Archive for November, 2008

Personality: Is it needed?

Published November 12, 2008 Marketing , Strategy 1 Comment
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What is needed to succeed on Twitter? Let’s cut through the posts concerning tools and case studies and distill the essential elements. First off: Let’s get in the right mindset. Twitter – or any microblogging platform – is a channel for your organization. It’s not about technology, it’s about engagement.

I see four measurable elements in microblog use:

  1. Frequency of posts — How active is the account?
  2. Level of Interaction — Does the account holder interact with followers?
  3. Type of Content — What is the general nature of the account? Promotional, news, et al?
  4. Personality — The vibe and tone of the tweets… what would grab a stranger and make them follow?

All of these factors influence people to follow the account and form the basis for long term engagement. One factor that is perhaps the most difficult to describe and measure is personality (I’ve referred to this as the p-factor; yes, I like those types of monikers;-) Microblogging limits you to 140 characters, so you need to connect with the community. Take a look at the following tweet from @MarkDykeman:

Came across a field, from one of our legacy systems, named ISCRAP. Who says IT isn’t transparent? :)

If you read this Tweet, would you be motivated to click on his username and possibly follow the account? Now look at this version that I rewrote for comparison – talk about a wet blanket:

Came across a field, from one of our legacy systems, named ISCRAP. Need to examine ERD for further detail.

Is personality needed? Yes, for most uses. What are the exceptions? Recognized brands, political leaders and media channels to name a few. Does @BarackObama need to inject personality in tweets? With over 107,000 followers, the answer would be a resounding no. For those of us without an established offline image, personality contributes to the value proposition we offer followers. Is it possible to take personality too far? Look around on Twitter… I won’t start any flame wars by listing them here;-)

Twitter: One step closer to a business model?

Published November 12, 2008 Strategy Leave a Comment
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Top story in today’s Section 2 from OnlineMediaDaily:

Twitter Eyes Charging Firms As Startup Valuations Drop

Yes, the darling application of the microblogging world comes one step closer to a real (e.g. sustainable) business model. Don’t get me wrong, I love Twitter; it’s been the jumping point for a lot of my recent work, including my posts at the Touchbase blog. However, the dependency on VC dollars is something that wouldn’t last, especially in this economy. In particular:

Twitter, the wildly popular microblogging service with no business model, may be forced to charge companies for access to its users, founder Evan Williams told Bloomberg News. Williams, who recently replaced Jack Dorsey as CEO, said he wanted to start weaning the company off venture capital, especially as the economic climate sours.

Adopting a sustainable model may become a priority for other start-up firms:

According to Michael Patrick, a partner at the law firm Fenwick & West, startup valuations have fallen at least 20% in the past year. Bloomberg noted that the fall in valuations comes at a time when many young Silicon Valley firms need to raise more capital just to survive.

The lessons here:

  • Sustainability is more than a good idea, it’s a business necessity.
  • Twitter established microblogging, but Yammer and Qikcom are perfecting the model for private networks.

When life gives you lemons… make orange juice?

Published November 6, 2008 Marketing Leave a Comment
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I found this sign in the grocery store this evening:

Lemons

Whoa… lemons are perfect for orange juice?

What are you telling your customers?

ROI and Social Media

Published November 3, 2008 Strategy , Uncategorized 2 Comments
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Name one of the most overused words in business today. If you said “Web 2.0,” you’re right, but there’s one even more insidious: ROI. Many have posted about it, but when asked “show me,” most remain silent. So is there any tangible return on investment, or is it as much or a mystery as our friend here.

When does ROI work for social media? The type of use must be easily measurable within a quantified framework — in plain English: use must correspond to numbers, such as views or sales. Take a promotion or sales presence, such as http://twitter.com/delloutlet. The manager of the account would be able to link site sales directly through user activity. A telesales center would be another good candidate for such financial measures.

So what about other forms of use?

Measurement is indirect and based on “human capital;” if you’re looking for a definition, check out the work by Drs Kaplan and Norton at The Palladium Group. Social media is based on engagement — a measure that doesn’t lend itself well to measurement for either the employee or the audience. Engagement is also asynchronous – activity doesn’t always immediately result in a sale or greater satisfaction. This difficulty isn’t limited to social media: public relations is another profession that isn’t well suited for ROI. I don’t believe engagement can be measured adequately (why: take a look at chaos or complexity theories).

My suggestion: create a new class of measurements called strategic return on activities (SROA). Following the work of Kaplan and Norton, activity of staff would be measured in terms of alignment to strategic goals of the organization. Following the work in Strategy Maps, social media would be folded under the appropriate internal, customer and financial perspectives. The greater an employee (e.g. Web or community manager) is prepared and motivated to perform the job, the strong the impact on the organization and it’s customers.

Now I’m interested in numbers as well. Unless social media can directly impact revenue or costs, it’s a financial liability. To counter this, activity would be quantified in terms of time (as a percent of salary plus overhead), along with any investment in information technology. This is measured against the internal and customer perspectives: is better intel going to product development, or are customers indicating a greater satisfaction with social resources. Most importantly, does this change over time and correspond to investment in social media operations? 

Coming up next: what activities will yield the greatest results.

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