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What’s next?

September 21

The future of public relations

When you live in the middle of the digital marketing and media revolution, it is sometimes easy to overlook the problems and changes that many industries are experiencing. Not long ago, Public Relations (PR) was considered the most cost-effective way of getting an organization’s name out to the masses. Here in Boston, there are a myriad of PR organizations, and they are fighting tooth and nail to retain business. I wonder, however, if they don’t see the change that is happening around them. Or perhaps, similar to print media, they see it, but are not quite sure what to do about it.

As I pondered this dilemma, a few possibilities occurred to me. I segmented my thinking in the three ways- short, medium and long term. I also realize that painting in broad strokes affords me liberties that are not true in business. Oh, the beauty of blogging!

I strongly believe that the goal of public relations has a great deal of value. It is not the value proposition that needs to change, but rather the mechanism/tactics through which it is delivered. Therefore, in the short term, the tactics employed by a classic PR agency must evolve to embrace and leverage social media elements. If you consider the capabilities being offered by many PR agencies today, they still tout old school capabilities like press releases, media tours, messaging, highlighting executives, by-lines etc. These are all well and good, but how many of us read a press release? And if I wanted to learn about an executive, I expect to hear what that person has to say on YouTube or perhaps read it on their blog. A PR agency does not have to change the overall strategy, It simply has to incorporate these social media elements and tactics.

In the medium term, there may be opportunities for intersection of PR and digital marketing. To this point, digital marketing has been focused around traditional marketing through digital media. The skills and approach that PR experts bring to the table might be key to understand what drives people to organically and virally consume content. Communication strategy has not been the strong suit of digital agencies, but by virtue of being a rapidly evolving space, it may be time for the digital team to drive this strategy. In other words, leverage the experience, approach and thinking that is the corner stone of PR , but apply it to the digital medium and realize that the sum of these parts will be greater than the whole (i.e. PR + digital agency = future)

The long term approach is far more radical. It is anyone’s guess as to where the quickly changing environment will settle. The good people in the print media are having one summit after another to morph their operational and profit models to return to viable businesses. These media outlets have been the main stay of PR – not to mention the bane of their existence. My belief is that the trade of PR relations will begin to focus on experts and consumers. The middle ground of journalists and print publications as we know it will seize to exist. They will be replaced by centers of interest (i.e., think communities or groups), who create and maintain their own ecosystem content creation, commerce, reviews, communities – specific to that interest. This would not only impacts PR, but digital marketing and business in general.

There is a future for PR, but it is irrevocably coupled with the digital medium and digital marketing. The scary consideration is that these PR agencies must act now so that they do not face the same predicament as the print industry.

posted to: Digital Marketing, Digital Strategy, Industry Trends, Web 2.0 & Social Media | 1 Comment »

September 21

Facebook Pages: Woody learns strategy means thinking ahead

by Yuval Zukerman

Woody, TGI Friday's Spokesdude and burger wrangler

Following up on my recent post about Facebook pages, AdAge has an interesting article about TGI Friday’s efforts. TGI Friday’s set a public goal – to get 500,000 people to fan their spokesperson, Woody, on the site. Supported by a freebie (free hamburgers for Facebook fans), television and online advertising campaign, the campaign was locked and loaded. It’s just that before they even really went out and started spending their media, they had 80,000 fans. It’s just that instead of taking a month, it took them 13 days to reach the target. Half a million free burgers leave a dent on any company’s budget ($2.5 million retail value, assuming the $5 burger price). Now the TV and banners ads are running, increasing exposure.

According to the article frantic calls and discussions ensued on how to handle the explosive success. TGI Friday’s did the right thing, though. Until the end of the month, apparently, they are going to honor their promise and give away free burgers to fans of Woody (who apparently, by proxy, seem to like red and white with articles of flair). What can we learn from this: overall – TGI Friday’s set out right. Getting fans by giving away stuff is the right thing to gain traction quickly. Maybe dipping the toes and seeing if fans need the extra media boost would have made sense. At the very least, it would help to plan for a good outcome, and apparently budget for it. At least they avoided the scorn of what are now tens of thousands of fans who would have been left out in the cold, burgerlss. I am keen to see what they are going to do with Woody and how they are going to sustain interest in absence of freebies. In the meantime, I am going to get my coupon.

posted to: Digital Marketing, Digital Strategy, Industry Trends, Molecular News, Web 2.0 & Social Media | No Comments »

September 17

Mint.com + Quicken: Its Impact on How Banks Engage Their Customers

by Kevin Sardinha

I had been an active user of account aggregation services for years before switching to Mint.com several months ago. I could not have been happier with the services, ease of use and functionality provided by Mint. From my first login, I knew it would not be long before Mint.com was acquired. Their business model, the value of its customer information and the level of customer loyalty they have generated could not go unnoticed. My only hope was that it was not acquired by a bank that would turn its services into its own marketing platform (you know there were several suitors). My wish was granted when Intuit announced it would purchase Mint this week. But what does this mean for how banks manage and measure customer relationships going forward?

The level of engagement banks have with their customers has been continuously decreasing. As in-branch transactions continue to diminish, banks try to engage customers through other channels such as online banking and mobile. Unfortunately, these channels are primarily transactional, which makes it difficult for banks to engage customers in higher value interactions (cross-selling, etc.).

Mint.com and Quicken were already negatively impacting the banking industry’s level of customer engagement. With the merger, that impact will only grow. Once Mint utilizes Quicken’s technology and implements bill pay and transfer functionality, banks will begin to lose ALL direct contact with their customers. Customers will no longer have to log into their institution’s online banking system. As customers get tired of paying for ATM fees, high interest rates, etc. they will use Mint’s “Ways to Save” feature to find a better solution or product. Banking products will become completely commoditized and banks will compete only on price.

Unfortunately, most banks won’t realize the extent of this impact until it is too late. “Engagement” is not a primary measurement for most banks. They calculate success of a customer relationship based on the number of products owned, average balances, net interest income, tenure, satisfaction and cost to serve. In some cases, Mint will actually increase the value of customer to a bank. As a customer reduces their use of their bank’s channels, the bank’s cost of service will decrease. Although that customer is more profitable, their propensity to attrite and switch banks increases because they longer have a relationship with their bank beyond fees, interest rates, etc.

Banks need to quickly realize the impact of the merger between Intuit and Mint and develop new and innovative ways to engage their customers (online and offline) or risk becoming a faceless institution that competes only on price.

posted to: Data & Analytics, Digital Marketing, Digital Strategy, Industry Trends | No Comments »

September 15

3 ways to justify spending on social networks

by Evan Gerber

To demonstrate social network success, savvy brand marketers must identify what success means, and then understand how it can be tracked.

To justify spending and ensure budget for future projects, it is crucial that marketers can demonstrably prove the success of a given campaign. As the economy sputters, and the struggle for budget becomes increasingly more challenging, it becomes even more important. While the majority of digital marketing can provide highly quantifiable results, social media can prove challenging. These networks are nebulous webs of people friending one another and sharing select information, and they frequently can’t be measured in clickthroughs or conversions. This article will explore how to create a metrics program to track the success of a campaign, using examples from major brands to illustrate different approaches.

1. Determine what to measure
The first step is determining what to measure. Start by considering why social media is being used in a particular campaign, and then look for ways to measure the results. It is important to set the campaign up for success. Don’t track data that is hard to gather, but do set your sights on the low-hanging fruit that will yield meaningful results. For example, many sites offer a tool enabling users to post content to their Facebook or MySpace pages. By using a tool such as Omniture, it is possible to track the frequency with which users are posting, and which networks they are using. By tracking this information, meaningful insights into the resonance and value of material on the site can be gauged.

2. Take advantage of existing tools
Social networking sites recognize that they live or die by their user base, and they understand that advertisers on these sites want specific insights into who they are talking to and how the message is being received. By using Facebook’s sophisticated tool kit, it is possible to track specifically who is engaging, and what they are doing there.

Even if the numbers aren’t hard, it is still possible to use social networking to track brand perception and better service the consumer. Twitter is a platform where users post 140 character updates on what they are doing, either through a mobile interface or via the web. Unlike Facebook or MySpace, it’s not a forum for emailing or playing games and, as such, provides fewer hooks to a brand marketer seeking to promote a message unless they have a decent amount of followers. Yet, there are ways to integrate the platform onto the site (take a look at the Betty Crocker clip below, as an example). Using tools like TweetScan, it is possible to see how frequently the brand name is being referenced on the site, and to react to any kind of coverage.

3. Track how social networking impacts other channels
Tracking the number of daily users is a no-brainer, but mapping in-network interaction to external behaviors becomes much harder. There are, however, a few ways to skin the cat, given creativity and tenacity. If a brand creates its own social network, using a pre-existing platform such as Ning, in conjunction with metrics tools, it’s possible to track entry and exit points on the site. If a clear destination has been identified as a project goal, it’s possible to drive the user there and track the volume. If a social networking campaign launches, look outside the web to see if there is a correlation between sales and the viral growth on the networks. Bacon Salt, a purveyor of foods, launched on Facebook and MySpace. Within a few days, it had sold out of product.

Conclusion
Social networking is more than just a profile page on Facebook. The power of the consumer’s voice can be harnessed in multiple ways, to serve many goals. The information can be incredibly valuable to judge the value of content, track user opinion, and propagate a brand message.

But in order to demonstrate success, the savvy brand marketer will create a thorough metrics campaign to measure the effort. The first key step is to identify what success means, and then understand how it can be tracked successfully.

Take advantage of the tools provided by the networks that are out there, see how the brand is fairing, and what can be done to get involved with the conversation. Try to track how the social networking campaign impacts other channels. Even if the numbers are not rock solid, there can be definite trends.

posted to: Data & Analytics, Digital Marketing, Digital Strategy, Industry Trends, Web 2.0 & Social Media | No Comments »

September 14

Facebook Fan Pages: Their community, your name, a win-win premise?

by Yuval Zukerman

Molecular was one of the first agencies to develop a branded application on Facebook. A lot has changed since that first iteration of the Facebook Platform API. I doubt many initially thought Facebook would remain as successful for this long, let alone keep growing at its torrid pace. While the Application Platform matures and evolves, the new darlings, especially among brands, are Facebook brand/fan pages and Facebook Connect. In this first of two posts, I will discuss Facebook fan pages and what you should know before setting your brand up with one. A following post will provide a look at what Facebook Connect can do for you.

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posted to: Digital Marketing, Digital Strategy, Technology, Web 2.0 & Social Media | 1 Comment »