Archive for January, 2008

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Case Studies? Anyone?

08.01.31

For all the talk of openness, transparency and community in social media, there’s one thing missing.

Either be a good example or a horrible warningCase studies.

Social media is still an emerging area, and it’s moving at light speed in many areas – video and mobile, to name two.

However, the lack of fleshed-out examples of success has bothered me a lot recently.

For social media to progress beyond teenagers and a few niche agencies, we need widespread adoption. That means buy-in from senior executives.

For that, we need examples of successful social media initiatives that we can hold up and show to our bosses, our clients and our colleagues.

We need case studies of social media successes.

I recently asked my Twitter contacts why they thought there aren’t more case studies, and was met with an unusual wall of silence. The exception was Collin Douma, who pointed out that agencies need permission from clients to release data about their work. Without that, case studies aren’t going anywhere.

That’s fair enough, except I can’t believe that no organizations are willing to blow their own horn and show off their successes.

I’ve also noticed that case studies are one of the biggest gaps in contributions to the Social Media Training Wiki.

I’m beginning to wonder:

Do the evangelists really believe the market is big enough for all of us or are they keeping their cards close to their chest out of choice? Is all the talk of community really just hot air?

(That would be fine – I wouldn’t expect organizations in most sectors to reveal their secrets – were it not for all the talk to the contrary. I’m beginning to wonder if there’s a lot of talk without people practicing what they preach)

Is the lack of accepted standard measurement tools making people loath to publish their figures? I could understand that. Still, surely you’re using something to determine success or failure.

I have found a few case studies. Metrics are few and far between, but at least they’re putting this stuff out there:

Attending CaseCamp Toronto 6 in November 2007 threw up a few good examples too, including Vortex Mobile’s campaign for Levis and the Globe & Mail’s enabling of comments on its website.

Unfortunately, too many of these "case studies" are anecdotal, with little hard data to back them up. That’s what we need.

Have you found a similar lack of case studies? If so, why do you think this is?

What good case studies have you found?

(photo credit: Major Clanger)

Posted in: case studies, social media

5Comments

Low-Brow Reporting From The Globe And Mail

08.01.30

Referring to this story in the Globe and Mail.

Posted in: media

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Will Pate Talks About PodCamp Toronto

08.01.29

Will PateWill Pate has been a technology entrepreneur and community builder since co-founding his first business, Infinity BBS, in elementary school.

Since then he has co-founded Raincity Studios, a Vancouver-based new media design, development and web marketing firm and has worked at Flock and on a project called Mazava.

He is currently the Community Evangelist at ConceptShare and co-host of tech news show CommandN.

Perhaps most importantly though, Will was the tenth person to register for PodCamp Toronto 2008!

I asked Will about his expectations for PodCamp Toronto, what he hopes to get out of it and who he’s looking forward to seeing at the event next month.

Is this your first PodCamp? If not, what other events have you been to?

Pate: Although I’m a veteran of BarCamps, this is my first PodCamp. I hope there is no terrible initiation

Why did you decide to register?

Pate: I heard good things about PodCamp last year, but unfortunately I couldn’t make it. I’ve been co-hosting commandN for about a year now, and I’m bummed to say I haven’t met enough local folks making podcasts.

What do you hope to get out of the weekend?

Pate: Friends, some co-conspirators for future projects and folks I can recommend to people looking for their skills.

Which session are you most looking forward to?

Pate: An Example of a Session Title – Jay Moonah" – Haha!

Seriously though, I’ve been following the idea of the "social media release" so I’ll be looking forward to hearing Collin Douma flesh out the idea.

Is there a session that’s not on the list that you’d like to see? What it?

Pate: Perhaps I should rework my "Guerilla marketing for content producers" presentation that I gave at nextMEDIA. Folks seemed to like it, and I bet the audience could get something out of it.

Name one thing you’d recommend visitors to Toronto do while they’re in town for PodCamp

Pate: Go for a beer with the group after the sessions are over. Don’t miss some of the best conversations.

Thanks Will!

We’ll be posting a few of these interviews over the next little while. If you want to meet the folks interviewed and check out the sesions they’re excited about, then sign up for PodCamp Toronto!

(cross-posted to the PodCamp Toronto 2008 blog)

Posted in: podcamptoronto, podcamptoronto2008

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Don’t Make Perfection The Enemy Of Good

08.01.29

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Posted in: social media

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How To Use Twitter Packs — And Twitter — Successfully

08.01.28

Twitter can be pretty intimidating. To people just starting out following few people, and with few followers of Flocking with those with similar interests on Twitter can help you get startedtheir own, it can seem like their words are disappearing into the ether.

After a few days of broadcasting into silence, those people drift away having never realized the immense potential of this tool.

I recently wrote about how to find people to follow on Twitter. Chris Brogan has gone one better.

The idea? Twitter Packs.

If someone were joining Twitter today, who should they follow?

The idea behind Twitter Packs is simple – create lists of people with shared interests, geography, etc, so that new users can find a few good people to follow and help them get up to speed on Twitter. Chris decided to use a wiki to let the community contribute to the lists.

Great idea in my book.

Problems

However, there are a few problems with the result. They largely result from the tool that is being used – the wiki.

Why? Because people on these lists may, over time, gain a lot of followers.  As a result, a lot of people want to be on those lists – just like Jeremiah Owyang’s follow-fest a while back. In fact, the demand for the site has been so high that it was pretty hard to get access to edit the wiki for large parts of today.

Simply put, there’s a lot of chaff in amongst the wheat.

Another potential flaw – the possibility that these ‘packs’ lead to Twitter cliques and undermine the openness that is responsible for much of Twitter’s success. The potential is especially large with some of the race/sexual orientation/religion groups. However, that’s not the intention and I would hope there are equal benefits for people who may look for connections and support within those groups.

So, yes, there are flaws. Chris openly acknowledges the problems with Twitter Packs.

Still, it’s fundamentally a good idea. The question is:

How can you use Twitter Packs successfully?

I recommend four principles, which you can also apply to Twitter in general:

Open up

The sheer number of people who want to get involved requires Twitter Packs to split into narrowly-defined groups. Remember, though: they’re not intended to narrow your perspective.

If you live in Toronto (hello!) don’t just follow Torontonians. If you’re a marketer, consider following people in other professions. If you’re a runner, you’ll likely have things in common with cyclists too.

Be open with other people. Be careful, as you should always be online, but don’t define your own horizons as narrowly as these groups.

Recommendations as a guide, not as a rule book

Start with the lists and work from there. Don’t stop at the end of the list. Look at who those people are following. Who do you find interesting? Who says things that are relevant to you? Consider whether you want to follow them too.

Use your judgement

There’s a lot of “me too!” in the Twitter Packs. Don’t follow people blindly. Read what they say. Check out their blogs. Get a sense of who they are before you follow them.

Define “useful” as it applies to you. Don’t clutter your airwaves with people that have nothing useful to say.

Take Your Time

Ease in to your new-found community. Don’t rush in.

As you follow more and more people on Twitter, the way you use the tool will need to change. For example, you won’t be able to follow every message any more – you’ll have to be more selective. That’s a difficult enough transition without leaping head-first into it.

Furthermore, people will look at your follow/follower ration when they decide whether to follow you back (i.e. whether to listen to you) or not. Why? To avoid following the spammers who are starting to appear on Twitter. If you add a tonne of people at once it will skew your numbers, reduce the likelihood of people following you and lower the chance of you having a productive, positive experience.

Conclusion

So there you have it. Four tips for getting the most out of Twitter Packs:

  1. Open up
  2. Use recommendations as a guide, not a rule book
  3. Use your judgement
  4. Take your time

Experienced Twitterers – what tips would you offer for newcomers looking to use these lists?

(Photo credits: zzzed)

Posted in: Twitter, how to

11Comments

Twitter Packs, Tweetmeme and Releasing Social Media Metrics

08.01.28

Posted in: Twitter, measurement, social media, statistics

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How Do You Define ‘Media’ In A Crisis?

08.01.26

Huntsville flood I recently witnessed the government’s emergency management operation in action when flooding in the Ontario community of Huntsville left roughly 120 homes under 5 feet of water in early January.

I was the communications guy at the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre. While we never moved from a monitoring role, it was fascinating to see things click into gear.

Skip forward to last Thursday. I sat in on my final ‘legacy’ from my old job – an excellent course on crisis communications that I organized last year before moving on.

It’s fair to say I’ve thought a lot about crisis communications (more formally, "emergency information") recently.

During the course, the instructors repeatedly mentioned the need to monitor conversations online, both to prevent issues from worsening and to ensure you’re aware of what people are saying during an actual crisis.

However, they were very clear that when it came to the media attending news conferences and reporting on a crisis, you should only allow accredited, traditional media to attend.

Noticing the apparent contradiction, I asked the instructors if they saw their definition of "media" expanding or blurring over time to include bloggers or other "citizen journalists." Did they see a move towards dealing with new forms of the media in a crisis?

The answer: a firm "no."

Normally I would argue quite strongly with a response like that. However, I can see two valid sides to this issue in an emergency situation.

Side 1: Stick To "Traditional" Media

Crises and disasters can be chaotic. You need to maintain control of the situation. Not in the traditional "control the media" sense of the word, but in the "keeping order" sense. By vetting journalists, you can prevent people who are intent on disrupting things from getting access to the scene.

Furthermore, in a major incident you may already have more journalists on the scene than you can deal with. If you have 600 journalists present but only have the capacity to take 300 on a site visit, adding 400 "citizen journalists" to the mix only complicates things and dilutes your efforts among more people. (I made those numbers up)

Side 2: Work With The "New" Media

We’ve already established that you’re monitoring blogs, messages boards and the like for coverage of the situation. In an ideal world you’re responding to it, too. Why not give them access to the situation? These people are worthy of note, but only after they’ve criticized you?

I could take issue, too, with the idea that allowing the great unwashed public into the situation constitutes a serious risk. Media aren’t given free access to everything – centrally they’re still located in a designated area away from the operations centre and on-site they’re in a similarly-controlled location.

My Take

I’m not too sure where I stand on this question. On one hand it grates that citizens aren’t seen as trustworthy. On the other hand, if even minor incidents like Huntsville can be difficult to coordinate then it is essential to keep things running as smoothly as possible.

(Note: I use the word ‘minor’ only in terms of scale – the Huntsville flood wasn’t minor or insignificant for the people affected, responders on the scene or those of us responding to the emergency)

What do you think? Are we right to limit access to a crisis to professional media in the name of security and stability, or does emergency management need to change its definition of the media?

(Photo credit: Stephen Hernen)

Posted in: crisis communications, media

8Comments

Why Are You So Afraid Of Conversation?

08.01.22

A quick thought.

I’m currently working my way through Joseph Jaffe’s book ‘Join The Conversation.’ I’ve just finished Chapter 10, “Why are you so afraid of conversation?” which was written entirely by members of the online community via a wiki.

The chapter contains an insight from Mitch Joel that illustrates why I think he’s one of the smartest guys I know, and why you should subscribe to both his blog and his podcast:

Marketers spend their days worrying about losing control of their brand. They should be much more focused on the fact that they never had control of their brand. They were simply able to scream louder than the individual.

I see so much truth in this statement, it’s unreal. Marketers and communicators need to understand that new media tools let consumers scream loudly too.

What’s more, loss of control is a myth. You won’t lose control if you engage online. You will, however, gain the ability to respond to online criticism – something Ford used very effectively recently.

To over-simplify slightly, you have a choice: choose silence and let people discuss you without your input, or engage people in that discussion.

What do you choose?

Posted in: marketing

2Comments

Fact-Check Before Blogging

08.01.21

In the last little while I’ve seen a few worrying slip-ups in the wonderful world of the blogosphere.

First up, on December 30, 2007 the Washington Post reported that the Recording Industry Association of America sued a man for copying his own CDs onto his computer. With a story like that, it’s not surprising that a blogging storm erupted on the issue, with bloggers left, right and centre slamming the RIAA.

A little later it emerged that the Post story was, well, inaccurate. The RIAA’s lawsuit wasn’t for just copying the CDs, it was for storing the files on a shared folder on his computer for distribution on a peer-to-peer network.

Whoops.

Then, earlier this month, a story emerged about Ford slapping down fans that wanted to produce a calendar with pictures of their Ford Mustangs. Popular blogger Cory Doctorow wrote about it on BoingBoing and another episode of righteous blogger fury emerged.

Again, the story was debunked shortly thereafter. Ford communicator Whitney Drake cropped up on various posts on the subject, stating:

Ford has no problem with Mustang or other car owners taking pictures of their vehicles for use in club materials like calendars.

(Side note: every one of Whitney Drake’s comments that I’ve seen are identical. Can you say "copy/paste?")

I’m not linking to posts of people who wrote on these subjects apart from the originators. Honestly, it’s only by luck that I’m not one of them. Giving your own take on what other people are writing is a common tactic and I’d be hypocritical if I judged anyone for this. It just happens that I didn’t feel that the topics fit well into my blog.

This is a stark reminder, though, that someone else writing a story doesn’t make it true. The fact that we’re (generally) not professional journalists doesn’t excuse us from a little fact checking. Even if the company doesn’t respond (oh, Target).

Personally, I’m glad I took the time to write to Rogers and get their take when I wrote about their bizarre page-spicing experiment. A lot of other people wrote about it in the meantime but when Rogers replied (badly) to me, I had confirmation that what I’d heard was true. My writing style may be suspect but at least the story’s foundation wasn’t.

Sure, I know the online world is very time sensitive. If you have an ‘exclusive’ and don’t publish it quickly, chances are that someone else will. Really, though, unless you’re in the ‘A-list’ and making a living off your blog, does that exclusive really matter? Even then, integrity should still be paramount. And how many of your posts are really exclusives?

I hope stories like this are exceptions and not indicative of a trend, but I do worry. Blogs have enough of a credibility problem among people who haven’t yet drunk the kool-aid without stories like this shining the spotlight on inaccurate reporting.

In this arena, our reputation and our credibility are all we have. Why risk it all for a few extra visits?

(Photo credit: stevec77)

Posted in: blogging

6Comments

Busting The Myth Of ‘Viral’ Strategies

08.01.19

"…and we’ll produce a viral video, too."

I’ve heard this way too often in the last year. I cringe every time. I usually bite my tongue and accept that the person is saying it through ignorance. One time, having a bad day, I spoke up: "Sorry, but I don’t think you can say it’s going to go viral."

The person looked at me like I’d slapped them in the face. Me and my big mouth.

Here’s what I meant: You can produce the perfect video, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to ‘go viral.’

You can’t make a ‘viral video.’

What can you do?

You can take steps to help your video on its way. Optimize the content, market it correctly, use it within a well thought-out strategy. You could even use some ethically-suspect tactics (note: don’t do it) to drive traffic.

All your work still doesn’t guarantee that people will watch it, like it and pass it on to others. That part depends on those people and a bit of luck.

I’ve had this post on my to-do list for a while, but today I found that Mitch Joel has written the perfect post on the exact same subject (and much more eloquently than I ever could).

As Mitch says:

If a Marketer claims that they can make something go viral, be sure to steal their crystal ball on the way out of the meeting.

Rather than re-inventing the wheel by writing the same stuff here, I suggest you head on over to the Canadian Marketing Association’s blog and read Mitch’s post.

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Posted in: marketing

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