360DigitalInfluence

Brands are notorious for announcing a new product months in advance prior to it being available to consumers. This usually means that only a few prototypes of the product are available so we can’t offer one to every loyal influencer for review. So how do we get influencers excited and talking about a product or service when it won’t be available for awhile?

Having been recently tasked with doing exactly just this, we wanted to build buzz and word-of-mouth before the announcement was made of an upcoming product.  Rather than the usual press release, images, video, screen shots, etc, we decided to use one of the available prototypes and actually show our influencers the product. However, with limited functionality and using one of the only few products in existence, we decided to conduct one-on-one briefings with the influencers via Skype. This would allow us to show the influencers an exclusive first look at the product in a controlled environment. Additionally, it finally put a face to a name both for us and the influencers whom we have been working with for awhile now.

The feedback from our one-on-one Skype demonstrations was resounding. One of our influencers said, “It is our opinion that it is so much better hearing/seeing the information opposed to just getting an email full of press or an envelope full of brochures. We give it two thumbs up!” Another influencer noted, “Using Skype is a great way to communicate with us bloggers. It is a great way to put a face to the name. As far as feedback, I think it was great.”

It was a win-win situation for the brand and the influencers as posts went up in advance of the press announcement and the influencers were able to get an early look at the new product.

If you’re considering introducing a new product via Skype, here are a few things to keep in mind:

1. Be Prepared - Similar to a traditional media briefing, be sure you are prepared with challenging Q&A, product features, price points, etc. Additionally, make sure you are familiar with how to use the product, especially if it is a prototype.
2. Cultivate the Relationship - While you’re Skyping to discuss the product, keep in mind the meeting is also about developing the relationship with the influencer.
3. Practice - Conduct a practice session with a colleague in advance to confirm the product shows well via video.
4. Follow Up - Ensure the influencers have all of the necessary assets and information to write about the product. Since they can’t physically see the product, they will need everything afterwards to share with their audience.
5. Have a Backup Plan - It is critical to have a backup plan in the event that your prototype doesn’t arrive on time, isn’t functioning or if your influencers don’t want to take the briefings via Skype.

Brian Camen also contributed to this post.

Many large companies have extended teams managing their social media strategy and community managers who interact with customers, but there are still many organizations, especially non-profits and small businesses that are just getting started. One question asked during my San Francisco Social Media Week panel presentation really stuck with me, “If I’m looking to hire someone to do social media on their own, what can I expect from that one person?” It seems like a straightforward question, but the answer really lays in the foundational building blocks of the organization. This brings me to the organizational challenges that all social media managers face:

1. Who is your executive champion? Do you have the right senior leader who will help cut through the organizational challenges and pave a path to success?

It will be challenging to gain traction for a social media program without an executive champion who is willing to prioritize social media appropriately against other marketing and communications initiatives. A champion can help ensure the social experience is integrated into all the other parts of the organization – customer care, marketing, product development – and that social has a place at the table. You’re not looking for an executive to create the strategy or execute the programs, but you are looking for a champion who is willing to be educated on how social media can augment other functional areas of the company.

2. Do you have the right “silo buster” as your social media lead?

Virginia Miracle has some great tips on Social Silo-Busting. I have found that the greatest predictor of success is looking for someone who has an entrepreneurial past and is not afraid of boundaries. It is crucial to find the right internal employee who can pivot into a new role as social media lead (maybe this person has a track record of gaining consensus on challenging problems) or to hire the right external person who can pull the right levers in your organization and bust silos. The social media lead should be prepared to give non-threatening advice to an executive who is much more senior but also, work closely with communications managers to execute on the strategic plan.

3. Once your social media organization is on track, how do you evolve beyond the Social Media Help Desk that Jeremiah Owyang discusses in his recent report (which Ogilvy 360DI participated in) and achieve Escape Velocity?

Social media organizations get more budget and credibility as they demonstrate results, but there is always that inflection point when you need to evolve from Social Media Help Desk and create an organizational structure that supports social media in a scalable and strategic way. Your social media leader’s entrepreneurial drive to make change happen and proactively adapt the organization will be the deciding factor in how your social media program evolves. This underlines the importance of finding the right leader who can build a social media organization through collaboration not coercion.

Earlier this month, I participated in the Gov 2.0 LA conference. According to Alan W. Silberberg, conference founder and organizer:

Gov20LA is a hybrid conference dedicated to enabling open thinking and positive networking around technology, government and people highlighting the global growth of Gov 2.0, as well as the merger points that exist now between it and mobile and enterprise.

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App fever is everywhere and healthcare certainly hasn’t been immune to its effect (um, puns intended). Early apps in the healthcare space tended to focus on dumping huge amounts of data into searchable dictionaries for everything from drug names to conditions and symptoms. Those were useful a small number of times, but for the average person they offered fairly little. Fast forward to 2011, and there are plenty of examples of a bright future for using apps in every aspect of healthcare, from taking a small role in treatment, to mobile screenings, to joining a network of people skilled in providing healthcare so you can be “on call” at any moment to save another life.

Here are just a few of the most interesting apps that are now getting popular and are worth paying attention to for anyone in healthcare marketing considering developing an app strategy of their own:

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There are more than 500 million active users on Facebook and the average user is connected to 80 pages, groups and events. With such a high amount of activity, a brand’s voice is key to breaking through the clutter and connecting with current and prospective brand ambassadors.

As I’m sure you have heard by now, last week Facebook announced changes to its fan pages. The changes have the potential to make a brand’s voice more prominent throughout Facebook. However, they may also create a challenge for brands on Facebook as well.

One of the changes to fan pages is that your brand can now like and leave comments on other brand pages. This will allow for brands to interact, build new relationships, and gain a larger fan base.  For example, the Friends Facebook Fan Page can like and comment on fan pages for Joey, Phoebe, Rachel, Ross, Monica, Chandler and the Central Perk (and vice versa). This would ultimately lead to the Friends Fan Page not only gaining more likes, but also potentially having its message spread further across Facebook.

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Mashups are nothing new.  In fact on this very blog we recently provided some historical perspective related specifically to music.  OK, now that we’ve gotten that out of the way …

In the last few days I’ve come across three really rad examples of people/organizations continuing to embrace the mashup movement.

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While at the consumer electronics show I attended sessions focused on kids and technology. It was great to see so many companies focused on using technology to educate kids. One of the common themes was developing apps for tablet based devices and video iPhones. A interesting stat is that 60% of the top selling children’s apps in app store are for children under 4.

For those of us with kids that love to play games on the iPhone don’t feel to bad about handing it over. In a presentation from PBS kids they described a test where they sent out pre loaded iPod video with learning games. PBS saw learning gains on content and skills from both dpps they created. The highest gains on verbal vocabulary averaged an increase 20% on both the short and comprehensive vocabulary assessments. Here is an excellent slide share on the research and its results.

Another interesting observation from the PBS research is one we have all seen with our kids. When a kid gets a new toy the love affair is intense for the first few weeks then it starts to wane. Content is king even for the little ones. The appetite for fresh content will certainly fuel the growth of new apps, devices and even new app market places .

We should not forget about the companies who have been developing educational products for kids long before the Ipad. This week at the toy fair in NYC several manufacturers introduced tablets for for kids.

The question this raises for me is which platform will emerge as the leader. Will it be one of the mobile platforms, gaming systems or toy companies.

Professional sports has been one of the industries that has best embraced and utilized social media. Fans now have unparalleled access to their favorite quarterbacks, 1^st basemen and point guards, and in turn, athletes get direct access to their fans without having to participate in a staged event. So in honor of the upcoming NBA All-Star weekend (my favorite All-Star event of all professional sports), I chose my NBA social media All-Stars - one from the West and one from the East.

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Last week, first lady Michelle Obama explained that Facebook is not something her daughters need. More specifically, when asked if Sasha and Malia are on Facebook, Mrs. Obama joked that she’s lucky to be under a lot of constraints, noting the United States Secret Service as one of the obstacles preventing her girls from obtaining a personal Facebook account. I couldn’t help but wonder, how many people share Mrs. Obama’s sentiments? In particular, does parental disapproval affect the way young teenagers use social media?

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I think Pat Benatar had it right when she sang “love is a battlefield” almost thirty years ago. Love is, and will always be, a space for our hearts’ inner most fears and desires to be won or lost for all to see. Love is just that motivating, inspiring dangerous and sometimes, simply nuts. And Valentine’s Day brings all the vastness of love to a head and often times, leaves some of us out in the cold. That is, until social media showed up.

What with all the social media marketing efforts flying around for Valentine’s Day, such as being able to send loved ones an Angry Birds - themed Facebook valentine or sending a virtual gift from CBS’s Mad Love Facebook Page, it is easy to assume that Valentine’s Day has lost all of its remaining sentimental value. However, I would argue that social media is actually beneficial for all the lovers out there. With tools such as Facebook, Twitter, Groupon, Yelp or even a recent startup (that connects to Facebook to help people find local & gift recommendations that match a loved one’s taste), making plans and sending gifts has become a simplified process. Now, there is really no worry (nor excuse) to not have plans, a gift or even a simple status update to showcase your love for another on Valentine’s Day.

Check out this video from Socialnomics to see just how easy social media has made it for anyone who needs to pull together great Valentine’s Day plans at the last-minute:

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