Social Media Sites Creating a Smaller World for Businesses

According to an article in the The New York Times 3-28-09, Facebook will register its 200,000,000th user this week. Taking into account that just eight months ago Facebook celebrated their 100,000,000th user, the growth is staggering.

I wonder if Mike Zuckerberg, Facebook's 24 year old CEO, even has time to consider the ramifications of such a rapidly growing social media site? With a million new users every day from all over the globe, what will Facebook look like five years from now?

With online translating tools, the decline of language barriers, and the speed of information exchange online, the biblical symbol of the “Tower of Babel” seems to be melting away.

As more people connect in cross-continental romance, idea exchanges, and commerce online, I don’t think anyone can predict the full extent of globalization we’ll experience over the next decade.

Facebook has a goal of being used by everyone in the world to share information seamlessly. While 200 million out of 6 billion is a tiny number, it will be interesting to see where the number of Facebook users is at another eight months from now.

Whether it is Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, or a new Google application – I think one thing is certain; companies that have been watching from the social media sidelines need to dive in now to compete effectively.

One of the blogs I’ve been reading lately is Jaffe Juice; if you are looking for a great idea exchange about conversational marketing, I highly recommend checking it out.

Time to go update my Facebook status. . .

Marketing. . . Where does it all begin?

Marketing. . . Where does it all begin?

Where does a good marketing strategy begin? Well, I guess that depends on how we define strategy. But in a perfect world, here is my off-the-cuff-rough-sketch of my view of a good business/marketing set up.

Company: People of Integrity, Passion, Intelligence and like-minded values form a company. The company has a strong leadership team and the best employees available. Hire people that share common goals, vision, incentives. . .

Consumers: The Company gets to know their target audience(s) really well: what they need, what they want, how they go about finding information to fill their needs and wants, where they hang out and tell their friends about how they get their needs and wants met, etc.

Products and Services: After finding what the consumer wants, the company develops the *best products and services to fill those needs/wants. *best can be in value, price, or quality

Branding: Develop a brand linked to company values, consumer wants, and the products and services that the Company offers. Make sure the brand is true to who you are, and resonates with consumers. Don’t guess.

Training: Train your staff to live the brand.

Marketing*: Develop a comprehensive marketing strategy and series of plans that use a blend of push, pull and conversational marketing tactics/plans/strategies. Marketing must be linked to ROI. In today’s age, the best (successful) companies are tapping into cutting edge or even bleeding edge technologies and methods. Blending social media, word-of-mouth marketing, direct mail, radio, TV, (other traditional media outlets relevant to the target audience). *Disclaimer – this is an off-the-cough-rough-sketch, feel free to chime in with your ideas and edits bloggers.

Measurement: Track responses to marketing elements (each individual outlet and call-to-action) and associate the number of responses with actual dollars saved, earned or lost. In the best case scenario it looks something like this: consumer A calls because they saw postcard C to buy product Y and after the advertising costs and man power were factored in brought the company $40,000 profit.

Tweak: Tweak the marketing plans for the future based on results, segments, new products, new challenges, new competitors, new buying habits, new anything. . .

Openness: Be open to new ideas and solutions. Listen to critique and invite the “red ink”.

Ongoing Customer Service: When you screw up, listen to your customers and fix it.

Never say, “I have it all figured out”, the second you do, somebody else will figure out something better. At least that has been my experience. The times I’ve lost to my competition are when I’ve had my guard down. I’ve lost, not just in marketing or sales but also in soccer, debate team in college, paintball, chess and poker. I’m not saying business is as simple as playing a game, but it is a lot more fun when I think of it that way.

On that note: if you read this blog – I invite your input and “red ink”. . .

The Evolution of Web Space and the Impact of Internet Ghosts on Brands

Time travel may or may not be possible in the "real" world, but it certainly is possible online!

Tonight I was having a conversation with a friend about a Web site that I made in 1999 for my music endeavours, www.johnvalerio.com. I was lamenting that I couldn't access the site and would love to see that site again because I am building a new one, www.jdvalerio.com (not up yet).

She told me about the "Way Back Machine". Using the tool at this link, http://www.archive.org/index.php, I was able to input my old URL for www.johnvalerio.com and view my old site all the way back to 2001! This tool can take you to various Web site versions from different points in time. I've experimented with tools like this before for clients looking to redo their Web sites within the context of a re-brand, but our interactive staff usually do most of the research like this.

Tonight, I am having a ton of fun with this little "internet time traveler".

I've been playing with the "Way Back Machine" and looking at popular brand web sites like www.nike.com and www.starbucks.com

For a quick example try these links:
Before 2001: http://web.archive.org/web/20010505234435/www.starbucks.com/Default.asp?cookie_test=1
Today - 2009: http://www.starbucks.com/

I am loving this! I have always been a big fan of before and after case studies and this tool is perfect for that. However, this has prompted me to establish some new rules for my online activities:
1. Consider the future before posting, creating, etc.
2. Work to align behaviors and personality on and off stage, at work and off duty, online and offline (you never know who is taking pictures and sharing them at MySpace, Facebook, etc.)
3. Continue watching how brands, consumers and communities interact online
4. Learn, try, learn, try, learn, try

Actions always have consequences and it is good to be mindful of every action online and on offline.