Category: Social media

A Succinct Explanation of Social Media

Facebook… Twitter… Foursquare… Youtube. Each has its place in the social media universe.

The folks at EPICponyz are here to help you cut through the thicket. Click here for a description of how the same event could be reported on six different social media sites.

 

__________________________________________________________________________________

Email Phil Bernstein here.

Like what you’re reading? Sign up for Phil Bernstein’s free advertising and marketing e-newsletter here.

Become a Facebook Fan of “Doctor” Phil Bernstein, Portland’s Advertising Expert  here.

Old Spice Guy Wins, Using the Only Score That Matters

After a flurry of reports that the viral hit “Old Spice Guy” campaign had resulted in a sales drop, some more numbers are in. Brandweek reports that:

According to Nielsen, sales of Old Spice Body Wash—the line touted in the Wieden + Kennedy-created campaign—rose 11 percent over the past 12 months and since the effort broke in February, sales seem to be gaining momentum.

Over the past three months, sales jumped 55 percent and in the past month, they rose 107 percent, also per Nielsen. Recent sales figures from SymphonyIRI  also show a lift for Old Spice Body Wash products.

The initial “sales drop” story came from 52-week scanner data released by SymphonyIRI. However, says Brandweek, data measured since the campaign launched on February 21 show  definite increase, with a significant jump in the four-week period ending July 11.

Viral status and sales do not always match up, but in this case it appears that the Old Spice Guy has done his job.

This pleases me, since I now have an excuse to embed this in my blog:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xd-xFRT1azE]

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Got a question? Wanna argue? Email Phil Bernstein here.

Sign up for Phil Bernstein’s free advertising and marketing e-newsletter here.

Become a Phil Bernstein Portland’s Advertising Expert Facebook Fan here

Google Adwords as Job-Hunting Tool

With a son about to graduate from college, I find myself reading articles on job-hunting that I might have otherwise skipped. CNN.com reports on  copywriter Alec Brownstein, who tapped into the power of Google Adwords:

While Googling some of his favorite creative directors, he came up with a brilliant self-marketing campaign.After noticing there were no sponsored links attached to their names, he purchased ads from Google AdWords. Then he designed a personalized ad for each executive with a link back to Brownstein’s own site.

Whenever anyone Googled one of the five names, his ad would pop up as the top result. He was counting on them doing what we all do from time to time: Googling ourselves. And guess what? That’s exactly what happened.

Advertising, Claude Hopkins once wrote, is selling in print. Brownstein, who had copywriting talents to sell, identified his target and figured out a way to cut through the clutter of resumes and human resources departments — delivering  his sales message directly to his prospects. Did it work?

Within a couple of months, Brownstein was interviewed by all but one. Two of the four offered him a job. The total cost of the entire campaign at 15 cents a click –a mere $6 to make a dream come true.

The full CNN article also profiles a woman who used Twitter to land a PR gig, and a guy who found a job at Amazon via Second Life.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Got a question? Wanna argue? Email Phil Bernstein here.

Sign up for Phil Bernstein’s free advertising and marketing e-newsletter here.

Become a Phil Bernstein Portland’s Advertising Expert Facebook Fan here

Social Media as Time Suck: Godin and Pastis Nail It

Pearls Before Swine

For about a year — from mid-2008 through about mid-2009 — I made a concerted effort to use social media to boost my online presence. I tended to my profile on LinkedIn, and participated in its “Answers” forum. I added a Facebook Fan Page. Put up a profile on Biznik. Tweeted regularly. And, of course, blogged several times a week.

My hope was that with a more robust online presence, potential clients would find me, learn about me, enter into a dialog with me, and spend money with me.

What I didn’t count on was all the easy time-wasting that went along with it — checking my blog stats, following links on Twitter, answering tweets. It was fun, but it was also a great way to feel like I was working when I was doing anything but.

Also, as near as I could tell, I didn’t make a dime on any of it.

In the past couple of weeks, I’ve encountered a couple of interesting takes on the phenomenon. Stephan Pastis’ “Pearls Before Swine” (above) and the passage below from Seth Godin‘s new book, Linchpin.

If you sat at work watching Hawaii 5-o reruns, you’d probably lose your job. But it’s apparently fine to tweak and update your Facebook status account for an hour. That’s “connecting to your social graph.”

Don’t even get me started on Twitter. There are certainly people who are using it effectively and productively. Some people (a few) are finding that it helps them do the work. But the rest? It’s perfect resistance, because it’s never done. There’s always another tweet to be read and responded to. Which, of course, keeps you from doing the work.

At the beginning of the year, I dropped just about all of it.

I’m now slowly dipping my toe back in the water, for one simple reason:  on some gut level, I believe Bill Gates would write me a large check if only he knew who Phil Bernstein was, and I need to give him an opportunity to find me.

I’m still going to ignore Twitter (this blog goes there automatically), but the blog is now back two or three times a week, I’ll answer the occasional question on LinkedIn, post an occasional link on my Facebook Fan Page, and declare victory.

What say you? Is social media really generating a measurable return for you? Or is it just a giant time suck?

Post your comments below.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Got a question? Wanna argue? Email Phil Bernstein here.

Sign up for Phil Bernstein’s free advertising and marketing e-newsletter here.

Become a Phil Bernstein Portland’s Advertising Expert Facebook Fan here

Pitfalls of Social Media Marketing

During my presentation/interview at the Northwest Business Virtual Summer Conference, Tom Cochrane asked me what the big difference is between marketing with social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc) and using the traditional sources such as TV, radio, and print.

I replied that there has always been something of a “contract” between the audience and old media — radio listeners get their content at no charge, and in return accept the fact that advertising is part of the landscape. Same for newspapers and television: the information arrives either at no charge or heavily subsidized.  Although there is more interaction than there used to be, the content is still “consumed”, and must be paid for somehow.

The fundamental difference with social media, I told Cochrane, is that people use it to communicate with each other, and do not expect to be pitched to. Even though Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace are essentially free services at this point, the users, rightly, or wrongly, have a different set of expectations.

Since making those remarks, I’ve encountered a couple of good posts that expand on the topic:

At Marketing in Progress, Brett Duncan takes on the Twitter spammers:

It saddens me to see so many people constantly posting tweets and Facebook updates that go something like this:

  • Brand X is helping me lose 10 pounds a week. It can help you, too. CLick here . . . .
  • If you want to make $1,000 this week on the Internet, I have what you need.
  • Want to earn what you’re worth? Sign up with Brand X. Ask me how.
  • I get 300 followers a day. Go here to find out more.

Nobody gets on Twitter looking for crap like this. There’s nothing “social” about using social media as your own advertising medium.

And The Digital Marketer offers counsel on how to avoid damaging your social media reputation.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Check out Phil Bernstein’s Facebook Fan Page — and become a Fan – here

Click here to learn the shocking truth about Phil Bernstein

Click this link to subscribe to Portland’s Finest Advertising and Marketing Blog.

Request your free copy of Phil Bernstein’s white paper, The Seven Deadly Advertising Mistakes and How to Fix Them here.

Got a question? Call Phil Bernstein, Portland’s Advertising Expert, at 503-323-6553.