The Think eBiz Blog

@BronxZoosCobra: A Great Example of Viral Twitter Marketing

Have you been living in a zoo cage? You do know about the Bronx Zoo's escaped Egyptian Cobra, right? However, were you aware that this cunning cobra has been tweeting about her escapade through NYC? Meet @BronxZoosCobra, a viral marketing genius.

"Checking Google maps. RT @sesamestreet The @bronxzooscobra is visiting places around NYC. Can anyone tell it how to get to Sesame Street?"

Within days, this sssssly snake gained over 200,000 followers and appeared on the Piers Morgan show with the founders of Twitter.

"Hey @piersmorgan, @jack and @biz, What does a snake have to do to get this account verified?"

Soon after, she was mentioned on CNN and Fox News and more. And her followers began to retweet and join in the fun at the hash tag #snakeonthetown.

"Enjoying a cupcake @magnoliabakery. This is going straight to my hips. Oh, wait. I don't have hips. Yesss! #snakeonthetown"

Magnolia Bakery along with Ellis Island, Guggenheim and many other NYC attractions received  great (and we presume free) viral publicity. Not to mention the publicity for the Bronx Zoo.

The BronxZoosCobra lives on after her recent capture...

"Just regurgitated my iPhone. Oh, it's ssso on now. You'll never guess what's coming. #freethebronxzooscobra"

What can business learn from the Celebrity Cobra's twitter campaign?

The Cobra struck fast; being the first to enter the Twitter jungle. Her tweets were topical, humorous and relevant - visiting interesting sites in New York City. A few copy cat snake Twitter accounts came online; and fell flat. There was room for only one small snake in this big city.

And most importantly, the ssssneaky snake did not try to monetize it's adventure; at least not right away. She established an interested base of followers building trust and credibility. Has she began to monetize her adventures?

"Even while incarcerated my reach extends beyond my 20 inches. I have hijacked Ryan Seacrest's Twitter. See for yourself @RyanSeacrest"

Twitter can be an incredibly powerful tool in your social media marketing campaign strategy. Even for a 20" escaped snake: BronxZoosCobra.

Facebook: Losing its Touch with Real People?

Banner Blindness; test subjects that "...either consciously or unconsciously ignored information that was presented in banners". Could this happen to Facebook; as a majority of updates are originating from commercial groups - rather than "friends"?

In the beginning; Facebook was about individuals sharing worthy (and at times mundane) information about themselves. Brands began to realize the value; the social aspect of Facebook. And some manage their social communications extremely well. Others simply have a Facebook presence because they believe they must be there. Not a worthy nor a successful Social Media Marketing strategy.

Side note: if you have a branded Facebook page and yet you "do not" allow people to write on your "wall", is it indeed social?

On my own Facebook page; dozens of news agencies and corporate brands present daily updates; while my friends communiques are buried in-between. At some point; will the people, the real faces of Facebook, drift away due to over-commercialization?

Brands should become aware of this; and present their updates when they have socially relevant information to share. Where they eagerly wish for their "faces" to come and respond and be social within their company Facebook page. The strategy should inspire responses; evoke shared experiences (including photos); and clearly not over-communicate. The branded sites that create a socially welcome environment will deliver on the ROI promise. We would like to see individuals vote on this with their "like" and "dislike"; which would send a clear message to the best and worst sites.

We'd like to know what you think of the current state of Facebook and how brands can enhance the experience - not cause its downfall.

B2B Social Media: It's about Listening (State Farm Insurance)

In my old age, I have become such a customer service curmudgeon. When a product disappoints me, I want to share this information with the company. In some cases, it might be just an outlet for my disappointment - or could be that I want an action to take place. In the past, I would send off a letter addressed to the company president, then wait to see if anything happens. Today - there is often a better way. Social Media.

In a previous blog entry, I discussed brands that made it easy for their consumer fans to reach out; and one that was not as interactive. In future articles, I will discuss sites that succeed or fail in this regard. One success story is State Farm Insurance.

In an Social Media Examiner interview with  Kelly Thul, Director of Communication Services at State Farm Insurance, Kelly discussed how they leverage social media for both employee's and customers. The one big take away for me - was that they use their social media platforms to "listen". Simple concept - to listen to your customers. And naturally, to respond back as well. In this example, lifted from the State Farm Insurance Facebook Fan page, a customer is clearly unhappy; and has received an immediate response. Whether they can help is not the issue; that they listened and responded is key. Key to maintaining and preserving their brand and customer base.

 

Comment in with any examples of the good, bad or ugly use of social media by major brands.

 

 

 

 

 

Crush-It: Gary Vay*Ner*Chuk's Social Marketing Motivation Book

If you never heard the name Gary Vaynerchuk, you have not been on Twitter, Facebook, Podcasts, YouTube or, for that matter, anywhere online. Gary is a high energy way over-the-top social marketing show man, business owner and now author. He is loud (his words).

His genesis is Wine Library, a wine store in Springfield New Jersey - and then an engaging Podcast called Wine library TV.  In his episodes, he discusses wine but with an entertainment flair. He truly brought wine to the every-man/woman. He is passionate about all things wine and it shows. His podcasts are must-see and infectious. You want to try these wines; do the "sniffy sniff" and so on.

However; today we are talking about his book:   Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion

Crush-it is a motivational book; where Gary implores you to drive your passion hard into real cash, using all the social media tools available. His point - these tools are mostly free and there is nothing stopping you from achieving your goals; except yourself. The book is a quick read and although he doesn't go into details on how to use Facebook or Twitter, he gives you a feeling of empowerment. That yes - you can!

Yet this isn't a book just for make hiking (my passion) a lucrative business. It's a great read for any business owner and entrepreneur. In the coming weeks we will be leveraging Gary's ideas and strategies for a client in that promotes PowerPoint Presentation templates - and for our own... hiking. We will document are steps, strategies, successes and learnings. Stay tuned as we try our own hand at Crushing It!

Blogs: Should they be incorporated within your company web site?

We are advising a B2B company about their social media marketing strategy and the question came up: "Should we integrate our blog with the web site, including navigation and look 'n feel, or should it  be a stand alone entity?".  A great question, so we asked the experts on LinkedIn for their advice.

Background: The company sells PowerPoint templates to business professionals. We advised them to create a blog, and leverage other channels, to establish thought-leadership in creating and giving effective presentations. A natural tie-in for their product, yet useful information that business professionals can value (without an obligation for making any purchase).  

Results: The over whelming response was to maintain integration, including branding to the B2B eCommerce site. The blog should not be sales oriented however - the content should be neutral to the templates and related offerings provided by the company. This follows the business networking notion of give and give, and returns will follow. Provide good useful information and establish trust and credibility - sales will follow. Of course, other blogging rules apply including frequent and fresh content, staying on topic and allowing people to comment and add to the conversation and wisdom.

Why would a company not integrate their blog? We aren't sure - please add your comments if you have a compelling reason to dis-associate your web site from your blog.

Selected quotes from the LinkedIn response (we could not have said it better):

“Staking out a thought leadership position in the market for our products is an integral part of establishing your value proposition, and something customers would expect to see from a supplier charging premium pricing. Said another way, if you want to charge premium pricing, you better have a blog site with your subject matter experts providing non-proprietary information on how customers can solve problems.“ (David Wick)

“Rather than the commerce side devaluing the blog, I think a useful and well-written blog enhances the reputation and trust in the company and its products. If visitors come to value the information on the blog, then they will turn to your clients company for templates, before searching out another source, because they already trust them for being an authority in this area.”    and

“…if the content is good, it will build credibility and that will support sales. My clients tell me that they find my blog helpful, and new clients tend to contact me after first exploring my blog entries.”  (Heidi Cool)

“I feel blogs add a personal side to a company and help the (potential) customer to relate to the company and get a feel for their level of passion and enthusiasm.” (Carl Wilson)

"I think that incorporating the blog is a great idea. Why make it stand alone? They are experts, the blog is the place to make their expertise known and have them shine.” (Melissa Galt)

 “The best case for not adopting the same look at the "mothership" site is when the blog is a sponsored blog, rather than the company blog”  (Michael Martine)

Social Media Marketing: Big Opportunity for Small Business

Do small businesses leverage social marketing for their lead generation? A Citibank Small Business survey reports that most do not use or find social media marketing effective. In an eMarketing article "Does Social Media Work for S mall Biz?" (Oct 27, 2009), only 12% reported any effectiveness for their business. The vast majority, 63 % said it was not.

It would be helpful to determine the product/service breakdown of these businesses and more on their experiences (what vehicle did they try, for how long etc).  We believe that social marketing can work - and may be vital for SMB's (small and mid-sized businesses), especially if they are in a competitive  environment. A simple Facebook Fan page could help increase awareness and drive sales - or a blog that positions the business owner as a thought leader. Would this work for a dry cleaner...why not? For an auto dealer -  you bet. A funeral home... a local computer repair center... a landscaper... yes yes yes. It just takes the right strategy.

We see this survey with a glass half full - in presenting opportunities for SMB's to successfully leverage social media marketing. In future think-ebiz social media articles, we will show-case strategies for social marketing for different businesses and verticals.

Web 3.0 : really - are we past Web 2.0 already

Web 3.0 has crept into the conversation - what is Web 3.0?  We will ponder this and report back to you soon. However - we believe Web 2.0 (which is a bit of an overused and worn out term) still has some life left .... viva la Social Media.

#hashtags: Creating a Viral Buzz on Twitter (#w2e, #hashtag #viralmarketing)

One of the funniest keynotes at the NYC Web 2.0 conference was by Baratunde Thurston: "Everything I need to know about social marketing, I Learned From Being @the_swine_flu". Baratunde demonstrates the incredible power that could be leveraged on Twitter, all done 140 characters at a time. He is profane and perhaps politically incorrect, but look past this - and you will see a highly effective campaign.

View Baratunde's - being @the_swine_flue presentation at the Ignite NYC session. <For a longer version of Baratunde' Swine Flu Viral Marketing Experiment - he begins the hashtag talk at the 2:50 time mark>

More to the point, Baratunde's experiment prove that Twitter can be applied to business to create a viral marketing buzz - a digital word-of-mouth. Another Twitter'r brought to my attention that Kodak did just this in April, to name a new camera. Unfortunately I could not locate the actual tweets onTwitter: the hashtag was  #nameakodak (view one Twitter's entries). Another B2C viral #hashtag campaign was with Moon Fruit (#moonfruit). In both cases, the winner in these campaign's won a prize.

Viewing Baratunde's YouTube video will give you a sense of the depth of thinking that is required to make this campaign work. In the case of a B2B/B2C campaign - the rules that exist for bloggers and other social media programs must be kept in mind. Keep it real. Be honest and upfront and try to make it fun. Of course you are advertising your company's product, however make it engaging, and where possible, informative to the participate. A blatant Twitter viral "advertisement' will fail and may in fact be a detriment to your brand.

Think Ebiz will try to duplicate Baratunde' campaign and we will report the results. Please Tweet me or comment if you know of other Viral Twitter campaigns. I am @sph001.