Archive for April, 2009
7 Social Media Companies that Kick Ass
UPDATE: You likely came here looking for a list of social media companies. If you want a list of social media agencies, vendors, consultants and more, check out the new social media company directory, InvestInSocial.com.
As the newest ecosystem within the marketing world, Social Media is a collection of many different types of animals fighting to survive and thrive.
Software developers, advertising agencies, and public relations firms alike are all doing very cool things within this evolving space. Defining what a Social Media company is can go in many directions. This list takes a broader look at all the companies that define social media, each leveraging the power of people in unique ways.
1. Buddy Media – App Builder (Facebook apps FedEx Package and Ad Battle), buyer of other top FB apps, and creator of their own ad network.
2. Crayon, (now a part of the Dachis Group) Joseph Jaffe and a slick list of clients
3. Crispin Porter + Bogusk – The Burger King Subservient Chicken and Whopper Sacrifice. Also doing some cool things with American Express OPEN.
4. Hubspot - They own the “inbound marketing” title. They are their best case study with HubSpot.tv and a collection of free marketing tools like Twitter Grader and Facebook Grader
5. Ignite - They stepped into the social media sphere early and they operate out of the tech and research heavy North Carolina triangle, giving them unique access to the right resources, ideas, and people that matter. They also have a pretty glowing client list that continues to grow.
6. IZEA - Creators of blog monetizing sites PayPerPost and Social Spark, and recent blog app Cloud Shout, an open source, social network in your sidebar. They are run by Rock Startup man Ted Murphy and have a blogger advisory board of rock stars.
7. Radian6 - Good people with one of, if not the best social media tracking and analysis software technologies.
Thanks to all those who added in their two cents to help put together this list.
Who would you add?
Enabled Champions Mean Business
Speaking in front of small business owners on a couple recent occasions has spotlighted, for me, a pattern of their frustrations with social media. They want to make social media work for their brand but see it as too much work to learn and implement and not enough real results for their bottom line.Whether a startup, freelancer, or brick and mortar shop, the limitations of budgeting, staffing, and the lack of a large brand to build on are universal for many small enterprises.
To them I present the Enabled Champion – A concept that is by no means new, but in today’s online world of speed and access, it can be an especially powerful tool. Many business owners know these lessons already, but do not know how to magnify word of mouth concepts online.
Enabled Champion n. A customer that willingly markets and spreads word of mouth on behalf of a brand – A brand that is actively providing them opportunities to do so.
When a small business owner picks up a book like Groundswell and sees every other suggestion is to buy into some service that costs thousands of dollars, this Social Media thing can be a bit underwhelming.
Corporate Examples are Daunting
When Pepsi or Best Buy or Burger King does something really cool using Social Media, it is great and all, but sometimes scaling down their successes for small companies can be unrealistic. The important thing to remember is to boil these success stories down to their bare bones. I can usually break down any social media success into one of a few basic concepts:
- Listen/Respond to the consumer (Building trust)
- Provide value to the consumer (Invest in them)
- Give the consumer ownership (Letting them invest in you)
- Be remarkable (Viral potential)
Multiply Your Voice
The next-to-last bullet point above is where the Enabled Champion really gets down to business. Any business should be looking for opportunities to let their customers market for them. If you are in business, someone, somewhere values your product. Build on that success by making it as easy as possible for them to share that experience and encourage others to partake. A simple “tell your friends” is helpful and nice. And basic word of mouth happens organically. But online, for a small business, you must actively provide opportunities for your customers to pass along your brand. The main difference between the potential for word of mouth online and offline is scale. Within the social web, “telling your friends” can have much larger implications.
Hustle Your Word of Mouth
A few examples:
- Assign customers titles and give them perks. Call them your ambassadors or champions or any name. Give them discounts or insider info. I had a boss once that whenever I would ask for a raise, he would respond with “Do you want the money, the title, or the experience?” There are a lot of people out there that would be more than willing to help you for those second and third options.
- Let the consumer create your marketing. Have a contest for written stories about your product or video responses. Ask them to blog for you about how your product or service has helped them or just about your industry. Get input from customers about what your next product should be. Any of these tasks will make the customer feel less like a consumer and more like a community member, one of the team.
- Praise your customers. Write blog posts or video blog about your favorite customers. Interview them so they can share their experience first hand. Put them front and center.
- Use simple, inexpensive online tools to keep the conversation lines open and vibrant. The larger the consumer side of this two way conversation is, the more invested your customers become. Maintain an email newsletter, blog on a regular schedule, and use social networking filters (groups, tags, etc.) to target and give attention to your inner circle of customers. Or just start your own social network with free tools like Ning, Buddypress, Facebook or Google Groups, etc.
Many business owners know all too well that a return customer and a vocal customer are incredibly valuable commodities. As a small business, learning how best to enable your customers to become champions of your brand is a smart investment.
How are you enabling champions of your business?
Photo Credit
Facebook is Cool Again
I have never been a huge fan of Facebook. I recognize its power as a network and communication tool enough to have been on the bandwagon since the beginning. But I have never invested in it like I have in other social networks. That being said, Facebook is doing a pretty kickass job of learning some new tricks lately. And I am paying attention.
Twitter should really be taking notes too.
Facebook Owns Their Mobile
Twitter’s simple and open API provides a lot of opportunities for Twitter as a platform. But their reliance on third party apps has left them uninvested in their own mobile technology. Facebook, despite their lacking mobile app, has recognized the importance of owning a large part of their mobile presence. When they announced that Facebook Connect would now be integrated into iPhone apps, they changed the game in a big way. They have leveraged their large network as a value add for other services. Establishing a foothold in the fastest growing mobile internet platform is a very strong business move and more importantly brings more value to their users.
Facebook Allows Filtered Content
One of Twitter’s keys to success is the simplicity of the platform. So anytime one argues for them to add features, thoughtful consideration is key. But if you take a look at some of the most successful Twitter platforms have shared a key feature, the ability to filter content. Tweetdeck, FriendFeed, Tweetgrid, Cotweet, and others all allow some level of groups or sorting of content.
Facebook’s new front page, while a shock to the system for many, needs closer consideration because of its ability to filter information. Facebook groups have been around for some time, but they have had little use outside of privacy settings. Allowing the user to filter the content they receive by creating their own groups creates a high value experience. It makes the vast amount of information within one’s friend network more accessible and more relevant. These are keys to valuable consumer engagement. You can also create a smarter feed by removing certain apps or users from the information stream. Again, more relevance.
Facebook Listens, Who Would Have Thought?
After trying to make a change to their TOS without much announcement or consideration from users, Facebook quickly opened up their TOS changes to input from the community. They followed a key rule for the internet and life – when making a mistake, acknowledge it quickly, apologize, and fix it. Very soon after, when users were unhappy with major Facebook changes, they used the same open dialogue to include users in fixing the issues. The changes they made really did not address the meat of the issues users had. Most users wanted their old Facebook back. But the effort quieted the mob, and they actually got some great input that improved the changes even more.
The Greater Good
The fact that Facebook is continuing to innovate and add value to their network and others is a great thing. It will drive other social networks and online technologies to keep up. Competition fuels innovation, creating more value for the end user.
