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Social CRM / Big Data in the News: Princess Kate Middleton is Expecting a Baby

December 4, 2012

Kate Middleton and husband William are expecting their first child and the world is breathless! Will this save us from the fiscal cliff, as one homeless person’s cardboard sign stated in New York City? Will the future king or queen be able to remove that darn sword in the stone? And what, pray tell, does this have to do with Social CRM / Big Data? As it turns out, plenty.

First, it boggles the mind how seemingly normal, sedate and supposedly sensible people – especially journalists – get positively giddy when there is even a tiny morsel of news about the British monarchy. However, when this news concerns a royal baby, exclamation points come by the dozen and even Kim Kardashian, well-known for her subtle intelligence, had an articulate comment (“Aw! A baby! So cute!”).

In a story reporting the impending visit from the royal stork, the Associated Press offered a trenchant observation about the weird fascination that Americans have about the family that maintains their position in society the old fashion way – by Divine Right. “When Americans proudly declared their independence, they swore off sovereign kings and queens forever, yet several centuries later they find themselves drawn to the royals’ pomp and pageantry, embracing the more colorful aspects of a system whose substance they had eagerly overthrown.”

The Situation is Pregnant with Opportunity – For Marketers

In the context of this impending blessed event for Kate and William, it’s a good time to consider what Social CRM / Big Data can mean for the multibillion dollar market surrounding new mommies. The diversity of products and services that are impacted by a new baby in a family is much greater than baby bottles, blankets and strollers.

There are literally dozens of industries that benefit from families adding a new child or two to the brood and each of them should consider the advantages of use Social CRM / Big Data to understand and benefit from this market. Companies that manufacture and sell baby product are obvious, but what about financial services? Kate‘s not worried about paying for her baby’s college education, but ever other normal parent is.

How about real estate companies (this old house is too small), do-it-yourself retailers such as Home Depot and Lowes (let’s turn that garage into a nursery), automotive retailers (time for a more sensible car or even one of those soccer mom vans), health and fitness products and services (how’s mom going to get back into shape), pharmaceuticals (the baby’s sick) and the list goes on and on. Each of these industries has a stake in the health and well-being of new moms and growing families. So, what should they be doing to take advantage of this opportunity?

What Can Be Learned From Amazon

For many years, online retailer Amazon has tapped into Big Data to power its recommendation engine. Billions of dollars of profit have been earned by this retail behemoth because it understands that Big Data informs buying decisions. Collecting, storing and synthesizing Social CRM / Big Data in one repository allows data to become actionable information and it allows any industry – whether it targets new moms or heavy machinery buyers – to listen to their customers, effectively message these prospects and (with enough data) predict consumer behavior.

As evidence of the power of Social CRM / Big Data, BMO Capital Markets recently announced that companies will spend $50 billion on advanced, Big Data analytics platforms this year. This financial group understands that Big Data can transform business, but only when it is simplified (via analytics) and strategically employed in all phases of the enterprise.

New moms are especially sensitive to the social, mobile and digital channels tracked by Social CRM / Big Data. There are several good reasons for this.

Because she is a “new” mom, she is eager to do the right things in caring for this cuddly but vulnerable infant. This is an archetype of a consumer who will search out digital solutions about pre-natal information and post birth care. She’s also busy, so the convenience of mobile channels is of great benefit. Plus, she has a beautiful new child and who doesn’t want to share pictures and experiences about this little bundle of joy on social networks such as Facebook?

Marketing management of the industries noted above, can use Social CRM / Big Data to help new mothers successfully transverse the labyrinth of care giving and social sharing. One important part of this endeavor involves the proper gathering, storage and synthesizing of this data from thousands or millions of new mothers and then building strategies that predict what future moms might be interested in. Data that can enable companies to predict behavior is the holy grail of Social CRM / Big Data.

Place Your Bets

Whether you think the news about the royal baby is fascinating or foolish, we all wish the best for the couple and their new addition. They seem to be reasonably nice young people and at the very least, this pregnancy has taught those of us who never attended medical school the meaning of hyperemesis gravidarum.

Not only that, but this event has given the supermarket tabloids a much-needed shot in the headlines and given gamblers something else to do. As is often the case in Great Britain when there is some doubt about pending circumstances – outcomes of soccer games or whether the sun will rise tomorrow – there is a wagering line on the gender and potential name of the royal babe.

I like Arthur if it’s a boy and Diana if it’s a girl.

Interested in Social CRM/Big Data? Click here to get a copy of Pocketstop’s Enterprise Social CRM checklist.

- Art Young, Client Development

Photo Credit: huffingtonpost.com via Jackie on Pinterest

Social CRM/Big Data in the News: How it can be Cyber Monday Every Day

November 27, 2012

To the surprise of no one, Social CRM/Big Data tactics have helped retailers that rely on ecommerce to claw their way into the “black” again this year. In fact, the line between “Black Friday” and “Cyber Monday” has completely disappeared and both retailers and consumers are basking in the glow of the shopping frenzy. Doors were busting at all hours – in both bricks and mortar stores and cyberspace – and anyone who happened to be in the way was in danger of being trampled!

While pundits have hailed the days immediately following Thanksgiving and the Monday following this period as prime time for Christmas shopping, trends suggest that shoppers might not be following the script. With ecommerce enabled smartphones, tablets and old-fashion websites supported by the promotional clout of social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Four Square and other media, consumers can comparison shop and buy 24/7. Therefore, savvy retailers are using Social CRM/Big Data tactics to leverage the holiday shopping period to build brand loyalty and predicting consumer behavior every day of the year.

The Numbers Don’t Lie

The people who keep track of this kind of data – companies such as comScore and others – estimate that ecommerce spending on the Friday after Thanksgiving surpassed $1 billion for the first time in history. This represents a 25 percent increase over last year and the momentum continued in the days that followed.

Online media publication, Media Post, reported on the Tuesday following Cyber Monday, when this blog is being posted, that for the holiday season to date, $13.7 billion had been spend online, marking a 16 percent increase over last year. Even on Thanksgiving Day, where rabid Christmas shoppers have heretofore spent the day in a tryptophan stupor, achieved a 32 percent increase to approximately $633 million in online sales.

Retail industry media point to digital content and subscriptions as leading the charge as the top growing online retail product categories (up 29 percent over last year) with the huge increase in the number of consumers using smartphones, tablets and e-readers driving demand for these gadgets and digital books, audio and video content that fill them.

Other mainstays in this ecommerce stampede are toys (up 27 percent), consumer packaged goods (up 23 percent), video games and accessories (up 18 percent) and consumer electronics (up 18 percent). The apparel and accessories category, which has always enjoyed strong preference for bricks and mortar shoppers on Black Friday, was the top category for online sales representing one-quarter of all dollars spent!

Grab the Smartphone and Let’s Go Shopping

Mobile is one of the critical elements of a Social CRM/Big Data marketing strategy and it’s clear that holiday shoppers have discovered the convenience of smartphones and tablets. Trade publication Mobile Commerce Daily reported that 24 percent of consumers used a mobile device to visit a retailer’s website over Thanksgiving and Black Friday. Interestingly, “it appears that tablets – in particular the iPad – were significant drivers of online sales over the holiday weekend. Smartphones, on the other hand, provided significant traffic drivers and invaluable in-store shopping tools.”

Smart retailers will learn from this research and plan year-round strategies accordingly. For example, the price comparison app PriceGrabber reported that smartphone use is growing faster – up an amazing 3,288 percent – than tablets which had an astounding, but still smaller increase of only 1,027 percent. However, tablet owners consistently spent more per order than smartphones and desktop users and tablet users viewed approximately two more pages per visit than smartphone users and converted at a rate of 3.5 higher than smartphone users (source: Branding Brand).

What Are the Social CRM/Big Data Lessons Here?

A report from research organization Skava found that on 7 percent of the top 100 online retailers have tablet optimized websites while 95 percent are optimized for smartphones. If this search and conversion data is accurate, retailers should immediately put resources behind tablet optimization. Since tablet users spend more than smartphone users, retailers with poorly optimized tablets are leaving millions of dollars on the cyber table!

There’s also the consideration of which tablet drives more revenue. Every retail research organization agrees that the Apple iPad was one of the biggest factors in driving mobile shopping and commerce over the biggest shopping weekend and Monday of the year. Mobile Commerce Daily noted that “the iPad dominated tablet traffic with an 88.3 percent share distantly followed by Nook (Barnes and Noble) with 3.1 percent, Amazon Kindle 2.4 percent and Samsung Galaxy with 1.8 percent.”

The big Social CRM/Big Data takeaway from these reports lies in the unequivocal clout of mobile media. Smartphones and tablets are no longer just cool toys. They have become the main point of consumer/retailer interaction. Building an opt-in text database by using digitally delivered coupons and other incentives should be at the top of the list for any retailer – consumer goods, food and services – who wants to be around for next year’s Black Friday.

Another important Social CRM/Big Data lesson that can be gleaned from this year’s spend-fest involves the requirement for retailers to coordinate all media – mobile, digital, social and traditional media. For this to occur, they must gather and store information from these disparate media in one, actionable database.

The social network promotions must be coordinated with the mobile texting coupon promotions and these must enhance the web, print and broadcast tactics. This can only occur if all consumer data, from all media, are gathered and stored in one repository and then acted upon in a manner that is consistent with past consumer preference trends. This is the primary reason that Social CRM is a retailer’s most powerful weapon.

Another important take-away from this year’s holiday shopping experience involves predicting human behavior. It’s no coincidence that that the most successful consumer products companies such as Apple and Amazon (with its Kindle) had sufficient quantities of their products available for shoppers who were in the mood for buying before, during and after Thanksgiving Day. They accurately predicted this demand because they had gathered vast amounts of consumer spending data.

The reason for this collection of data seems obvious, but is often lost on other retailers. These companies constantly track consumer purchases in terms of demographics, psychographics, location of sales and myriad other factors. They use this Big Data to plan effective cross-promotions, just-in-time inventory and media placement to reach the maximum number of potential buyers and the best possible times.

When this information is known, effective loyalty programs can be developed to make the next sale easier to make and accurate predictions on likely prospects for future sales can be made. These are textbook Social CRM/Big Data tactics.

As we hope is evident, the tremendous success of retailers on Black Friday and Cyber Monday don’t have to be limited to the day after Thanksgiving or the Monday when we all go back to work. When Social CRM/Big Data techniques and tools are used, consumers can be treated with the respect that they expect and deserve and companies that want to sell them products can effectively deliver meaningful information on a timely basis. It’s one of those win/win situations that we hear so much about.

Now, if someone can just figure out how to keep our co-workers from spending hours online during the work day ordering holiday gifts instead of returning emails and making sales calls, everyone will be happy!

Interested in Social CRM/Big Data? Click here to get a copy of Pocketstop’s Enterprise Social CRM checklist.

- Art Young, Client Development

Photo credit: squidoo.com via Jimmy on Pinterest

Social CRM/Big Data in the News: How to Avoid Tumbling off the Fiscal Cliff

November 13, 2012

What in the name of Armageddon does the so-called “fiscal cliff” (over which the U.S. government is rumored to plunge in 2013) have to do with Social CRM/Big Data? As it turns out, quite a bit. First, a little background is in order about this much ballyhooed fiscal cliff and why some believe we are about to tumble headlong into oblivion. Then, we’ll look at what this means to businesses.

Why Reducing the Deficit is Leading to the Fiscal Cliff

The phrase “fiscal cliff” refers to the simultaneous spending cuts and tax increases that are slated to take place at the end of 2012. In addition, provisions that limit the reach of the Alternative Minimum Tax (income taxes) and cut payroll taxes are also scheduled to expire at the end of this year.

Just to make matters worse and encourage the political pundits into apoplexy, automatic spending cuts, as per the language laid out in the Budget Control Act of 2011, are also currently planned for the 2013 fiscal year. While this should rightfully drive the governmental budgetary wonks crazy, many otherwise calm, cool and collected business people are worried that this combination of actions will plunge the most powerful government on planet earth over this mythical cliff, thereby causing another recession.

Since recently the U.S. economy has been dependent on fiscal stimulus – see automotive industry, banking and investment industry bailouts – many economists, while happy that the tax increases and spending cuts would reduce the size of the national deficit, feel as though the sudden changes would plunge the country into another recession. It is for this reason that many elected officials want to avoid the “fiscal cliff” that is currently looming in the distance.

Staring Into the Abyss

While it is perfectly reasonable to be worried about the prospects for the fragile U.S. economy if the government falls off this fiscal cliff, the odds are pretty good that cooler heads will prevail – among both political parties – at the last possible second. One is reminded of the lyrics of the song by musical group Dawes: “When My Time Comes.”

You can judge all the world on sparkle that you think it lacks.

Yes, you can stare into the abyss, but its staring right back.

The fact is, many industries and the companies that comprise them have already fallen over the fiscal cliff or are standing on a banana peel and teetering very close to the edge. Some of these industries and companies include:

Airlines (Have you taken any plane trips, just for fun, lately?)
Companies that make and sell supersized fast food products (Sales down for the first time at McDonalds and the mayor of New York is demonizing supersized portions)
Manufacturers of large, low-gas mileage vehicles (Anybody thinking of buying a Hummer?)
Traditional newspaper publishers (With critically low levels of cash, some such as the N.O. Times Picayune are publishing only 3 times a week)
Traditional book publishers (Big publishers are merging with other big ones to survive)
Big box retailers (BestBuy, JC Penny both report sales declines)
High fructose corn syrup producers (nutrition experts blame this substance for everything but typhoid fever)
Big box video rental retailers (Blockbuster is in the tank)
Single-purpose gadgets (Blackberry is hanging by a thread)

And, as they say, the list goes on and on.

The companies in these industries have been buffeted by advances in technology, hammered by a struggling economy and, in the case of processed food companies, beaten down by weather patterns such as the long-term drought. However, each of the categories, have been guilty of another cardinal sin and this transgression has forced them to line up next to the U.S. government on the edge of the fiscal cliff. They have failed to systematically listen to their customers and make strategic changes to products and engagement with these people – their customers. They’ve failed to properly use the powerful tools – made possible by the amazing advancements in social, mobile and digital media – Social CRM/Big Data.

How Social CRM/Big Data Can Help Companies Avoid Their Own Fiscal Cliff

Advances in technology or changes in customer preferences can be a company’s best friend or worst enemy. When Apple, or Amazon Kindle introduce a new tablet which is capable of downloading and presenting hundreds of newspapers, books and magazines, those large, expensive printing presses and the people who run them at the New York Times, HarperCollins and People magazine go from asset to liability overnight.

When enough moms discover Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter and begin posting negative content about high fructose corn syrup in soft drinks or the effects of supersized fast food on the obesity of their children, the industries that spawn these products are painted with a very broad and negative brush. However, these actions can be predicted and ameliorated with enough data, tools to understand this Big Data and tactics to deliver messages that are counter-arguments.

While Social CRM/Big Data can’t help all of these industries and companies from tumbling over the fiscal cliff, it can help every company, and perhaps even the federal government, understand the concerns of their customers, engage them with compelling dialog and keep them away from the big fall. Here are just some of the ways that Social CRM/Big Data can help companies avoid the abyss.

Social CRM/Big Data programs enable companies to use social, mobile and digital media to efficiently “listen” to the needs, concerns and wants of current and prospective customers and build a large, useable repository of this critical data.
Digital, mobile and social media can be deployed in a manner that is consistent with the customer preferences. Wasting time and promotional funds on expensive and broad-based mass media is eliminated or at least reduced when Social CRM/Big Data tactics are used.
With enough customer insights, gleaned from Social CRM/Big Data campaigns, the company’s products can be modified or scrapped altogether to meet changing customer demands. Following this line of thinking, the daily newspapers and monthly magazines will then realize that they are in the content aggregation and delivery business but NOT necessarily in the business of delivering this content via ink-on-paper.
Ailing companies can also use Social CRM/Big Data to amass enough pertinent data to be able to predict the actions of potential customers and use the knowledge to avoid expensive mistakes on new products and services that have no hope of success.

Can Business and Government Avoid the Fiscal Cliff?

Industries that are on the brink of the fiscal cliff and the companies that comprise these groups don’t have to stare into the abyss. They can adapt to a quickly changing marketplace. By truly listening to their prospects and customers, making tweaks and even wholesale changes to their products and marketing and then communicating the benefits of these goods and services via the social, digital, mobile or traditional media that they – the customers – prefer, companies can move away from the cliff. This is a textbook example of Social CRM/Big Data tactics.

Is it possible for the highly politicized branches of the U.S. federal government to use these Social CRM/Big Data strategies? Perhaps. However, it will require all concerned to be logical (which is typically a challenge in political environments), collaborative and to seek the greater good rather than short-term political gains.

Interested in Social CRM/Big Data? Click here to get a copy of Pocketstop’s Enterprise Social CRM checklist.

- Art Young, Client Development

Photo credit: Source: ivoras.net via Margie on Pinterest

Social CRM/Big Data in the News: Barack Obama’s Re-election Tied to Efficient Use of Big Data

November 7, 2012

Social CRM/Big Data played a critical role in the re-election of Barack Obama. In order to understand how and why this happened, it’s important to understand what Social CRM means. At its core, Social CRM/Big Data is customer relationship management system which uses social, mobile and digital channels to keep track of and respond to the needs and wants of an organization’s existing or prospective customers or supporters.

Businesses have used some form of CRM for many years, but it has only been in the past few years that digital, mobile and social media have had sufficient penetration that enabled them to be used to listen and respond to customers. The “trick” in this complicated calculus is to understand both the listening and the responding sides of this equation.

President-elect Obama surrounded himself with a team of Social CRM/Big Data experts and they used these mobile, social and digital tools in: (a) the identification of likely supporters in key electoral college states (e.g. Ohio, Pennsylvania, Nevada), (b) the timely messaging of these supporters and Obama leaning prospects and (c) turning them out on an early voting and election day ground game that would have made Patton proud.

The Candidates Spent Campaign Funds Differently

The lede on any post-election analysis/stories will likely involve the record setting expenditures of both candidates. While the numbers have not been tallied at the time of this writing, it is safe to say that total collective expenditures of the Romney and Obama camps will be north of $2 billion, which makes it the most expensive campaign in the history of the United States. Unlike most previous campaigns, both Romney and Obama seemed to have plenty of cash to spend and their choices on allocation of these budgets will likely be analyzed by future candidates for many years to come.

Most of these campaign dollars went to broadcast media – specifically network and local television spots – that reached parts of the country that held large pockets of Electoral College voters. The Electoral College, often described as a byzantine relic of the early days of the country, consists of electors who are supposed (but are not legally obligated) to vote for the candidate who received the majority of votes in their state. The magic number for any candidate is 270 Electoral College votes.

Both candidates purchased as much TV spot inventory as was available in Electoral College rich areas that pollsters said were still in play on elections day. The unfortunate citizens of the states of Ohio, Florida, Nevada, Colorado and Virginia were inundated with TV ads – usually of the negative variety – from both camps. However, the manner that the two candidates allocated their budgets in the realm of Social CRM/Big Data media is telling indeed.

Digital Marketing Expenditures Tell the Tale

The Federal Election Commission filing, reported by the publication “Politico” noted that the campaign for President Obama spent more than $47 million for online advertising and marketing, compared to $4.7 million by Governor Romney. This represents a substantial difference in priorities, given that both men had ample budgets to do pretty much whatever they wanted to do.

This digital component is an important tactic in any Social CRM/Big Data strategy and clearly the Obama camp felt it was about 10 times more important than Romney’s team. However, the volume of money is not the complete story. Every business person knows that “about 50% of all advertising (even digital advertising) is wasted” which is folksy way of saying that savvy targeting of the best online media and tactics is more important that flooding cyberspace with a huge volume of un-targeted messages.

The Obama campaign used search, key-word advertising and other digital media such as targeted banner ads with good precision, particularly after each of the Presidential debates. Several third-party companies, which were not associated with either campaign, noted that the Obama campaign responded to media references to “wins” and “losses” after the debates with paid-search ads and compelling landing page that supported his points. This is a classic Social CRM/Big Data strategy and the Romney camp did not take advantage of this tactic.

Search agency Rosetta, offered some post-election analysis of the keyword paid search ads before and after the debates and noted that neither candidate used as many key-words as they could have but Obama did a better job, particularly in the key Electoral state of Ohio. In this state, the search company noted that Romney held 3% coverage and Obama had 41% coverage.

Both candidates had plenty of resources, but Obama chose to place his in this very specific digital realm and respond to specific issues raised by the voters after the debates. So, if the voter Googled a search query that was tied to the key words that Obama had bought, a specific digital display ad would pop up.

Businesses can also take a cue from how the two camps dealt with bidding on competitive brand terms. Both candidates had a strategy in place to deal with searches from voters about the other side’s stances. Romney bid on Obama-related terms about 35% of the time and Obama bid on Romney-related terms about 17% of the time.

The lesson here is one that search marketers try and share with their business clients. The prices are higher and the conversion rates are lower when the bidding is for competitive brands, because people who are buying paper towels or presidential candidates have a brand preference and it is very difficult to get them to change brands. Thus, most of the money bid on these competitive terms was likely ill-spent.

Other Social CRM/Big Data Effects

As late as the Monday before Election Day, social, mobile and digital media experts were predicting an Obama victory based on his allocation of budgets to these media. During the campaign, it was reported that President Obama was averaging between $4,400 and $13,100 daily on Google search ads, compared to Governor Romney’s $3,400 to $6,300 daily spend. The Obama camp also spent considerably more of its budget on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter than did the Romney team. Website visitors to the Romney website were estimated to be 2.6 million versus Obama who had 8.6 million visitors. Romney got 28,579 YouTube subscribers and Obama got 257,471 subscribers. On Twitter, Obama was a tweeting machine. He had 21.7 million Twitter followers and Romney had 1.6 million. There is an obvious disparity between the two candidates social media presence.

Even the weather proved to favor Obama’s campaign. During Hurricane Sandy, when most of the populous Northeastern states were without electricity, and therefore were not susceptible to TV advertising, Obama appeared to take a page out of the Social CRM/Big Data playbook using mobile tactics to energize voters, many of whom were sitting in the dark at home waiting for the power to come on. Although many mobile advertising specialists noted that neither candidate took advantage of all of the aspects of mobile marketing, Obama seemed to do better than Romney, particularly in using the Social CRM/Big Data tactic to turn out the pro-Obama voters on Election Day in critical states such as Ohio.

What Else Happened?

In a U.S. presidential campaign, there are many factors that determine the outcome, many of which have little to do with Social CRM/Big Data. For example, there were big gaps between the two candidates among women voters, Hispanic voters and white male voters. Plus, the positive earned media that Obama received after Hurricane Sandy was a powerful image of the leader of the country working with local officials to help those in need and this was no doubt on the minds of many when they went to the polls. One could argue that these other factors were exploited/enhanced by Obama’s use of Social CRM/Big Data.

However, the positive effect of Social CRM/Big Data was much more dramatic than the percentage of the budget it received and this will not be lost on future campaigns. Mobile, digital and social media are relatively new tools for candidates involved in electoral politics and by the time the next Presidential campaign rolls around, there will likely be more digitally-based media that have not even been invented yet.

Interested in Social CRM/Big Data? Click here to get a copy of Pocketstop’s Enterprise Social CRM checklist.

- Art Young, Client Development

Photo credit: soleilnoelle.blogspot.com via Melba Gipson / Zodiac Mugs / on Pinterest

Social CRM/Big Data in the News: The Introduction of the Mini iPad and what it can suggest to Romney and Obama

October 23, 2012

Social CRM/Big Data was in full bloom in Northern California Tuesday, October 23, 2012, as the breathless Apple devotees drank even more of the company’s Kool-Aid. The company introduced its iPad Mini to the gathered throng and the millions of fans, investors and media around the globe and in the process suggested an excellent voter turn-out strategy for the two men competing for the office of President of the United States. Before dealing with the political ramifications of this announcement, it’s interesting to chronicle the announcement.

“The 7 Inch Pad is Dead on Arrival”

This quote from Apple’s founder and former CEO, the late Steve Jobs notwithstanding, the rumors of the 7-inch tablet’s demise were greatly exaggerated. In fact, the introduction of iPad Mini is proof that even technology visionaries such as Jobs can make a mistake about consumer tastes. His statement that “7-inch tablets were ‘tweeners’ and too small to compete with the iPad” proved to be self-serving and ultimately inaccurate. However, business is business and the new leadership of Apple orchard of products decided it was time to admit the mistake and get into the small tablet game.

This decision was no doubt fueled by numbers – which are reputed to never lie – and this Social CRM/Big Data was gathered from retail sales figures, digital conversations, twitter feeds, Facebook and Google + posting. These same Social CRM/Big Data tactics will also be used to spread the word about just how happy Apple is of its new tablets

Apple’s iPad Mini is Launched

As reported by every medium on planet earth, Apple CEO Tim Cook and vice president of marketing Phil Schiller took to the stage in California at a media event to unveil the company’s long-awaited iPad mini. The new $329 product is meant to compete with smaller, 7-inch tablets from companies like Google and Amazon that Fox News noted “are nipping at the tech giant’s heals.”

During the presentation, Schiller noted that Apple has sold 84 million iPads since their debut in April 2010. “So this iPad mini is just 7.2 mm thick. That’s about a quarter thinner than the fourth-generation iPad. Thinner than a pencil,” Cook told the crowd.

The news reports noted that the new iPad has the same resolution as the larger display 1,024 × 768, but it should appear sharper due to the smaller screen. The new mini will run all of the software designed for the full-size siblings, he said. The mini will start with 16GB of storage at $329; a 4G model will cost an additional $129.

During the announcement event, supported by a litany of media – social, mobile, digital, traditional broadcast and print – and coordinated by Apple’s Social CRM experts, Schiller revealed a new 13-inch MacBook Pro that he said is 20 percent thinner than the previous generation, and a pound lighter. The new laptop features a 2.5-GHz Intel processor, a high-resolution Retina display with over 4 million pixels, and a solid-state drive rather than a spinning disk. It will start at $1,700. He also described updates to the company’s Mac Mini and iMacs.

Events That Lead to Sales

There is no company that does a better job of harnessing the power of the “Launch Event” than Apple. Even though the other consumer technology companies have tried to copy every play that Apple has used over the years, nobody does it better. As mobile marketing writer Chatal Tode notes in “Mobile Marketer,” “Apple has nearly perfected the launch event, using them to drive anticipation and keep its name and the product in the news for months. More recently, the strategy has been adopted by Amazon, Samsung, Google, Nokia and Microsoft, among others, who are looking to drive product sales but have not yet perfected the strategy.”

Tode correctly notes that the brilliance of the typical Apple product launch lies in its ability to focus on how the product will affect the consumer’s life, not merely the product specs. The event to announce the new iPad Mini did exactly this and there is every reason to expect a huge surge in the critical Q4 retail sales as a result. In order to ensure this, Apple will be using Social CRM/Big Data to monitor consumer response, motivate the legendary Apple fan base and get them to the stores. It will also use tactics to compete for market-share from consumers who are not currently Apple customers.

What Romney and Obama Can Learn From Apple

Other enterprises, even political campaigns, that don’t have the history of innovation that Apple enjoys, can also benefit from using these Social CRM/Big Data tactics. Needless to say, the two men who want to be the next President of the United States, can learn a lesson or two from the most famous consumer product company in the world.

After all is said and done in a campaign – voter registration, millions of dollars in media purchased, constant messaging via publicity in media channels, voter identification and a hundred other tactics exploited – the most important activity is for a candidate to get his voters to the polls on Election Day. This is similar to a consumer product company’s challenge of turning a product announcement into Q4 sales. This is a job for Social CRM/Big Data.

With a couple of weeks before Election Day, the campaigns of the two primary candidates should be in full-bore Social CRM/Big Data mode. Just as a consumer products company must “listen” to the market and ascertain what product features are compelling to different demographic and psychographic groups, President Obama and Governor Romney, should use these Social CRM/Big Data tactics to make their case.

They must understand what messages resonate with which groups, where these groups prefer to get these messages (e.g. SMS text messages, emails, social networks, telephone calls), and how if they can contribute to the campaigns. These engagement tactics MUST culminate with a candidate motivating his supporters to get out and vote. This is where the sale is made and this is where Social CRM/Big Data tactics can be invaluable.

While it is overly simplistic to draw analogies between the acceptance of a consumer product such as the Apple iPad Mini and choosing the leader of the free world, many of the tactics, starting with the candidate’s launch at the party’s conventions, continuing through issues clarification, voter identification and get-out-the-vote. They all require a focus on savvy Social CRM/Big Data techniques and there is no company any better at this than Apple.

- Art Young, Client Development

Photo Credit: youfiverr.com via Glenda on Pinterest

Interested in Social CRM/Big Data? Click here to get a copy of Pocketstop’s Enterprise Social CRM checklist.

Social CRM in the News: Supersonic Skydive Lights Up Mobile, Social and Digital Media

October 16, 2012

Social CRM and the Big Event took a giant leap Sunday when daredevil Felix Baumgartner jumped into the stratosphere, risking life and limb, protected only by a high-tech spacesuit and parachute adorned by the logos of his corporate sponsor: Red Bull. This jump was the culmination of what some media pundits such as Huffington Post called “the most successful marketing campaign of all time” and it is another excellent example of how consumer products companies can control earned, social, digital and mobile. In other words, it’s a case study for Social CRM.

In order to understand the significance of this promotion/scientific endeavor, some background on Baumgartner and Red Bull is necessary.

Faster Than a Speeding Can of Red Bull

As ABC News reporter Ryan Owens noted in a post-plummet post, “Fearless Felix Baumgartner’s supersonic skydive from 24 miles above the New Mexico desert was a rousing success.” This could very well be the understatement of the year.

Owens continued by noting that “Baumgartner, whose Sunday freefall was watched around the world, was at one point traveling at 833 mph or Mach 1.24, and he shattered the speed of sound during his 4 minute 20 second freefall. He is the only human to do so without the aid of a supersonic jet or space shuttle.

Dangling from a 55-story balloon with a capsule beneath, which took two and a half hours to reach the edge of space, the skydiver and B.A.S.E. jumper leapt after getting the okay from the only voice he heard during his ascent – that of 84-year-old Joe Kittinger, a former air force pilot who in 1960 set the record for longest skydive.

For a terror-inducing 4 minutes and 20 seconds Baumgartner freefalls, his body plummeting toward the earth at 833 miles an hour. He finally managed to regain control, and deploy his parachute.” For anyone of the millions of people who were watching this feat live, via streaming media, there were likely many deep breaths when this chute finally deployed.

Why Red Bull Paid for this Leap of Faith

While there have been no official reports from Austrian-based Red Bull as to the budget for the planning and execution of this event, media experts have estimated that, all in, the expenses for the jump will cost the company about $65 million. That’s gonna require that a lot of Red Bull make its way down the gullets of that 18-34 year old male, Type-A demo that the company wants to keep on the edge of their seats!

Red Bull may have had a teeney, tiny sliver of scientific altruism in mind when it was contemplating this monster promotion, but science was way down the list on the priorities for this supersonic skydive. On top of the list: ROI. However, in order to herd this group of Red Bull-swigging wannabe daredevils, the company must successfully execute some stratospheric Social CRM.

As Thom Ford of Media Post noted, “Red Bull was more than just along for the ride Sunday when Felix Baumgartner successfully touched down on Earth after a jump of 128,000 feet in a mere space suit. Some observers are telling us that sponsorship boundaries were also shattered along with the sound barrier, which was officially known as Red Bull Stratos. Folks watched on YouTube (more than 8 million livestreams), followed in the tweetosphere, and later caught up with the feat on blogs, traditional news broadcasts and print articles.

Ford quoted Janean Chun of Huffington Post as saying that the brand “broke the traditional barriers of marketing, sponsorship and social media, skyrocketing from an energy drink known for providing a quick buzz to a big-time generator of international buzz that makes the endeavors of other marketing innovators like Apple look small by comparison.” It was noted by several sources that Red Bull will likely reap substantial benefits from the stunt because it promulgates the brand’s current campaign theme: “Red Bull gives you wings.”

This Event Was Content Marketing at the Highest Level

As any company that uses Social CRM for customer identification, messaging and activation knows, content marketing – the process of developing original, compelling content that is tailored to the target audience – can quickly move the needle for all social, mobile and digital campaigns. Everything about this Red Bull Stratos promotion screams compelling content!

In the Media Post article published a couple of days after this giant leap for mankind, Andrew Warren-Payne, a research analyst at Econsultancy, noted five lessons to be gleaned from the Red Bull sponsorship:

Develop a story;
Capture as much content as possible;
Provide content worth sharing – and introduce your audience to something new;
Get contact details for further communications;
Spin-out content into the future.

“The jump was not simply good PR, but something more,” Warren-Payne writes. “It was great content marketing, something that will become increasingly important.”

The fact that this stunt had the potential for mortal danger just enhanced the compelling nature of this content marketing tactic. In the minds of many hard core Red Bull customers, danger is the secret elixir. If a brand wants to be known as an important part of “life on the edge,” it must take some risks. Sometimes, as in the case of Red Bull athlete Antoine Montant who was killed while base jumping in the French Alps, someone might perish in the process. While this is sad, it has the effect of enhancing the adrenaline flow of the next death-defying event. Red Bull knows this and has put its money where its marketing strategy is.

Social CRM Lessons From Red Bull: How You Can Use Big Event Content Marketing

The Social CRM lessons that can be learned from the jump of Fearless Felix are many. First, it’s illustrative to note that the best Social CRM practices involve using traditional media and/or special events and/or both to drive customer engagement with the brand. As we have noted in previous Pocketstop Basement Blog posts, this has been done with sports like the Wimbledon championship, media-intensive political events such as the Presidential debates or spectacular events such as the Red Bull Stratos skydive. Each of these events, when coordinated with a well-designed Social CRM program can yield invaluable customer insights and engagements.

How? Let’s use the Red Bull Stratos for a case study in Social CRM

The company can (and given its savvy, will) capture the publically available data on the millions of people who tweeted or posted on social networks about the event. Given that many of the people who were engaged enough to post comment are likely interested in extreme sports (at least on some level) or meet the demographic characteristics of the optimal Red Bull customer, there is an tremendous opportunity to seek permission from these prospects for further engagement with the brand. Mobile coupons for Red Bull, social media promotions using “inside info” about the skydive and Baumgartner and follow up posts about the scientific information gleaned from the jump are all easy ways to use Social CRM to leverage the event.
It should leverage the vast amount of original content developed from the event to build more channels of engagement, using Social CRM tactics to place this content on media where these fans like to receive this type of information. There are likely social channels, such as YouTube, where the content can be parsed out over the next few months.
It should use data collected on the purchase of Red Bull Stratos merchandise (developed for this event and currently for sale on the website that is supporting the even) to further engage prospective customers of the energy drink.

Besides the Social CRM ramification, this Red Bull scientific/promotional event also suggests a way for the United States government to finance dangerous and costly military or scientific research. If we need to test the next superfast fighter jet, space vehicle, volcano exploration or any other potentially expensive or dangerous feat, let’s just go find a company that wants to sell something to that 18-34 year old male demo and let them put their logo on the uniform, lab coat, cap or vehicle of the participants. We’ll save several million tax dollars and they can engage the prospects who feel the need for speed.

Interested in Social CRM? Click here to get a copy of Pocketstop’s Enterprise Social CRM checklist.

- Art Young, Client Development

Photo credit: frankgomezg.tumblr.com via Frank on Pinterest

Social CRM in the News: What Big Bird Can Teach PBS About Using Social, Mobile and Digital Channels to Raise Money?

October 9, 2012

Big Bird: Social CRM change agent

This blog post is brought to you by the word “Social” and the letters “C-R-M.” As many online and traditional media pundits have noted, last week’s presidential debate has a clear and obvious winner and his name is Big Bird. In less than seven days, this large and somewhat shy yellow bird has become a multimedia sensation. He’s large and in charge.

With appearances on “Saturday Night Live,” “The Today Show” and thousands of other television newscasts, plus hundreds of thousands of tweets and other social network mentions and goodness knows how many emails and blog references, Big Bird has accomplished in less than one week what it took “The Most Interesting Man in the World” years to do. He’s become a meme.

The phenomenal social, digital, mobile and traditional media chatter that surrounds the Big Bird controversy could serve as a platform for Public Broadcasting to get in the black without taking another federal dollar. All it will take is some well-conceived Social CRM tactics.

The Back Story

For anyone who has been in a coma since Wednesday night’s presidential debate and has not seen any news & entertainment websites, blogs, twitter feeds, Facebook posts or text messages, here’s the back story on Big Bird’s blow-up. It’s a textbook case for the power of social, digital, mobile technology, in other words, it’s another example of how Social CRM can be used for fun and profit.

It started simply enough. Midway through the debate, Republican challenger Mitt Romney vowed to cut subsidies for television’s PBS. He followed that claim by stating “I love Big Bird. I actually like you too (referring to the debate’s moderator, PBS’ Jim Lehrer) but I’m going to stop borrowing money from China to pay for things we don’t need.” Pretty tame stuff as campaign rhetoric goes. However, somebody forgot to tell the world.

As social media blogger Jason Boies notes, “After that, “Big Bird” was Tweeted 17,000 times per minute and it was also the fourth highest-rising search term on Google… Showcasing just how quickly social media allows people to respond to major TV events and news happenings.” Over the next 36-hours, it was reported that social media posts that mentioned Big Bird exceeded 373,000 conversations. Not bad for fictional character on educational TV.

“Entrepreneur’s” Catherine Clifford wrote, “Almost instantaneously, Big Bird became a social media sensation. Twitter handles were created — @FiredBigBird and @BigBirdRomney — among others. The debate was the most tweeted political event in history, according to Twitter’s political branch, with 10.3 million Tweets in 90 minutes.” It’s enough to make even Oscar the Grouch smile.

In Clifford’s article she highlighted the “lessons” entrepreneurs should learn from the public’s response to the threat to downsize the big yellow bird. “(1) Emotional is best. The reason that everyone got so up in arms about Big Bird, during a presidential debate chock full of economic policy no less, is because people care about Big Bird. People remember Big Bird from their childhood, or they know that their own children are fans of Big Bird. (2) Make it visual. Big Bird is more than 8 feet tall and bright yellow. He’s hard to miss. There were images of Big Bird served on a Thanksgiving dish and Big Bird waiting on an employment line. People react to the images and share them. (3) You have got to be on top of your brand on social media. The worst thing an entrepreneur can do is not respond when his or her brand is on stage in the social media world. Things happen quickly. And you can’t have your head in the sand.”

What Does This Mean for PBS and Other Non-Profits

Professional sports teams know that investing in a superstar can pay big dividends in the form of putting butts in seats. The movie industry is also based on this simple premise. People will pay to see an athletic star or an “A” list star perform. We don’t need the The Count to prove this. The numbers don’t lie. So, what does this mean to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting? Can Big Bird save them? Yes he can. All it takes is for someone at the public television network to embrace Social CRM tactics.

There are several Social CRM tactics that should be explored by PBS while Big Bird is a media maven. There is no doubt that a “non-profit” organization like PBS has very specific and likely proprietary objectives that outsiders may not have access to or understand. Ultimately, however, the network is similar to other philanthropic endeavors in that it seeks to engage the largest group of supporters and, in the process, encourages these supporters to put their money where their support is. This is where Social CRM can help.

Hopefully, the network, which is seen as social media savvy by many experts, has started doing some of these things while the yellow bird is red hot. Social CRM strategists would suggest that PBS, immediately implement these tactics.

Publically available data should be gathered from all of the social networks and aggregated in a database. This can enable the network to identify its supporters and use the Social CRM data to solicit donations to “Save Big Bird and All of His Friends.”
This database of supporters can also be used for ongoing messaging via digital media such as electronic newsletters, websites or mobile media such as opt-in text messaging and other media about how funds are used, what innovative programs are upcoming, how to support local and national PBS initiatives.
Permission for future communications can be obtained from those (millions) of people who were/are up in arms about the prospect of Big Bird getting his pink slip. All it takes is a simple Social CRM tool to ask for this.
With this level of excitement, PBS might consider using a very effective Social CRM tactic to raise money – crowdsourced fund-raising. Using Big Bird as the primary creative element on a platform such as Kickstarter or Indiegogo and then employing social media to promote this effort could reap substantial investments from friends of the Bird.
Another simple fund-raising/engagement technique that Social CRM practitioners use involves building cross-promotions between PBS and other traditional media such as newspapers and other broadcaster, websites, social network contests, mobile applications and any number of media that allow supporters of the Bird to weigh in with their checkbooks.

The possibility that an iconic character of our collective childhood – Big Bird – could possibly be eliminated clearly struck a chord with millions of Republicans, Democrats and independents. Now is a great time for PBS to use this hue and cry to build a funding juggernaut and all it takes is learning the lessons of the word and letters that brought you today’s post – Social CRM.

Interested in Social CRM? Click here to get a copy of Pocketstop’s Enterprise Social CRM checklist.

- Art Young, Client Development

Photo credit: britannica.com via Beth on Pinterest

Social CRM in the News: Social Media is an Important Part of the Presidential Debate

October 2, 2012

Social CRM and politics are not strange bedfellows at all. They are perfectly suited for each other and during the Presidential debate on October 3^rd they will amplify and filter every word President Barack Obama and former governor Mitt Romney utter. This is the first election when the Social CRM stars are in line to produce the biggest cache of usable “Big Data” in the history of electoral politics. Some pundits have called this debate the “Super Bowl” of politics. Hopefully, unlike most Super Bowls, the game will live up to the hype.

The Social CRM components – social, mobile and digital media – will be focused on the participants of this first presidential debate like never before. It’s a sign of the times that many companies are introducing new ways for mobile, digital and social media to be enabled by this event. Want some proof? How about these three announcements that arrived a few of days before the Presidential debate?

YouTube, Samsung and Twitter Get Ready for the Debate

Cynopsis media reported that the YouTube Elections Hub plans to offer live streams of the debates. Each stream will be available on the video site’s official Elections Hub thanks to a partnership with ABC News. “In addition to the actual debates, the Election Hub will offer commentary and analysis from YouTube’s eight media partners, including the aforementioned ABC News, as well as Al Jazeera, BuzzFeed, Larry King, The New York Times, Phil DeFranco, Univision, and The Wall Street Journal.”

YouTube says these eight partners will also be offering their own unique live and on-demand coverage of the debates throughout each night and Univision will offer a version of the debates translated into Spanish. This is further proof that online and interactive video has become an important element of Social CRM.

Even the techno-gadgets are involved in this debate. Online newsletter, Mobile Marketing Watch reported that “on Monday, Peel and Samsung Electronics announced that owners of Samsung GALAXY devices preloaded with the Peel Smart Remote TV app can provide real-time user generated feedback during the presidential debates. Revealing the power of Social CRM, viewers using the Peel Smart Remote app on the Samsung GALAXY Tab 7.0 with built-in IR blaster will able to use the Peel Smart Remote TV App to easily switch the TV channel to any of the available stations showing the debate.

The publication notes that “based on the details announced, during the course of the debate, users will be able to “cheer” and “boo” candidate responses to voice their support for or against. Immediately following each presidential or vice presidential debate, Peel will be the ‘first to provide a broad range of sentiment from thousands of viewers based on the in-app feedback.”’

Washington Post columnist Chris Cillizza notes that it is extremely rare for everything to ‘stop’ in a campaign. “Wednesday night’s first general election debate is just such a moment. Think of it like the Super Bowl, but for politics; even if you don’t like the game all that much, you tune in because it’s a cultural happening.” This is not lost on Twitter. Nothing of this magnitude happens without Twitter and therefore Social CRM being involved because we want to know who won and why? Mobile Marketing Watch adds, “Twitter will all but certainly amplify every boom and bust moment for the candidates who endure them.”

Cillizza opines, “Most people who tune in will have made their minds up about who won (and who they are going to vote for) before a word is uttered by either candidate — and, in the post-debate analysis, they’ll tune in to whatever commentary best fits that view. For the tiny sliver of undecided voters, it’s hard to imagine they will find a way to cut through all the clutter to find a reason to choose either candidate — at least not yet.”

What Does This Debate Mean to You?

Businesses and individuals who use Social CRM tactics to listen to their markets and respond with targeted messaging delivered on the medium that customers prefer can learn a lot from the “pre and post” debate tactics of both candidates. This debate is a great case example of how to use Social CRM in building a customer base and then motivating this base to take action.

Before, during and after the debate on October 3, the Social CRM specialists who work for both candidates will be hard at work on the following tactics.

Publically available voter data will be gathered from social media and aggregated in a database that enables the campaign to identify like-minded voters and (a) solicit campaign funds (b) message them with candidate positions during the remainder of the campaign and (c) turn them out to vote for their candidate on Election Day.
Additional trends that might modify the candidate’s stance on a given issue can be obtained using Social CRM tactics. Identification of influences that can be used for last-minute speeches, TV spots, regional media placements and unforeseen problems are all possible with good Social CRM practices.
Permission for future communication can be obtained from those responding on social, mobile and digital channels.
Cross-promotions with traditional media and social, mobile and digital media are possible when Social CRM tactics are employed by the campaigns.

Aside from helping American’s choose the person who will lead the country for the next four years, the interesting thing about this presidential debate and those that follow is its applicability to businesses and individuals that might use the same Social CRM tactics to build revenue, target prospects and (hopefully) turn them into customers. It will be interesting to observe how these Social CRM tactics will be used by these two candidates to accomplish research, fund-raising, messaging and voter turn-out. The lessons learned from this process can be applied by companies that understand the power of Social CRM.

Click here to get a copy of Pocketstop’s Enterprise Social CRM checklist.

- Art Young, Client Development

Photo source: mashable.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Social CRM in the News: Emmy Awards Spoof Shows the Power of Social Media

September 25, 2012

Social CRM and funny business can be complimentary. In fact, the biggest joke of this past weekend, unless you count the work of the replacement NFL officials, was Tracy Morgan passing out cold on stage at the Emmy Awards Sunday night. This was part of a social media prank to drive Twitter feeds crafted by the producers of the show and host Jimmy Kimmel. It shows how powerful Social CRM is – especially when it’s tied to a live event on network television – and how pervasive social media has become in pop culture.

During the show, Morgan, in full formal attire, came on stage and appeared to pass out, falling to the stage. Kimmel suggested that viewers tweet “OMG Tracy Morgan just passed out on stage! Turn on ABC now!” to help boost ratings and to play a prank on Twitter users who weren’t watching the broadcast. Then the social media fun began!

After Morgan assumed the position on the stage – in this case, supine – TV stars like Stephen Colbert and Joel McHale got out their phones to participate. The fact that both men have a large number of Twitter followers no doubt enhanced the promotional effort. Even though anyone who was watching the show was aware that this was a gag (unless they had chosen this moment to go into the kitchen and grab a snack), the power of social media which in this case was Twitter, kicked into high gear!

Morgan remained on the stage floor during the entire commercial break that followed. Country music stars Connie Britton and Hayden Panettiere, who appeared a bit confused by the gag and may not have been informed of the ruse, had to step over Morgan when they presented the next award.

While we can’t know all of the data acquisition objectives for this prank, we DO know that the opportunities for meeting Social CRM objectives are immense! For example, the producers can and possible will use this data to ascertain the effectiveness of one media (social) to drive traffic in other media (TV). They can use the data resulting from this gag to collect additional information on those consumers who were both watching the show and those who resend this message via their social networks. They could use this Social CRM to identify influencers and could potentially gain permission to re-engage with these consumers in the future.

As any business who has taped the power of Social CRM could have predicted, the stunt worked. More than 25,000 tweets followed after Kimmel made the request. When Morgan was literally dragged off the stage, he screamed, “Tell Kerry Washington I’m all right!”

So, what Social CRM lessons can be gleaned from the silly but ultimately effective stunt? Getting a social media message to “go viral” can be dramatically enhanced when they are instigated on live events, particularly glamorous live events such as an awards show on network TV. However, this same social media rush has been seen when it was associated with events that are decidedly unglamorous – armed conflicts, riots and wars for example.

With a great deal of planning and approval from the live TV event producers, consumer products companies could exploit this Social CRM tactic, to drive social media penetration. Just as Kimmel urged everyone watching to tweet “OMG. Tracy Morgan has passed out at the Emmy Awards. Tune into ABC,” this type of effort could be used to promote anything else.

There is however, a landmine field surrounding this Social CRM tactic. Most people don’t like being made to feel silly or dumb. Those who are in on the gag (in this case millions of people who were watching the telecast), were likely to think this gag was humorous. Those who were checking the Twitter feed on their mobile phone and were duped into turning of ABC to see what was up with Tracy Morgan, might not be laughing. There is a big possibility of backlash when Social CRM tactics such as this are used.

Another, one more subtle, Social CRM tactic could be at work here. Jimmy Kimmel is moving into late night hot seat to compete against Letterman and Leno. It was clearly no accident that he was chosen by ABC to host the Emmy’s and to execute the social media stunt. Imagine what the producers of the new Kimmel show could do with the data that could be gleaned from this gag in many areas, including driving new viewers to sample the show.

Increasingly, live TV awards shows are being hyped by social media and Social CRM can be used to “listen” to these activities and repurpose this content across social, mobile and digital channels. Media Post notes that “social media TV consumers hyped the “64th Prime Time Emmy Awards” much more than a year ago. But the big TV awards event was well behind other entertainment awards TV programs.

Trendrr, a social media researcher, says social media interactions grew 42% to 1.57 million — up from 1.1 million a year ago. Total on-air activity was at 1.26 million. Trendrr says total activity accounts for all social interactions of public profiles on Twitter, Facebook, Get Glue and Viggle.

The report noted that positive sentiment of those messages was at 54 percent, 23 percent of those messages were negative and another 23 percent were neutral. This Big Data can be used by social media practitioners to plan future promotions. As with most TV programming in prime time, women made up the majority of those who sent out social messages at 61 percent, giving men 39 percent.

All this gave “The Emmy Awards” sixth place for the year among award shows. The still overwhelming leader was MTV’s “2012 MTV Video Music Awards” with 19,175,032 interactions. It was also the overall leader in social media for any TV show.

Future Social CRM campaigns might consider the other big award shows from this year. These include: “The 54th Annual Grammy Awards,” “The BET Awards ’12″, “The 84th Annual Academy Awards” and Fox’s “Teen Choice 2012.”

Click here to get a copy of Pocketstop’s Enterprise Social CRM checklist.

- Art Young, Client Development

Photo Credit: baubauhaus.com via Ítallo on Pinterest

Social CRM in the News: Social Media and Kate Middleton’s Topless Photo Scandal

September 18, 2012

Scandals, particularly those that involve famous people in various stages of undress, spread through social media as fast as you can spell Princess Kate, Prince Harry or paparazzi. Of course, this assumes that you can spell paparazzi. This tendency is both a boon and a challenge for practitioners of Social CRM.

As you read this post, millions of otherwise civilized and sane people are surreptitiously Googling: Kate Middleton’s Topless Photos. Why? It’s basic human nature following the new rules of Social CRM.

The ubiquity of social media allows, and even encourages, people to read, react, and share such juicy information, and the juicer the better! This pushes everyone the deliciously forbidden area that religious blogger Alan Rudnick calls “social media voyeurism.” Most of us would agree that being associated with the term “voyeurism” is not something to be proud of. This involves someone secretly watching someone else who is not aware that they are being observed. It’s a word, for better or worse, which has that faint hint of perversion associated with it.

Unfortunately for the Royal family, the members of the working paparazzi have been called much worse names than perverted. This group could care less about privacy, good taste or common decency. They are merely concerned about getting paid and get paid is exactly what someone who secretly snaps a photo of Princess Kate while she’s partially clothed does.

As Rudnick noted in his blog, “The social media voyeurism plays out on Facebook, Google+, Twitter, and other platforms and it feeds our need to know everything about everyone. The whole concept of Facebook is based on the idea that we really need to tell everyone what we are thinking.”

So, what can companies learn from this latest scandal? First, once a story is “on” social media, there is no stopping it and no way to ameliorate the damage. Even though the Royal Family has chosen to bring suit in France because the photos first appeared in a French publication and the country has very strict privacy rules, these photos will be on digital, social and mobile channels forever.

Secondly, companies and high-profile individuals should anticipate potential problems that will occur when the jackals of the paparazzi see a potential paycheck and put extra firewalls between them and the jackals. Sadly, the power of social media has mandated that companies and famous people have a higher standard of behavior than the rest of us regular folks.

Finally, companies should employ sound Social CRM practices that harness this incredible power of social, digital and mobile media, especially when it is combined with traditional media such as reality TV and mainstream news programs. By closely listening to the social media, digital and mobile channels and offering these users something of value or interest, companies can use this media to meet marketing and public relations objectives. Plus, everyone can keep their clothes on while this is occurring!

Click here to get a copy of Pocketstop’s Enterprise Social CRM checklist.

- Art Young, Client Development

Photo Credit: racked.com via Julia on Pinterest