoft, Pfizer & Chrysler, to name a few.) I’m looking forward to talking with you.

Social Media – not just a Marketing Effort

January 9th, 2009 • Uncategorized
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One of the best things about managing social media pro-actively is that you get feedback from your customer and prospect.

However, one of the scary things about managing social media pro-actively is that your boss and everyone else in the organization also sees this feedback. And if there’s one thing that customer service people have known for a long time, it is that the loudest voices tend to be the malcontents. Ask Frank at Comcast.

So the key lesson here is that if you are a brand manager and sprinkle a little $$$ behind engaging in social media, you need to be prepared to play a new kind of corporate quarterback. You are going to get feedback that is relevant for your brand far beyond the walls of marketing and PR. Your VP of Customer Service, your VP of Product Development, your VP of R&D, your SVP of Investor Relations and your head of Operations are all going to be interested in the nuggets you uncover as you start to talk with and get to know your social media influencers.

A lot of marketeers are at least somewhat familiar with this from their market research work, but the feedback from social media is a bit less scientific, so when you go to your CEO and say “the sentiment on our brand shifted negative yesterday and the main theme appears to be Britney Spears” be ready for some raised eyebrows. Most organizations are not yet equipped to handle the kind of rapid and detailed feedback that social media relationships offer – but this is the opportunity. The social media world can be a great hub of information for myriad departments – and as the purveyor’s of great, relevant and timely information, they can become a powerful group.

So embrace the feedback, share it and manage it. Helping your organization get close to your customers is a really, really good thing.

Social Media and the Economy

December 10th, 2008 • Uncategorized
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The 2nd Annual com.motion-Pollara Social Media Barometer is now live.

Detail and analysis coming soon, but here are the topline results:

  • Despite the economic slowdown forcing marketers to modify their spending, 82 per cent of Canadian business leaders and senior marketers say they will spend as much or more on social media in 2009 than they did this year. That’s more than for any other marketing communications discipline, as seen in the table below.

  • Canadian business leaders say it would be a mistake to cut back on social and digital spending in tough economic times, with 7 in 10 recommending increased investment.

  • Facebook has established itself as Canada’s dominant social network. Among Canadians who use social media, 87 per cent say they have tried Facebook, compared with 33 per cent for MySpace and 13 per cent for Twitter.

  • Two-thirds of Canadians (65 per cent) say social media is an important tool for developing, maintaining and nurturing friendships, up from 52 per cent a year ago.

  • Two-thirds of Canadians (65 per cent) say social media tools are important for learning about products, services, organizations and brands, up from 59 per cent a year ago.



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What is com.motion?

com.municate + com.mit + com.pel = com.motion

com.motion [kuh-moh-shuhn] is a full-service, integrated social media and word of mouth (WOM) agency. We use social media channels and traditional marketing tools to drive bottom-line results. com.motion helps businesses and brands amplify their marketing messages through the effective use of online communications channels in the U.S. and Canada.

To learn more about how we can help your brand or organization, contact us.

Leadership Team

Lynn Eastep
Senior Vice-President, com.motion North America

With more than 15 years of digital communications experience, I've delivered award-winning and sophisticated marketing solutions for Fortune 500 corporations, major government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and household-name consumer brands. I ensure the successful execution of digital and social media business strategies to build profitability and grow market share on behalf of our clients. I stay abreast of relevant new technologies in the Web 2.0/social media space in order to contribute a point of view while remaining focused on ROI to drive the right message to the right people at the right time.

I'm connected to the industry and trends, intuitive about people, a strategic thinker with intense curiosity, an eclectic user of information, and an engaging storyteller with strong interpersonal skills. I’m a team player who is passionate, curious, positive, and courageous. I have provided senior-level strategic counsel for clients such as Nestle, Bayer, AT&T and Visa.

eastep [at] causeacommotion.com


Ed Lee
Managing Director, com.motion Canada

I’ve been working in or around the social media revolution since 2005 and I am grateful to be exploring this new media landscape with com.motion’s clients. As managing director, my role is to guide our clients through the use of new technologies and to provide innovative ways to engage their stakeholders online. Shiny new Web 2.0 toys are great to play with but our recommendations are always strategic and focused on reaching the right people, with the right message across the right channels.

lee [at] causeacommotion.com

I was interviewed with Bob Pearson on BNN about the importance of social media for business. Watch the video here:


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