What Gets More Social Media Likes

We have encountered uncharted waters where fake news is the dominant topic of matter. This topic has put into question facts which are taking a back seat (for some). Stories that are made up and well planted will quickly be shared online throughout main stream channels including news outlets.

As I researched quantum computing, I came across an article about Justin Trudeau describing what quantum computing was and how the video of this occurrence went viral. The author made the bold statement that The Trudeau story is a perfect, gleaming artifact of a system in which truth is that which gets the most Facebook shares. 

This statement lead me to question what actually receives more Likes?

Topics That I Post On Linkedin

Everything not only seems to be different but it really is different. The rhetoric online is vial and extreme. Everybody is trying to out-do the next. Some of this behavior has transpired on LinkedIn. Politics and religion do not belong on the platform (disclaimer: this is my view and what I impose for this channel). 

I will remain diligent with my LinkedIn content to follow the code of the platform. If I find connections repeatedly posting the content that has nothing to do with the platforms regulations, I will eventually block or remove them from my contacts. Keep LinkedIn separate from religion and politics. 

Linkedin Publishing Platform Guidelines
LinkedIn is the largest professional networking site available today. LinkedIn provides a way to connect with other professionals and helps you stay in contact with millions of users. LinkedIn is strictly used for exchanging knowledge, ideas, and employment opportunities and has increasingly become a leading tool for helping individuals expand their networks as well as find jobs in their field. See complete guidelines here.

I enjoy LinkedIn more and more but do not want the unprofessional content in my feed. I have over 6,000 connections and value those relationships. I learn daily from my connections and relish in their successes. Let's keep it professional.


Michael Newhouse
WCN group
wcngroup@gmail.com

The Number #1 Social Media Fail

Has this happened to you? Your surfing the web or you followed a link to a brand's website interested in finding out more information and to possibly buy something. You get to the site and start scrolling around then you want to check on their social media channels and BAM it happens. The link opens in the same window browser or better yet it's a broken link.

When your link opens in the same window browser the visitor has now entered in to the social media black hole. Once in the black hole the amount of distractions are to enticing for even the most diligent of folks. 

Social Media Black Hole

You had one chance to convert this potential customer and now they're gone. Correct this social media fail immediately.

What Not To Do On Social Media

If social media was easy everybody would be doing it well. But that is obviously not the case. Every week we see examples of social media gone wrong (or really bad). The is week we had a wonderful bad example of social media by a senior GOP staffer bashing the daughters of the President on Facebook. Not the first time for this self-proclaimed GOPgirl posting ill-advised content on social platforms.

Another example of social media gone wild, a recent Twitter post by Malaysian Airlines was not only untimely but insensitive to the family members still coping with the loss of ill-fated flight 370. The airline tried to loosely justify the tweet by saying it was a promotion to inspire people. Where is the overall strategy and content manager? This brand should be operating in crisis mode still and carefully review all content it's releasing.

Not sure these people truly understand the magnitude of social media and its reach. Also imperative to note that these people are running digital agencies providing services to other brands and businesses. Would this be a digital agency you would want to handle your social media?

Update 12/1/2014
GOP Staffer who criticized Obama's daughters has resigned. I wonder what her other clients or current client pitches will do?


Michael Newhouse
WCN group
wcngroup@gmail.com

Wells Fargo Getting Social Serious

Yes, you read that right. Just a few years ago large corporations, especially in sensitive industries (financial, insurance, government...) were hesitant to jump into the social media arena. Those days are completely over, while the value and opportunity to engage with customers has proven to be an opportunity not to be missed. Enjoy reading about how Wells Fargo is strategically implementing their social media integration.

Wells Fargo to Expand Social Media Pilot

WCNGroup is a Strategic Marketing and Branding agency founded by Michael Newhouse. Services include brand identity, demographic discovery, marketing planning, business plan development, experiential campaign execution, digital marketing and social media.

What's missing in your Brand Monitoring

Most businesses are online with a website, social media presence and possibly doing some SEO within those properties. Now some have taken the next step to include monitoring brand content and industry specific conversations online. Tools to monitor these activities vary from free (Google Alerts) to paid (Raven Tools) and can be set to keyword terms that are being used to describe and define your brand.

So what is missing with Brand Monitoring?

Missing from Brand Monitoring is when marketing agencies are contracted to provide social media and content strategy services that are Not capable of accurately representing the brand. This type of brand negligence can rapidly damage the brand with months of work needed to clean up the mess. Just cause an agency states that they know social media and/or content management does not mean they are astute in this marketing activity. Your responsibility as a brand or agency of record (AOR) is to perform your own online review which should include basic searches about the company and its constitutes.

The current customer is getting savvier by the day with reading reviews, joining brand's social media platforms, performing their own search and finally, ad networks are getting in on this action by way of designed ads that include who likes what brand and what they are saying. For the unskilled marketer, this can be a daunting task with a wide variety of answers online.

The amount of information and data about your brand is there for your taking. So take it and run with it! What you'll find is truly a gold mine of information and the most embracing, wonderful brand ambassadors that can do more for your brand than ever imaginable.

All the Best,


Michael Newhouse




WCNGroup is a Strategic Marketing and Branding agency founded by Michael Newhouse. Services include brand identity, demographic discovery, marketing planning, business plan development, experiential campaign execution, digital marketing and social media.

Social Media Paparazzi Catches Russell Brand

Russell Brand unfollows Katy Perry on Twitter as reported by Wonderwall. Social media is now the go to de-facto in Celebrity relationships. Celebrities not only have photographer paparazzi following their every move, they now can include social media paparazzi.

Social media will never go away, it's not a trend or a fad it is extending conversation with technology. Technology will change is the only constant at this time. If you are a social media strategist, agency, community manager or a small business owner, this better be in the back of your mind daily.

Following celebrity relationships social media interactivity is as intriguing to people as their career itself. What will this do to the Publicist, PR agencies and entertainment management companies that retain these clients? This new level in exposure is a real concern due to one tweet can endanger a career, at least for a moment (we tend to forgive and forget).

The sheer power of social media is undeniable but the management of it will be more critical as social norms and other regulations will be instituted. The role of social media agencies who truly understand pr, marketing, promotions, technology, advertising and digital strategy will be key players in all agencies and businesses.

Stay thirsty for knowledge my friends....


Michael Newhouse

WCNGroup is a full service Brand and Marketing agency deeply rooted in developing successful solutions for brands that match their marketing and sales goals. From brand research, customer discovery, events, creative, digital marketing and social media.

How Facebook will Celebrate 700,000,000

Facebook is on the verge of celebrating 700,000,000 users according to reports by SocialBakers.  This number has many doubters pertaining to the real number of users vs fake accounts; accounts that are barely used and accounts of the deceased (morbid, I know).  When you are the top dog there is always going to be pessimist decrying why this position is not validated.

But, I am a marketer and concerned about, "How Facebook will Celebrate" this monumental achievement.  Will they hold a major press conference Live on Facebook introducing the 700,000,000 user?  I know if Richard Branson (@richardbranson) had this type of PR opportunity he would take full advantage of this potential marketing goldmine.

Historically, Facebook has not be one to celebrate these milestones but as the brand matures through the product life cycle, marketing activities in addition to product enhancements must take place.  My advice to clients is always, "You have to make news to get news", meaning if you want some type of press coverage, word of mouth, viral, blogger coverage etc, you have to make news for them.

I have several ideas for this momentous event but want to hear, if given the opportunity, What would you recommend?



WCNGroup is a full service Brand and Marketing agency deeply rooted in developing successful solutions for brands that match their marketing and sales goals. From brand research, customer discovery, events, creative, digital marketing and social media.

 Don't let Marketing Dinosaurs sour the rEvolution.

*Amazing Video produced by Socialnomics.

WCNGroup is a full service Brand and Marketing agency deeply rooted in developing successful solutions for brands that match their marketing and sales goals. From brand research, customer discovery, events, creative, digital marketing and social media.

Toddler Stage of Social Media

"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm", Winston Churchill

Social Media is at the "Toddler Stage" of development both at the platform and utilization stage. The main player (platform) at this moment is Facebook. They are continually making updates to the platform and extremely attentive to user requirements. These updates are sometimes good and sometimes not beneficial. It is like the majority of social media platforms, a free platform so you cannot sink your entire social media plan into just one tool.

The utilization of social media is where the most effort and concentration currently lies (for most). Some companies have the "build and they will come" mentality, that just by setting up a variety of platforms that their audience will be there and interactive. This reality is only half-correct for a handful of companies that have a large audience already in existence. For example, Domino's pizza can set up a presence on a platform and inform their audience using their main utility (website) that directs customers to their facebook page. From their 9,000+ stores with millions of customers served they are going to secure millions of fans seeking promotion information, deals etc. I continue use this example when discussing social media clients because they should not view this type of social media success as what they can achieve overnight.

Having "likes" or "fans" does not guarantee social media success! This is where social media is currently at in its utilization development, a Toddler. The size of your "fan" like base does not dictate successful utilization of social media marketing! As I stated in the previous paragraph, size is not the only measure (KPI) of social media success. Anybody can appear to be a "Social Media Rock Star" if they were tasked with starting Domino's social media Facebook page. *see recent DigiDay article, "The Like Trap".

Likes or fans are the shorthand currency of social media now.  But everyone knows likes don’t tell the whole story, or even most of it.  From DigiDay article "The Like Trap".

Toddler development is characterized by four key components:

• motor development - this is about body posture and large movements of the limbs and the developmental road to walking
• fine motor development and vision - this is about manipulative skills leading eventually to being able to do complicated manual tasks
• speech and language development and hearing - this is about language development, which is a key human characteristic.  
• personal and social development - this is about the development of self and interactions with others

Let's transfer these toddler stages of development into social media development.

• Motor Development - this about social media posturing or presence.  Is your presence true to the branding of the company (look and feel)?  Is your social media strategy integrated in all facets of your company (customer service, sales, marketing, operations...)?
• Fine motor development and vision - this is about utilizing current technology within the social media platforms that allow for visitors to navigate within the utility in addition to the company being able to utilize robust back end analytics to measure and evaluate activities.
• Speech and language development and hearing - this is the key to understanding and communicating with your social media community.  Listening should always be a key tracking activity because this provides an understanding of what topics and concerns your community is passionate about. 
• Personal and social development - Once you have established a base of communication sentiment this will dictate how you will interact with the community.  As we engage with our community both at a one-to-one level and group, we will develop personal relationships with our community thus allowing what social media is designed for - Social development.

 Toddler development comes with daily attempts, successes and failures.  The lessons learned from these events takes time to internalize for continued improvement.  We must evaluate the attempts, opportunities and teachable moments in order to successfully navigate the Social Media Toddler stage of development.
 

Social Media Strategy

Vision without action is a daydream.*Action without vision is a nightmare. Proverb Japanese

Social Media a 5 Year Old Can Understand

If you had to explain Social Media to a 5 year old,  

what would you say?

Bruce Luce of Social Media

Bruce Lee revolutionized martial arts by bringing together creative movements, training and nutrition.  Bruce Lee was obsessed with learning and developing his own style.  He studied film techniques, script development and fight sequences.  He then brought all this together on film. 

As Social Media evolves from its infancy stages there are several key figures that are revolutionizing social media and leveraging it for brands.

Who are these current Bruce Lee's of Social Media?

If you know of one, please comment with a link to their online work.

Highlights from 2010

What a roller coaster year 2010 has been.  I use the term "Roller Coaster" because even when a roller coaster is at a low on a straight away it is still traveling with speed.  One of the most important components of a successful Advertising/Marketing/Digital Agency is the ability to evaluate past work of the agency and others then transform that into teachable moments within and outside the agency.  In my past work (Psychology) we called this "teachable moments".

Teachable moments can be overwhelming, just ask a parent, but the key is knowing when the right environment exist that will elicit the best response.  This past year seemed to be moving at light speed with the meteoric rise of the desire for almost every business to be have a Social Media Strategy.  In several blog post I discussed the "Scammers, Spammers, Internet Marketing Experts and Network Marketers" and how they all claim to be Social Media Experts, Gurus, blah, blah, blah and to run as fast as you can from them.  Knowing that Social Media and even Search Engine Marketing is changing daily, it is virtually impossible to be an expert in this moment.
*follow the few key leaders in the industry who amass all the new tools, apps, data, strategies and news.

A few highs for WCN Group this year:

• TedxConejo assisted client with Marketing & Sales achieving a sell out for the 1st annual conference
• Secured Product Placement for brand Skitter Toys on "The Ellen" show.
• Secured Print Placement in "Seventeen" Magazine for apparel client Three Peas Co.
• Created Social Media Strategy & PR outreach for World Record Setting client Ventura Deep Six Team
• Developed PR plan for client Roberts Surfboards providing 10 minutes of prime time News Coverage in Los Angeles market

Thanks for the ride to the above WCN Group agency client's and the others not on this list.  We had many "teachable moments" that we will continue to implement and share with clients.

Truth Be Told

As more and more businesses pursue social media, the discussion always involves what content to share.  Content is King no matter what industry you are in.  The better the content, the more engaged your audience and more willing they are to share. 

As the year comes to close and marketing strategies are finalized the main discussion is Social Media (why, how, what, where and when).  One of the main social media factors is authentic and transparent communication.  Discussion after discussion with clients is what to post.  My experience in social media has lead to nervous clients wanting to pull down post that provoked a strong response with some negativity. 

My first question is why?  The typical response, "it's bad press and making people mad, people are emailing and calling to complain".  After a few minutes of nervous ranting and concern we start to discuss why exactly people are having this reaction and the positive and negative factors from the interactions. 

The main social media concepts I share with clients are: 1) you are not going to please everybody 2) within your audience are multiple subsets of customers (one shoe does not fit all in size and style) 3) perception is the editor of reality and 4) if they do not talk on your site (page, website, blog etc) they will find a place to do this, thus making it appear as if you were trying to hide the conversation, not trust worthy and un-authentic. 

To exemplify my point, recently a well know band called Paramore had a falling out within the band with two of the original founders leaving at the height of their popularity.  Before the news was officially released, one of the remaining members posted on the band's website their take on the breakup of the band (this was obviously orchestrated by the record label and management). This tactic backfired because details of the break up were not finalized thus creating a "Truth be Told" moment online.  The two members that were leaving the group decided to post their side of the story in a blog post which then was countered with a post from the remaining member as questioning the authenticity of the post.  This prompted the two leaving members to post a Video stating that their blog post was authentic revealing the truth within the band and its demise. 

Bottom online, you can hide and ignore but the discussion will continue with or without you.  As played out in the press for years, ignoring and hiding create speculation of guilt.  Being able to respond to negativity within your context (website, blog, social media site..) allows for editing control, this we did not have when the media controlled all. 

Spammers, Scammers, Internet Marketing Experts, Network Marketers...

With the rising popularity of #social #media which opened the door for poaching thousands of unsuspecting individuals, the tactics and strategies used are bolder than ever. Give me your $ money and you will get nothing in return should be their tag line because it is so blatant scamming. In some of my previous post I talked about "Social Media Gurus", "Social Media Experts" etc which promise some of the same returns as the spammers, scammers, internet marketing experts and network marketers.

In a well explored article by Bob Sullivan called, "The Women of Twitter: Behind those sexy tweets" he tried to reach out to these Twitter accounts to interview them but none responded.  Bob explains in the article the scam, "their methods are always the same -- steal clicks, sell ads against them, then try to upsell some other crazy service".  The majority of these scams come from International locations and I have witnessed a quote a few from New Zealand.  

I should also throw in some of the SEO black hatters, Link builders and Directory sites that  continue to fill our in boxes with emails claiming to act now or loose your domain, build thousands of links and enter your business here in our Directory etc. 

Bottom line, be careful, do your Google search, if they do not have a legit presence online stop there and run.  Use your trusted connections off and on line to further your investigation.  If you still have questions, you can send an email and I will investigate. 

Have fun and play safe.

Authenticity is a Must

Social Media is not going away and will be a permanent part of our societal communication infrastructure.  Companies, organizations and individuals must be aware of this trend that has been approaching on two years.  There are many, many examples of this #marketing #social # media #failure currently still taking place daily.  Here is one from today that was shared via @MichaelNewhouse #Twitter:
@LoriMorenoRT @KevinMinott RT @HuffingtonPost: Leaked memos show Fox News boss telling staffers how to spin health care debate http://huff.to/fJEpfo

Social Media Experts

                                     Who are they?

               Do they really exist?

There have been many now that proclaim to be  the so called "Social Media Expert" status.  These people attempt to define their status with amount of followers, training they have conducted, who they know etc.  If it is an Agency, they claim to have worked with name brand clients with "look how many followers" we got them, ran a social media contest that was "Lead Generation" activity, developed Facebook landing page etc.

As Social Media acceptance grows and all businesses realize they need a social media strategy, more so called Social Media Experts, Social Media Gurus and Marketing Agencies that provide social media solutions will be posing as Experts and soliciting their social media solutions.  Be Ware!

 I always pose the example of the Domino's Pizza Facebook account: if given this account to establish it would not be difficult to get over 100,00 followers or even 500k.  For the record, the Domino's Pizza Facebook account has over 1 million followers.

Malcom Gladwell's book Outliers, he introduced research from Dr. K. Anders Ericsson that suggested being great at something takes 10,000 hours of practice.  The study is subjective because depending on the activity pursuit, learning curves and mastery level may take less hours and some individuals master activities faster than others.  So, who has over 10,000 hours practicing social media?  5000?  2500?

Here are 10 questions to ask your social media expert or agency.

Facebook gives MySpace a bandaid

In another  hyped up press conference yesterday (11/18/10), Facebook announced they will be partnering with MySpace allowing users to log into the site with their Facebook login and share content more easily between the two properties.  The partnership called, Mashup with Facebook, further reveals MySpace's strategy to reposition itself as more of a music and entertainment hub than a Social Platform which is Facebook's strategic direction.

The new feature leverages Facebook Connect and builds on an initiative that MySpace unveiled in August called Sync with Facebook that let its users sync status updates with their Facebook profile and share content more easily with Facebook friends. The latest alliance is intended to match users' Facebook profile data and interests with music, movie, TV and celebrity-related content on MySpace. MySpace will let users port their Facebook "Interests and Likes" information into MySpace to create customized content streams on the site. *MediaPost 11/2010 article.

MySpace CEO Mike Jones said the new integration with Facebook rolling out globally today illustrated the company's strategy to be the Web's "leading social entertainment destination."   Facebook  easily surpassed MySpace over two years with current estimates on users at over 500 million with MySpace bleeding users with a highly speculative report of 130 million users.

Is this a case of a brilliant PR move by Facebook allowing for MySpace to have dignity in their eventual death and/or knowing that the MySpace platform will eventually be reduced to what it started out to be, a social platform for bands/artist to market themselves which will be a viable platform for advertising.  Once MySpace becomes stabilized within their strategy of being the Web's "leading social entertainment destination"I believe Facebook will purchase MySpace because why invent the social platform wheel. 

MySpace, owed by News Corp., COO Chase Carey said earlier this month in a conference call with analysts that MySpace's "current losses are not acceptable or sustainable," raising speculation that the media giant could shutter the site. News Corp. acquired MySpace in 2005 for $580 million.  This statement could have very well been strategic positioning to raise awareness for the MySpace possible investors looking to purchase this out-of-control drunk collage kid of social platform that thought it could take over the World.  I believe MySpace, or at least News Corp., has sobered up enough to realize that it is time to make immediate changes in their life and this is one of them.

As a Brand and Marketing Strategist, I rarely hear myself suggest to client to create a MySpace account.  Again, we will have to see how this new Mashup partnership works out and if MySpace is just going to be a joke we tell of Social Platforms past.

The Top 10 Brands by Likers on Facebook

With 500 million members and counting, Facebook is the most dominant Social Media platform for Business.  With the ability to openly communicate with consumers, Brands are developing interactions like never before seen.  Even though these Brands have large number of participants does not guarantee social media strategy success.  If you do not engage in open conversation and provide engaging interactivity, like a boring TV show, they will tune you out.
 
1. Starbucks – 16 million
2. Coca-Cola – 15 million
3. Oreo – 12 million
4. Skittles – 11.5 million
5. Red Bull – 10.2 million
6. Victoria’s Secret – 8.4 million
7. Disney – 8.3 million
8. Converse All Star – 7.3 million
9. iTunes – 7 million
10. Windows Live Messenger – 6.8 million