Strategic Social Networking - Archive

Mobile Apps Give New Meaning to Pay as You Go

January 10th, 2012 | Posted by admin in branding | marketing | mobility | smartphone - (0 Comments)

With the smart phone market’s continuing growth, it was only a matter of time before payment apps were developed. According to kmov.com’s “Pay-by-Name Purchasing: Changing the Future of Spending,” one of the newest forms of mobile payments is the Square Card Case, launched by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey’s Square.

“The Square Card Case totally eliminates the need for a physical card in a merchant-to-consumer transaction. It works by storing a virtual copy of your credit or debit card on your smartphone, and acts as a virtual tab. To use it, consumers must download the free Square Card Case application for the iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch or Android. A customer then sets up an account using their name, email address, credit card information and a photo. The customer’s phone will detect local merchants who accept the Card Case form of payment.”

Needless to say, security is a concern, an issue raised in an open letter from VeriFone, a Square Card competitor. The market’s also getting crowded with Google’s Google Wallet and PayPal’s PayPal Instore, both of which use near-field communication technology. This is definitely an emerging market with plenty of potential. The payoff will be big for a player who can address security and ease of use while creating a mass-market brand.

Rita Safranek, January 10, 2012

Growing Businesses Struggling to Maintain Brand Loyalty in the Mobile Age

Brand Dossier’s recent article on the increasing presence of social media and mobile devices, “Social media, mobile devices creating brand loyalty challenges for mid-size businesses” deals with new concerns business have in dealing with brand loyalty.

The growth of both social media and mobile devices has lead to a new type of consumer, who can easily compare products and prices, which is making it harder for companies to build up brand loyalty, a new IBM study says. This global study of mid-market chief marketing officers reveals a number of facts about the concerns of CMOs in an increasingly mobile marketplace. According to the study, 72% feel unprepared to “effectively build” brand loyalty, with 70% seemingly placing this unease on the wide availability of consumer-oriented data.

“Mobile commerce is expected to reach $31 billion by 2016, yet 62 per cent of mid-market CMOs report being underprepared to deal with the proliferation of channels and devices. This increase in the mobile shopping trend further increases marketing challenges, complicates data collection and analysis, and threatens both customer service and customer retention.”

In order to deal with the influx of consumer blogs, social media sites, and other sources of information about consumer products, retailers are focusing on marketing analytics in order to more effectively target consumers. The hope is that computers can analyze marketing data and buying decisions more efficiently and more accurately, allowing companies to reach new customers who will stay with the brand, instead of endlessly seeking to save a few cents on their next purchase.

Jody Barnes, December 15, 2011

Social Media Marketing Analytics (SMA) Continued – A Closer Look at Strategic Development and Strategic Connections

With brand monitoring and competitive research, a business can collect a wealth of knowledge – but then what? In “Social Media Marketing Analytics – Strategic Development, Part Four Of An Exclusive 7-Part Series,” Midure explains:

“As I tell every client that comes into our agency, when developing a strategy in the social media arena, simplicity and incremental implementation is key…Start off small and gain momentum such as building a Facebook Page. Then roll in some nice applications as tabs, develop a content calendar and possibly try some promotions such as a sweepstakes. Then dive into Twitter, look into the investment of building a blog as well a backing everything up with some Search Engine Marketing to boost visibility and traffic to your assets.”

Strategic or tactical? Maybe some of each. Jumping into the social media arena requires both.

Strategic Connections are covered in “Social Media Marketing Analytics – Strategic Connections, Part Five Of An Exclusive 7-Part Series”:

“Insights tools such as Alteiran SM2 allow you to uncover what I like to call “power users/sources” because it ranks an individual or entities “popularity/influence…Why is this important? It gives you a great understanding of how viable the user/source is in terms of making a connection. What are the benefits? Marketing effectiveness by taking advantage of the user/source’s avid network of followers/supporters.”

Power users can be ‘Joe Schmo’ with avid Twitter followers, a popular blog or celebrity, or a well-known CEO. Web statistics, like unique site visits, Tweets, or user interactions, make it possible to track how influential these power users are.

Insight tools may make finding these connections easier, but actually tapping into power users’ networks may prove more challenging. In the labyrinth of social media, tracking strategic connections can quickly turn into too many numbers with too little strategy.

Philip West

November 30, 2011

Social Media Marketing Analytics (SMA) Continued – Brand Monitoring and Competitive Research Explained

Part two of Star Group’s series on Social Media Marketing Analytics covers Brand Monitoring – a key to a business’s social media presence. In “Social Media Marketing Analytics – Brand Monitoring, Part 2 of An Exclusive 7-Part Series,” Midure explains:

“Brand Monitoring, to put it simply, is the understanding of who, what, where, why, when and how 3rd party sources or customers are referring to your brand. Brand Monitoring has become an extremely necessary and important responsibility for any business in today’s environment.”

So it boils down to a lot of data – what are customers, the media, competitors, and employees saying about you? What’s being tweeted, blogged, linked, and liked about you? When is this all happening and is it good or bad?

Competitive Research asks the same questions, just about your competitors. In part three of Midure’s series, “Social Media Marketing Analytics – Competitive Research, Part Three of an Exclusive 7-Part Series,” he notes:

“Just as you do for your own brand, it is YOUR job to be on top of what your competitors are doing, LISTEN and be attentive of what is being said about them. YOU need to be aware of what they are doing well and what they are doing not-so-well.”

Add your competitor’s brand monitoring to the mix, and all this knowledge can help identify niches, opportunities, and failures. It all comes down to better knowledge and better performance.

It’s clear that this data organized and turned into knowledge can help any business. While these strategies are not new ideas, in the Web 2.0 city that never sleeps, it is constantly becoming more challenging to round up all that data.

Philip West

November 29, 2011

Nonprofits Can Take Away Some Lessons from SF Goodwill’s Going Social Project

As Goodwill Industries of San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin Counties (SF Goodwill) entered its 100th year of service in the Bay Area, they decided to reach out to Socialbrite for help in becoming a social organization – engaging the community and bringing on a new generation of supporters. Their new Web site, sfgoodwill.org, is more than just an update; it’s a top-to-bottom change from a brochure-style site to an interactive center for blogging, donating, volunteering, and more.

In “SF Goodwill’s big leap forward in outreach to the community,” JD Lasica covers 10 lessons learned and how decisions were made to go social. Lesson 1:

“Go all in. A lot of organizations want to tinker at the edges but are scared of more deep-seated change. SF Goodwill seemed open to institutional change that required new approaches and new thinking about how various parts of the organization interact with the public — and across departmental silos.”

Other topics covered: creating a strategy, tapping into your community of resources, going mobile, and embracing open source.

Social media investment on the front end does pay off. Time will have to tell just how much payoff SF Goodwill reaps. Nonprofits of all kinds are smart to watch what happens with SF Goodwill and to start thinking about getting on the social bandwagon.

More on Socialbrite: http://www.socialbrite.org

Philip West

November 15, 2011

Robert Peck on the Confluent Opportunity Space

“Social Media: Fad or Investment Opportunity?” caught my attention this morning. I am on the look out for hard hitting ideas for maximizing the return on investment (ROI) from an organization’s social media activities.

The article asserted:

Paying a sky-high price for something in popular demand can often be a recipe for disappointment. However, the long-term rewards for the winners in this exciting area could be monumental if companies can capitalize on the opportunities through advertising.

Okay. The angle syncs with my view, but I am not sure I have a “hook” or “handle” to grab. I prefer social opportunity insights to have hard facts or a turn of phrase that adds heft or a sticky grip to an opportunity.

What do I mean?

We read an interview with Robert Peck, Quasar CA (the CA stands for “capital advisors). In 2005, Bob, as he is known to his colleagues, flashed on our radar for his early interest in social content, social media, and social networking. A lengthy interview appeared in HighGainBlog.com as “Exclusive Interview: Robert Peck, Quasar Capital Advisors.” We were surprised at the interest one of his insights triggered. Specifically, he talked about a “confluent space.” The example he used was:

HighGainBlog: So what’s the focus of Quasar?

I kept close watch on some of the new business opportunities that were becoming evident where the Wild West of the Internet was intersecting with more traditional businesses. The burgeoning growth of the iPhone and android mobile ecosystems were tremendous for the Internet, as web sites became more accessible for people on the go. Apps only amplified the robustness of Web offerings and expanded the reach of Internet companies”

HighGainBlog: Can you give me an example?

Sure. You have one example in your hand. The Apple iPad is an exemplary product, and it has made clear that the Internet, consumers, and retail can be combined in what seems to be a category killer. I wanted to work in that type of confluent opportunity space. I needed a new vehicle to explore the intersection points that were being created by companies like Apple and other firms.

Here’s the point for the social space, which we will cover more aggressively in Strategic Social Networking in August 2011.

First, the notion of a confluent space is a good one. The stroke of genius was the insertion of “opportunity” in the phrase. So, what we noted is “confluent opportunity space.” Unlike other terms which are mostly without impact in communicating what makes social network centric options so interesting is the packaging of “confluent” and “space”. Opportunity just drives home the upside. In fact, we think the phrase speaks loudly about what types of investment focus Quasar CA has.

Second, in an unrelated sector such as text mining and text analytics, the phrase explains where important companies like Digital Reasoning will be moving. The phrase makes clear that intersections are more important than narrow vectors of expertise. I would go so far as positing this idea:

A narrow vector company limits itself because without confluence–that is, a social and narrow vector combination–breaking into the niches where revenue is obtainable may be impossible.

Third, high value terminillogy connotes sharp thinking. We have to give Bob Peck an “A” in this department. Last week we spoke with two firms. The sparkle scale was tallying a two or three. Mr. Peck was hitting the high nines. That’s Google scale thinking in my book.

Net net: the value of the social shift in online, business functions, and content is a result of confluence. Mr. Peck’s phrase is more suggestive than George Gilder’s “convergence”. See TELECOSM: How Infinite Bandwidth will Revolutionize Our World [

For more information about Robert Peck, visit his Web site at www.quasarca.com.

Stephen E Arnold, July 12, 2011

Sponsored by ArticleOnePartners.com, the source for patent research

Real Time Social Search Engine Targets Cities

April 30th, 2010 | Posted by Melody K. Smith in branding | marketing | News - (0 Comments)

Knowing what the hot topics are in social media can be beneficial for marketers and the like, but targeting in on a particular city makes the data even more valuable.

User generated content continues to become more well-known across the web as more and more users post information online. This type of information has generated real time search as a powerful way to navigate the web. Sency was created to help you easily navigate the real time web. At any time, they allow you to see what is going on right now with any person, place, or subject. Sency for Cities allows you to search what’s being said right now inside of 13 major US cities: Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, San Antonio, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington DC. This powerful tool will allow anyone to see how people inside a city are reacting to current events or being affected by breaking news.

The SSN Take: When a new movie, commercial, or product launches; businesses will now be able to see how the public responds and compare that between major cities.

Melody K. Smith, April 30, 2010

Note: Post was not sponsored.

Taking the Social Media Leap

April 27th, 2010 | Posted by Melody K. Smith in branding | marketing | News - (0 Comments)

Since it seems like every business is jumping into the social media world, have you ever wondered how the average company gets started?

Let’s take Avery Dennison for example. SmartBlog’s Andy Answers did in their post “How Avery Dennison got started in social media.” Though they are a familiar brand, they are not exactly a trendy topic for a Facebook page. According to Joyce Munoz, group manager of interactive marketing for Avery Dennison, they had the same concerns. However, they are seeing some early success through social media. Her full presentation is viewable in the article, but a couple of key ideas that seem interesting include keeping it simple – pick a platform or maybe two and focus on it (them) until you are comfortable moving forward; and to not analyze things to death in your planning process and just launch. Things tend to work themselves out as you learn and gain experience.

The SSN Take: Any size of organization could learn some good tips from watching this presentation and applying what works to their social media strategy.

Melody K. Smith, April 27, 2010

Note: Post was not sponsored.

Making Social Media Your Own

April 27th, 2010 | Posted by Melody K. Smith in branding | how to | marketing | News - (0 Comments)

Sometimes your needs are special and boxed products just don’t fit your organization. The same could be said for social media sites.

If this applies to you, consider “Do-It-Yourself Social Media“, Entrepreneurs article for those who aren’t getting what they want from mainstream social media. The author reminds you that building a social media website is not the same as adding social media elements to an already existing site. Step back and consider what features you want to offer. What do you want your site to do for the user? Consider the goals in stages. What do you want to achieve this year, next year, and the next ten years? Take a good look at the technology options out there to determine what best fits your needs and budget.

The SSN Take: It is important to remember that building a social website is about two important points–a clear business model and the applications used to help you grow that business.

Melody K. Smith, April 27, 2010

Note: Post was not sponsored.