alyssagardina.com - branding

Dear MTV, here's how not to choose a social media manager

agardina — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 17:35:08 +0000

There's a disconcerting trend among companies now to hire a social media or community manager via a contest. People can seek nominations from friends or put their own name forward in an attempt to prove that they're the most popular choice for the position. Unfortunately, what's popular is not always right, and these contests are doing more harm than good. Why?

They're trivializing the role a social media manager can have within an organization.

Would you hire your next HR rep because of a LinkedIn poll? Your next video producer from a YouTube vote? A copywriter because of her following on Twitter? No, at least not solely on those qualifications. Yet these "be our next social media guru" campaigns continually stress getting votes, making popularity the applicant's number one qualification.

For an example, here's how MTV is hiring their new "Twitter Jockey". They selected 18 candidates on their own, and are now crowdsourcing the final 2. The 20 finalists will "compete in a series of online challenges this summer designed to reveal their personalities and demonstrate how they connect with Twitter followers." (source) Want to be one of the two crowdsourced candidates? Here's how they're being chosen:

Users go to the MTV TJ (Twitter Jockey, get it?) site and are immediately confronted with some bizarre co-branding. The site is a 50/50 mix of MTV (expected) and ZYNC (a new card from AMEX).
In order to nominate anyone, the user first has to allow an application to access their public Facebook profiles, post status updates, find the user's birthday and access contact information.
Then the user has to "like" ZYNC on Facebook. That's right, you're forced to connect with a page that essentially has nothing to do with the campaign as it's promoted. The website won't let you move forward unless you "like" the new credit card.
Finally, you're allowed to nominate a user. And, judging from the recent submissions, once you're in you can nominate someone as many times as you'd like.

The person selected by MTV will be a voice for the brand to thousands, if not millions, of people. MTV is definitely generating buzz around this contest, but once that dies down, what will the TJ do? How will he or she fit into the current social media mix? What kind of content will he or she be responsible for creating? There are so many questions to ask (many of which are answered during a traditional interview), and MTV might not know the answer until the winner has been declared.

So where did MTV go wrong? As people pointed out to me on Twitter, it is a campaign from MTV, so it almost fits their brand. But a bizarre co-promotion and game-show style process for selecting a person to be a voice for your company on social media? That decision's on par with deciding to renew Jersey Shore.

What do you think? Can you the most qualified candidates by holding a contest?

Listen Up: Making the Most of Twitter Search

agardina — Tue, 04 May 2010 22:17:33 +0000

In my 2 years on Twitter, I've found it to be an incredible networking tool, resource and place to vent. And in the past months, it's become even better - brands are proactively reaching out to answer questions I have. How? A variety of ways, but many are using a tool called Twitter Search.

Now, some may call this an invasion of privacy. But, as I see it, I put the question out there in a public forum. Even if I wasn't asking the general public, it's still up to me as a user to know that whatever I say on Twitter (unless my tweets are protected [sometimes]) is there for the public to see, respond to and remember.

In the past few days, I've interacted with a couple of brands who are just getting it right. And it's refreshing:

Teleflora
I had a coworker ask me if I knew any florists in NYC. And, honestly, I had no idea. So I put it out to Twitter. Less than an hour later, I received an @ reply from Teleflora (and no, I wasn't following them prior to this - but I am now!)

Takeaway: Someone is listening, and listening well. I didn't ask about their brand, nor did I need to know about buying flowers online. But somewhere in Teleflora's social strategy, they built out a search and gave someone the task of watching it. And guess where I bought my mother's day flowers this year...

QuestCare Urgent Care
I'm very very clumsy. And so, some part of me is usually injured - right now, it's my foot. And like most people, I never know when to go to the doctor, so today, I asked. And quickly, I got a tweet from @QuestUrgentCare (and I wasn't following them either!), an urgent care office here in Dallas.

Takeaway: The text of my tweet didn't mention that I was in Dallas, but by using Twitter search's advance search functions, Quest Care was able to see my "injured" tweet that was sent from their area.

Travel Portland
Sometimes trip planning for unfamiliar cities can be a struggle. I'm headed to Portland at the end of this month, and I wanted to know where the best places were to go hiking. Luckily, Travel Portland, a visitor information site, was able to help. Their Twitter bio helpfully lets me know that I can include the hashtag #inPDX in a tweet to get an answer from them. I did just that, and they retweeted me moments later. Now I've got an entire to-do list of parks to visit.

Takeaway: Make it easy on yourself to find questions to answer. If you're a service that has a lot of information to offer, make that data readily available.

What companies have you seen listening and acting on social media?

Social Media Isn't a Miracle Cure

agardina — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 21:25:53 +0000

I read a recent post by Alan Wolk, and his conclusion really stood out to me:

"I’ll leave you with this quote from a smart young guy named Matt Daniels 'Marketing has a bell curve–most companies create average marketing and achieve average results.' Why did we think social media was going to be any different?"

Why did we think that social media would be a cure all - a marketing or public relations tool that would make every company that touched it somehow more extraordinary? That it would be a Midas Touch that fixes bad brands, policies and products?

Right now, it might be. Companies are adopting social media slowly, so industry leaders might not be the first to use a tool. Snakeoil salesmen and defenders of inadequate brands can build an online reputation before their competitors even have a chance to sign up for a YouTube account. In the past, social media has given notoriety to the content leaders, not the quality leaders.

And I think that's going to change. Consumers are becoming more knowledgable about the power of social media and the transparency it provides. Companies are finally starting to "get it" and get online, albeit slowly but surely. Users are looking for good content, and it takes a strong brand, product and service to provide that.

Let's face it, there have been good marketing campaigns by bad companies. But they don't stick nearly as well as campaigns for companies that provide something that customers want, need and keep coming back for. Just like all the Super Bowl ads in the world couldn't have saved Cash 4 Gold, all the Twitter followers online won't help your company if you can't meet expectations.

Social media won't be the thing that cures you, but transparency could be the thing that kills you.

Is your company strong enough to make the cut?

Why good design still matters

agardina — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 16:03:39 +0000

Social media is about conversation, relationships and transparency. Where traditional media broadcasts, new media interacts. Yet, there are several foundational elements these two forms of marketing have in common. One of those is design.

As an Internet marketer, I love good content. However, good content on a bad page might get you ranked high in search engines, but it's probably not retaining your visitor long after that. When I say new media and traditional media require good design, this includes:

Information architecture - website visitors, magazine readers, television viewers - the most entertaining advertisments or campaigns in the world won't have any effect if your audience doesn't get the information they need. Before launching a Facebook Page, sending in an ad or burning to DVD, ask yourself (or someone else) - what's the ultimate goal? Does my audience need to know more about my nonprofit/corporation? Do I want them to go to my website? Make a phone call? Come visit?

Eye-catching elements - A beautifully-worded, eloquent blog post isn't part of an effective campaign unless thare are people visiting your page. Eye-catching doesn't necessarily mean visually stunning - it could include an effective headline or tie-in to current events. Design your content as well as your campaign.

Branding - If you are a nonprofit or corporation starting out on social media, know your brand. The same goes, of course, for traditional media, but it's remembered there a lot more often than online. Know your mission, vision, purpose, stakeholders and calendar inside and out. In design, emphasize your logo, brand colors and personality.

Beyond these elements, good design always considers the user experience and pass-on value.

What does good design mean to you? And, in this world of new and diverse media, how can it endure?