Image via Wikipedia
I came across this post today and it reminded me of past discussions. I am a bit nostalgic today, perhaps, so I decided to dig back a few months. I argued last April that you MUST develop for the mobile web first, applications second. While mobile statistics have changed a great deal in the last 17 months the arguments still make sense. Give that post a read, if you have time, and check out this one from today too.
via Jon’s PR 1.5
Image via Wikipedia
Yes, I know many of us have discussed concepts like value co-creation for some time. However, as the business value of social networks is explored by an ever-growing audience I find myself revisiting, and rethinking, many concepts.
An old co-worker of mine asked me about running beta programs on social networks and I wanted to share my current thinking on the subject. For the purpose of this post, the offerings fall into these groupings:
Keep in mind:
If you truly want to run a beta program you need to understand that social communities are always on, the days of starting and stopping beta programs will become a thing of the past. Keep the energy going with this community.
John
Image via Wikipedia
There is real money to be made in virtual goods. While those of us that do not play Farmville or Mafia wars may shake our heads, never doubt the power of this marketplace.
via GigaOM
Image via Wikipedia
I came across a few post about McDonald’s recent experiments with Foursquare so I was curious to dig in and went straight to the source. I know Rick Wion so I dropped him a note to see how he was doing and what the real story was from his perspective. While I only know Rick informally I can tell you that, while Rick made a mistake in language when describing the pilot, it was accidental. In trying to simplify Foursquare he gave the wrong impression leading to some very confusing data.
However, his approach on this campaign can be learned from as a lot of great work was done that others can leverage.
The Approach
Foursquare, GoWalla, Scavngr, Facebook Places, and all the other geo-social applications are new technologies for marketers. Heck, they are new technologies altogether. Any organization beginning to use these solutions should take an iterative approach:
As Rick told me the only goal for this first pilot was “…this was a pilot program to gauge how the foursquare community would react to our joining their community”. Could it have been more? Yes, but it was not intended to do more than that.
The results
McDonald’s achieved a 33% increase in check-ins on Foursquare Day, the day they ran this pilot. Since the pilot the number of check-ins have increased above the previous average but have not returned to the number seen during the pilot itself.
Revenue. Rick could not give me an exact number but it’s fair to say that McDonald’s did not see a 33% increase in revenue, even from those checking in on Foursquare. However, McDonald’s has seen revenues increase week over week throughout this entire year. The real question in my mind, which cannot be answered for this pilot, is did they make a positive ROI, was the effort worthwhile?
This was the first pilot, others will come and in those we will be able to better see if ROI was achieved. The goals of this first pilot were clearly achieved, however, and I can’t wait to see the next round. Rick, if you need help setting it up to measure the revenue returned, give me a call, as I know you’re on the right track. Keep up the great work.
Image via CrunchBase
I came across two great articles today that give interesting statistics about the growth of mobile-delivered-value at the local level. I would urge you to check them both out.
Local businesses, chambers of commerce, and local governments need to stay on top of these trends and understand the need to shift from traditional to online means. Services such as Google Places, GoWalla, and Foursquare will play a large role, helping businesses deliver mobile coupons to people in the area,or better yet, checked into their stores.
John
Image via CrunchBase
Most of us, individuals and organizations alike, have far too many on-line identities. If you’re like me you’re always looking for an easy way to keep them all organized so that your social media/networking communities will know how to find you within the various networks.
DandyID is a simple to use solution for this problem as it allows you to simply add your identities for dozens upon dozens of social networks and then share them using some prebuilt widgets. A simple but important tasks, easily solved with this simple application.
The important points about DandyID:
Give it a try.
John
p.s. I have no affiliation with dandyid.org.
I use Constant Contact for The Lab’s mailing list and really enjoy using the application. I wanted to share with you some of the things I like, and dislike, about the product.
What is Constant Contact?
Constant Contact is a SAAS-based email marketing management application. It manages contacts, images, emails, and the analytics around your campaigns.
What does it cost?
Constant Contact pricing is based upon the number of contacts you have stored in the system. Costs start at $15 per month for fewer than 500 contacts and rise from there. However, they offer a FREE 60 day trial which is enough time to dig in and determine if the application is right for your needs.
Creating emails
Constant Contact uses a straightforward wizard to construct your emails. The editor allows the non-technology savvy users to easily create good looking emails, inserting images, formatting text, inserting social media links. For those of you that are comfortable with HTML, however, you can easily load the email into the built-in editor and build a very robust mail message.
However, a downside of the editor is that it requires Internet Explorer or Firefox. Someone on the road with their IPad, as I am now, cannot use the email editor at all.
Managing Contacts
The contact management aspects of Constant Contact are basic but sufficient for your email marketing efforts. I really like, however, the ease with which you can customize the information you capture from people when they sign-up for your emails. A simple form enables you to define fields that you want captured and if they are required.
Social Integration
Constant Contact has done a nice job providing social media integration. Email and social media must be used as complimentary communication methods and this solution handles this need well. When emails are sent you are able to save your mail as a web page, automatically tweet links to the page, and share the page on various social sharing web sites. In my experience you can achieve impressive results by sharing these messages on mail and social channels, give it a try.
