by amymengel on 10/12/2009 07:11 Social media today

Social media isn’t complicated. When you boil it down it’s about listening to your customers, being helpful by offering your knowledge and giving them interesting content to share and thereby advocate for you. The IMS speakers shared several case studies (yes, too many of them mentioned Comcast and Zappos) on how organizations have embraced social media to connect with and built trust and affection among customers. None of the examples required hyper-specialized knowledge or technology for a company to connect with people.

So why is it so difficult for so many companies to successfully integrate social media? I dug through my (30 pages of) notes to try and find some themes in what the speakers shared and came up with a this list of why organizations might be getting hung up.

1. They can’t talk about anything broader than their own products

Chris Brogan shared how Citrix Online created the Workshifting community to address the rise of telecommuting and remote work. Sure, it ties in with Citrix’s GoToMeeting/Webinar/PC product line, but the blog isn’t a commercial for its products. The same holds true for Kodak’s photography blog that Chief Blogger Jenny Cisney talked about. It’s about photography and creativity in general, not about Kodak cameras. Greg Matthews shared how Humana developed the Freewheelin bicycle sharing communities with plenty of online and “real life” components to the program. Bicycles don’t have much to do with health insurance specifically, but they are about being healthy. If a company is only talking online about its specific products and not looking for ways to connect to the bigger picture, it’s pretty difficult for people to be engaged.

2. They listen to customers but don’t take any action

If you’re going to listen to your customers, you’d better be ready to do something about what you hear. Valeria Maltoni noted that if a company creates an online presence that’s open and allows customer feedback, it creates the expectation that the company is going to do something with that feedback. Worse than not being heard is being heard and then ignored. Paula Berg from Southwest Airlines shared how a simple blog post stating the airline was considering assigned seating amassed tons of customer comments showing a lack of support for the idea. This feedback changed the direction of their internal debate and led to a new boarding procedure that maintained the open seating arrangement.

3. They aren’t calibrated internally with the technology

Jason Falls chastised corporate Web sites for being little more than online brochures. Customers expect interaction. Content creation is key to social media success, and every company should have a Web site with a content management system that allows for quick, easy content creation without the IT department needing to recode a Web site. Anyone in the organization should be able to publish via a CMS. And companies can’t expect to have a strong social media presence when social sites are blocked internally to employees.

4. They’re not framing risk accurately

Dharmesh Shah reminded us all that a corporate blog has never been fatal to an organization. NBC cameraman Jim Long said the often a company’s entry into social media is a clumsy, shotgun blast and that there’s an equal chance of looking foolish by having a ham-fisted marketing department launch a social media presence as there is if a rogue employee “goes off” on Twitter. The risk of social media is not abated by not participating. And really, while there have certainly been some hiccups and miscues along the way, social media has yet to be the undoing of any company.

5. Their internal culture isn’t aligned for social media success

In Shiv Singh’s presentation, he discussed how the customer should be at the core of the brand. When policies, procedures, products and processes become more important than the customer, there’s no way social media efforts can be effective. When your employees are more concerned with what’s in or out of their job description than doing the right thing to help the customer, that’s not a culture that’s likely to build trust and advocacy for your brand. Yes, Zappos was cited time and again as a case study, but largely because it has a culture that makes social media work. All of its employees are focused on customer service at the core. The same holds true for Southwest Airlines.

I could go on and on. So many of the speakers at IMS shared great examples of simple, effective social media strategies that have humanized organizations and allowed them to build better relationships with customers. But time and again companies are either rejecting social media or participating in a way that defeats the purpose.

It’s not rocket surgery.

Read more Social Media Today Five reasons corporations are failing at social media.

A 5 minute pitch on social media – Socialnomics

From Mashable – While Twitter may be getting the majority of the press in the Facebook-Twitter competition, Facebook’s still the 800 pound gorilla in the room. Today the world’s largest social network made that clear by announcing that they now have more than 300 million users.

In a blog post, Facebook Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg highlighted the social network’s constant growth and also announced that the company was self-sustaining and cash-flow positive, not a small feat by any means considering the relative trouble they’ve had monetizing. Being able to generate a profit opens the door to many possibilities, including an IPO.

The announcement also means that Facebook grew from 200 million users to 300 million in just over 5 months. It took 8 months to reach 200 million from 100 million, and it took years to reach the 100 million user milestone. This is a company that is growing faster, not slower, than its competition.

As the company continues its all-out assault on Twitter, it’s easy to forget that it simply has more users than its upstart rival. By the end of the year, there should be 18 million Twitter users. That’s not even 1/15 of the current size of Facebook.

Mashable, Read more

Facebook Now Has Over 300 Million Users.

Mobile Advertising has quickly expanded to mobile apps. In this example from the UK nearly 30% of advertisers are still trying to send mobile users from ads in mobile apps and mobile banners to traditional websites, many of these sites include flash and large graphic files that make your site useless to even the best smart phones on the fastest networks. Need examples of US companies that do it right. Look no further than ESPN and The Weather Channel mobile sites. In the US, Googles AdSence for Mobile now asks advertisers to direct consumers to mobile sites as part of the approval process.

Mobile app ads cause concern for advertisers

The Central Office of Information (COI), the UK’s biggest advertiser, has called for industry bodies to offer guidelines on advertising in mobile apps as the format becomes increasingly popular. Mad.co.uk reports.

It comes after advertisers expressed concern that ads in iPhone apps which link to sites not optimised for mobile could damage brands’ reputations.Last month Google launched AdSense for Mobile Apps to capitalise on the growing sector and began serving ads into iPhone and Android apps for brands such as BlackBerry, Compare the Market and O2. But some ads direct users to online websites that don’t render on phones, rather than to mobile-enabled sites.

It’s estimated that up to 30% of ads within mobile apps link to Flash sites which can’t be displayed on an iPhone; just 5% link to a mobile-enabled site.

Contact ApolloBravo for a free mobile consultation and mobile marketing plan that includes a mobile website.

Cooliris brings cinematic style image browsing to your browser. Click on the link below for a sample from the Life Photo Archives. Click yes to add the Cooliris plug in for your browser then continue to google images and click on the LIFE photo archives. www.cooliris.com.  Enjoy

Cooliris » Woodstock Music & Art Fair.

Contact ApolloBravo about integrating Cooliris Imaging into your next promotion.

Retail Mobile Coupons are a idea who’s time has come. Borders Books UK had a 69% opt-in rate for mobile coupons, among existing e-mail club members! This was with no in-store promotion. Why, because they are easy to use. No need to print them, they are with you when you need them, they are green and they are linked to a loyalty card, so you can leave that home as well. I am not sure about you but it is not very often I would print out an e-mailed coupon fold it up and put it in my wallet. Mobile just makes more sense as a consumer and as a marketer.

With the advent of digital signage in is also easy to opt people into your club just by texting, in store, no plastic, no paper, no mailings. Need more convincing read this article for Mobile Marketing Profits.

“Is it on sale?” The mobile opportunity – people are buying now from Mobile Marketing Profits

In today’s market, consumers are thinking twice before they buy almost anything.  “How much do I need it?” “Do I need it all, or do I just want it?” “It is on sale?” Questions people ask when they’re uncertain about their own economic futures.

This “Is it on sale?” thinking presents an ideal opportunity for mobile marketing to worried consumers.  For example, if a consumer has a genuine need and desire for a purchase more complex or higher value than an impulse buy – anything from an upgraded mobile phone to a new car – they may repeatedly pass up that item at full price, or even with some discounting.  Stretching their spending dollars by waiting for a better deal is a safer move in a tight economy.

But what if that same consumer were to receive a coupon on their mobile phone while they were out shopping? Not a printed coupon sitting at home with the unopened mail, or an email coupon waiting in a distant inbox to be printed out and stuck in a purse or a pocket.  Rather, a targeted offer made to the right consumer at the right time, in the right place.

This sort of precision targeting has been the promise of mobile marketing for many years, but few companies have yet to fully leverage such a strategy today.  Confusing opt-in/op-out rules for commercial SMS messages, platform compatibility issues with sending MMS coupons to different families of smartphones, divergent carrier support for standards and commercial traffic – all of these factors and more have served to discourage corporate involvement in robust mobile couponing.

Yet there are best practices and design solutions which can work with all of these impediments to transform them into success factors.  An inbound mobile marketing campaign driven by point-of-sale signage and advertising placements combines the consumer opt-in process with the marketing contact.  Use of well crafted standard SMS messages (text-only) sidesteps MMS and barcode compatibility issues to reach all SMS-capable phones.  Even minimal integration between the messaging gateway provider and your own retail management systems can provide end-to-end accountability and realtime program ROI.

You as a mobile marketer need to keep the following things in mind when pursuing this kind of program:

1. How will the consumer become aware of your campaign?
2. How will you obtain their permission to interact?
3. How will the offer be redeemed at the point of sale?

By offering consumers mobile coupons, businesses can create stronger customer relationships while giving consumers what they want, resulting in increased satisfaction, and increased profitability.

“Is it on sale?” The mobile opportunity – people are buying now from Mobile Marketing Profits

Want to learn more about Mobile Coupons Contact ApolloBravo and ask about our Loyalty Link Program with integrated digital signage.

One of the reasons SMS Text message volume is surpassing call volume is due to the immediacy of delivery. If there is fraudulent activity on your credit card or bank account would you rather have your bank leave a voice mail on your home machine or get a text alert.

Via Mobile Marketing Profits

If the worst does happen and someone steals your credit card account information to go on a buying spree, the consumer protection department of your credit card issuer will attempt to contact you, most commonly through voice, as that is the default for most consumers, especially older consumers. Email is also frequently used.

However, both voice and email introduce delays into a process where timely outreach is critical. If the number of record is a home landline, the message may not be picked up until well into the evening. Even if a business line or cell phone is being contacted, people often defer calls from unknown numbers to a more convenient time. Meanwhile, the fraudulent transaction which triggered the alert process may still go through. Even if it is declined, the identity thieves are free to try again. Conversely, if the transaction is legitimate and the account holder is unavailable to confirm it, the desired purchase may be stalled or declined.
This opens an opportunity for mobile messaging to become a value-add to consumers experiencing account fraud. SMS delivered to the handset is not just a fun way for friends to stay in touch — in cases like identity theft alerts it provides a valuable business benefit.

Many users who have adopted SMS as an ordinary communications channel will typically check their messaging as soon as possible – at a stoplight, on a meeting break, walking down a hallway – even in situations where they may not be willing or able to take a voice call.

The consumer whose account information is suspected to have been stolen can receive a text message to contact a fraud hotline immediately. Valuable time is saved in a fraud management process where minutes can count – minutes that can prevent further damage to the consumer’s credit.

Opt-In Strategies
The sticking point with commercial SMS messages in the U.S. is getting consumers to opt-in to receive such messages in the first place. A multichannel media strategy for garnering opt-ins can provide big payoffs for both lenders and consumers. Examples include SMS opt-in opportunities at the end of agented or automated voice calls, point-of-sale messaging at branch banks or lending offices, Web-based check-box options within the customer’s account profile, statement messaging or inserts and print advertising campaigns.

When consumers are given the opportunity to opt-in for fraud alerts via SMS, businesses can create stronger customer relationships through protecting everyone in the transaction chain – consumer, merchant, processor, and lender – while improving profitability through a more efficient fraud management process. A simple mobile messaging campaign, delivered in these difficult times, reaps dividends for everyone involved.

via Mobile Messaging Opportunities to Protect Customers in Today’s Economy | MobileMarketingProfits.com | Build Your Business with Mobile Marketing.

Contact ApolloBravo about our mobile alert platforms. Over 95% of text messages are read by customers.

Gets funnier as it goes on – Guaranteed laugh for at least 5 secs..

> > Economics made easy

> >

> > TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM

> > You have two cows.

> > You sell one and buy a bull.

> > Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows.

> > You sell them and retire on the income.

> >

> > ENRON VENTURE CAPITALISM

> > You have two cows. You sell three of them to your publicly listed

> > company, using letters of credit opened by your brother-in-law at

> > the bank, then execute a debt/equity swap with an associated general

> > offer so that you get all four cows back, with a tax exemption for

> > five cows. The milk rights of the six cows are transferred via an

> > intermediary to a Cayman Island company secretly owned by the

> > majority shareholder who sells the rights to all seven cows back to

> > your listed company. The annual report says the company owns eight

> > cows, with an option on one more. Sell one cow to buy a new

> > president of the United States, leaving you with nine cows. No

> > balance sheet provided with the release. The public buys your bull.

> >

> > AN AMERICAN CORPORATION

> > You have two cows. You sell one, and force the other to produce the

> > milk of four cows. You are surprised when the cow drops dead.

> >

> > A FRENCH CORPORATION

> > You have two cows. You go on strike because you want three cows.

> >

> > A JAPANESE CORPORATION

> > You have two cows. You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size

> > of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk. You then

> > create clever cow cartoon images called ‘Cowkimon’

> > and market them

> > World-Wide.

> >

> > A GERMAN CORPORATION

> > You have two cows.

> > You reengineer them so they live for 100 years, eat once a month,

> > and milk themselves.

> >

> > A BRITISH CORPORATION

> > You have two cows.

> > Both are mad.

> >

> > AN ITALIAN CORPORATION

> > You have two cows, but you don’t know where they are.

> > You break for lunch.

> >

> > A RUSSIAN CORPORATION

> > You have two cows.

> > You count them and learn you have five cows.

> > You count them again and learn you have 42 cows.

> > You count them again and learn you have 12 cows.

> > You stop counting cows and open another bottle of vodka.

> >

> > A SWISS CORPORATION

> > You have 5000 cows, none of which belong to you.

> > You charge others for storing them.

> >

> > A CHINESE CORPORATION

> > You have two cows.

> > You have 300 people milking them.

> > You claim full employment and high bovine productivity.

> > You have the newsman who reported on the numbers arrested.

> >

> > AN INDIAN CORPORATION

> > You have two cows.

> > You worship them.

Author unknown

Great Slideshow from INC Magazine. Read about 1 person companies that generate up to 10 Million in revenue. Contact ApolloBravo about home based office opportunities in Mobile Marketing and Social Media. How much time do you spend in your car or in unproductive meetings ?

11 Businesses You Can Start in Your Pajamas

Pet Care — Paul Mann, Fetch! Pet Care

Virtual Assistant — Tawnya Sutherland, VAnetworking.com

Bargain Hunting Website — Karen Hoxmeier, MyBargainBuddy.com

Accounting Services — Melissa Nash Andrews, Accounts Receivables

Technical Staffing — Bill Foster and Ruben Santana, XRoads Consulting

Home Improvement and Organization — Allan Young, ShelfGenie

Green Construction — Nic Darling, Chad Ludeman, and Courtney Ludeman, Postgreen

Graphic Design Services — Sam Feuer, Mindsmack.com

Resume Writing — Kathy Sweeney, The Write Resume

Corporate Educational Services — Joseph Pickett, Experts Briefings

Online Dating Site — Markus Frind, PlentyofFish