Book: Q & A Websites - Part 2

Last week's book posting about marketing on Knowledge (aka Q&A) Websites was an overview on the expansive network of Knowledge websites. Sites like Yahoo! Answers and eHow.com are huge in both content and traffic.  Notice that if you type a question into a search engine a majority of the top responses will point you to one of the many knowledge websites.  For example, type in "how to make a cake" on Google and the first response comes from ehow.com, the third comes from wikihow.com.  Type in "fixing a broken zipper" and the top item points you to howstuffworks.com followed by wikihow.com and wonderhowto.com. 

So, ask yourself this: What am I great at?  What do I do better than anyone?  Answer that and you have knowledge to share with others.  As a marketer, this is a core component of what we have to do for our clients - help determine what they do better than anyone else then alerting the world to that fact.  A strong brand knows what makes them better than their competition.  But vocalizing that in simple words and not "marketing speak" or insider jargon is rarely done.

Next step is to break this down.  What solutions does the brand and / or the brand's product fulfill?  If we're working for a nutrition-based company, does this company help with weight loss?  Lower sodium intake?  Lower cholesterol?  If so, then you can go to the knowledge websites and state "How to lower cholesterol" or whatever is relevant.  Utilize the experts within the brand.  If the brand produces a nutritional product that lowers cholesterol, there is most likely an MD in house that can speak intelligently about how to lower cholesterol.  You may be able to work in the product, but you may be just mildly marketing the product by stating that the expert works for the company that manufactures a cholesterol-lowering product. 

This is very subtle marketing.  You cannot be overt.  You have to show knowledge and not just self promotion.  You want to establish someone from the company you are marketing as an expert; someone people can trust.

Best Practices for Marketing in Knowledge Websites

• Create a branded profile including the brand’s logo and official information.  This profile will be used to post all content on sites and will clearly show that the information is coming from the brand, without being overly pushy.
• Include a link back to the site, but don’t overdo it.  Too many links look spammy and it may get removed.
• Create interesting, usable content.  Make sure the content you are providing is something that people are looking for and will find useful.
• Post consistently.
• Engage as much as possible.  If the site provides you with the ability to communicate one on one, make sure you are tailoring your expert advice to the specific question.
• Be human.  We are aiming for respect and authority and want to be sure that we are not providing generic, canned responses. 
• Articles should be posted at least once a month, but ideally once a week.  The more active you can be, the better.
• You should develop relationships with those that favorite you or like your article by reciprocating the action – ex favorite them back. 
• Be proactive by “favoriting” or “liking” others articles.  You will be engaging with like-minded contributors and growing your network. 
• Post links to your how-to articles on your site, blog or social network properties.  This will drive traffic to the how-to, as well as further position you as a expert in the subject matter. 

Book: Q & A Websites

Book entry. Staying on the topic of Conversational Marketing, I'll next discuss what I previously referred to as Question and Answer Websites, but what I'll now call Knowledge Websites.  We also sometimes call this the online Knowledge Marketplace, but for the sake of discussion here, we'll call these places Knowledge Websites.

Conversational Marketing Through Knowledge Websites

Overview
Knowledge Websites are sites focused on sharing practical real-world information with users.  Most of this information is often supplied by other users thus creating communities of people exchanging knowledge.  These sites function as a place for consumers to engage with one another about everything from baking a cake to fixing a transmission in your car. Influencers within the community share useful information with other users who consider these influencers to be the most knowledgeable about a particular subject – and express their appreciation by voting, “favoriting,” or liking their submissions.

Site Types and Simplified Marketing Strategies

• Question and Answer Websites: Online communities where members ask and provide each other with answers to a variety of questions on all topics. 
• The brand expert has the opportunity to answer questions from the community, as well as ask questions to get brand feedback.  
• A branded profile is created to represent the expert client and links to company websites and social media properties are included in the profile and in answer/question signatures
• Examples:
• Yahoo! Answers: http://answers.yahoo.com/
• Mahalo Open Questions: http://www.mahalo.com/answers/ 

• How To Websites: Online communities where members share articles detailing how to do, fix, or create something. 
•  A branded profile is created to represent the expert client and all instructional articles are posted by this profile.
• Examples: 
• eHow: http://www.ehow.com/
• WikiHow: http://www.wikihow.com/

• Article Submission sites: Online communities where users can write and submit original articles on any topic to be reviewed, used, placed, or expanded up by the community
• A branded profile is created to represent the expert client and op-ed articles are written and submitted for review by the site and eventually the community.
• Examples: 
• Ezine Articles: http://ezinearticles.com/
• Buzzle: http://www.buzzle.com/

WOMMA Webinar - Brand Evangelists

A few weeks back I did my first ever webinar.  It was for an organization I belong to (along with my company Fanscape) called WOMMA - The Word of Mouth Marketing Association.

I was asked to speak about the topic of Influencers.  More specifically how we use influencers to help spread the word on the projects we're working on.

Below you can watch the webinar and peak behind the curtain a little bit to see how we do it.  I give an overview on the tactical approach we take to finding and utilizing influencers as well as a case study on a project we did for our client GameStop.

It's about an hour long and I hope you like it.  If you have any more questions, please let me know.

Brand Evangelists: A case study on incorporating influencers into the marketing fold

View more presentations from Word of Mouth Marketing Association.

Education

There is so much I want to say about education.  A few factors have led to this topic being on my brain.

1. Fast Company
2. SXSW
3. SMU
4. Alvin Toffler
5. Brandon

Fast Company
It all started a few months back when I read an article in Fast Company called "Who Needs Harvard" with the sub-heading of "How Web-Savvy Edupunks Are Transforming American Higher Education."  This is a fantastic article about how college kids are getting frustrated that universities are not teaching more about new technologies and not embracing the rapid innovations happening all around us.  What it basically states is that colleges are stuck in the past and that the recent graduates are creating new forms of advanced education that will revolutionize the way learning will be conducted in the future. Thus the term "Edupunks" which is being assigned to this group of students and recent graduates who are working on creating new schools that are online and aggregate the best classes in the world.  I'm extrapolating a bit, but combining what I've read here and how I see the extensions of this article, what they are proposing is that some day soon rather than attending Harvard or Yale at $200,000 you'll spend $20,000 to sit at your computer and have access to the best classes at all the best schools.  Imagine going to NEW U.com and you can attend a class from Harvard one hour, then another from MIT, then another from Stanford after that?  You could actually compile the best education ever offered.

Now this doesn't replace the experience of actually going to a university, but heck, there are millions of people who want to attend college that either can't afford an ivy league school or even get accepted.  Under the Long Tail methodology, there is infinite space in these online classrooms thus making great higher education essentially available to everyone.

Is this a good thing?

If you are an elitist, you probably hate this idea.  All of a sudden it's not special that you went to Columbia or Brown.

But who cares? Aren't we a better society if more people are better educated?  Won't we have more innovation that leads to better health, government, food, and... education? I think so.

Read the article, it is really eye opening.  And exciting.  http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/138/who-needs-harvard.html

SXSW
I had a great conversation with someone who put together a panel for the upcoming SXSW Interactive conference in March. She is a graduate student at a major university who has studied and written in-depth papers on innovations in social media.  But interestingly enough, when we were talking about her panel, she explained to me how frustrated she was at her university which couldn't get their heads around her particular focus in the graduate program she was attending.  She was studying specific innovations in social media and the way we as humans are accessing real time information via the web, but they didn't get it.  They wouldn't support her because no one in the university understood what she was studying.  Meanwhile thousands of people at Google, Apple, Microsoft, Intel, Yahoo!, Twitter, Facebook, and on and on could talk all day long about this particular topic.  But not her university.

I told her about the Fast Company article.  I told her she was not alone.  And that things were changing.  But unfortunately probably not fast enough for her.

She was appreciative and inspired.

A quick parallel to this.  About two years ago I was at a party.  I was having a conversation with someone about how bad the record business was and she said to me, "you guys need to fix it."  She was referring to me and two other record industry vets standing next to me.  I looked at her and said, "We're too old."

Point being, at age 40 I no longer had the energy to change a business that didn't want to be changed.  I told her that someone 15 or 20 years old would have to do it.  Someone from outside.  Someone who didn't know anything about the business.  The way that Sean Fanning at 19 years old created Napster and it turned the music business on it's head.  He didn't know anything about the rules.  He just thought it was cool to share music online.

The people that will change the education system will do so because they don't know any better.  They are frustrated students who can't get what they want.  Just like a couple of kids who were frustrated that CDs cost too much and only had one good song on them.  Merge frustration, youth, and the feeling of getting ripped off, and you'll get innovation.  Sucks that it has to happen that way, but that's the way it is.  

SMU
About two weeks ago I spoke at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.  It was a tremendous experience.  I will write a separate blog about it where I basically recap my speech.  I was part of the keynote presentation where four of us talked about social media, but more about our lives and how we got to where we are.  We were there to inspire college students and prepare them for the world once they graduate.   

I love speaking at universities because I feel like if I can get to students early enough I can help steer them in the right direction and better prepare them for life after college.  I was lucky enough to know what I wanted to do in my life when I was 14 years old.  Music spoke to me.  I couldn't play an instrument but I loved the idea of being in a business that revolved around music.  So I dedicated my life to learning everything about the music business during high school, college, and after that.  But most people are not like me.  Most people don't know what they want to do.  I was the exception, not the rule.

So give me the chance to speak at a university, and I'll tell you what I did with that knowledge.  I'll tell you how I used my school, the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) to promote concerts, run the on campus music store, become the music editor of the college paper and be one of the directors of the radio station.  I'll tell you how I interned during the summers at record companies and how I became friends with people at record companies, concert promotion firms, and PR firms.

And then I'll tell you how when I actually got my dream job and was really starting to excel, the industry changed and the job disappeared.  So I started over.  But I took the same ideals and put them into a new and evolving industry.

And when you ask me what to study in college I'll tell you one thing... Learn to write.

If you do that, you will have an edge over 90% of the world.  Most people do not know how to write.

Take every writing class you can take.   They are going to be the most painful classes; they will drain you like nothing else. But oh the payoff.  You will excel in life.  You will convey knowledge, passion, and reliability more than anyone else you know or anyone else vying for that same job.  You will rise up the company ladder and when you find yourself leading others, you will inspire them with your words.

Trust me on this.

Alvin Toffler
This morning I was listening to Susan Bratton's podcast, "Dishy Mix."  I've spoken about her podcast before.  I really like it.  She interviews some of the most amazing people, especially people in my field of Marketing / Advertising / Technology.  This morning I turned on the iPhone and scrolled to the Dishy Mix podcast button and closed my eyes and put my finger down randomly on an unheard podcast.  And I hit Alvin Toffler.  I'd heard his name before but wasn't sure why.  Then Susan explained that he was the author of such well regarded books as "Future Shock" and "The Third Wave."  Ahh, yes, "I've heard of those," I thought with an excited and eager smile.  Very cool.  He is one of the original "futurists," one of the guys who predicted where we were going over 30 years ago.

Listen to the podcast, it is well worth your time.  But the reason I put him into this education topic is because he hit on something about 20 minutes into the conversation.  Alvin tells Susan that what economists don't realize or acknowledge is that different entities move at different speeds.  For example Businesses move at 100 mph while NGO's (basically not-for-profit businesses) move at 90 mph and Government moves at 25 mph.  Meanwhile Education moves at 10 mph.  Which led to Alvin's commentary on the miserable state of education and how most institutions are stuck in old methodology.

I'm not doing this justice.  Please, listen to this podcast:
http://personallifemedia.com/podcasts/232-dishymix/episodes/48389-alvin-toffler-road-race-21st-century

Brandon
Brandon is my 2 year old son.  And education is very top of mind.  My wife visits a new pre-school (what seems like) every day.  We are in the preparatory stage of getting our son ready for his educational path.   So what will Brandon face?

From the immediate public school perspective, at least where we live in Los Angeles, it looks horrible. Not much of an option.  It will cost us a fortune, but we'll figure it out and Brandon will get the best education possible for the next fifteen or so years.

As for college, based on that Fast Company article and the sea change that I can feel coming, I'm much more optimistic.  If he were going to college right now, he'd be at a disadvantage. He'd face the issues I described earlier.  He'd be a kid who'd grown up around technology and innovation but without the avenue to excel.  But when Brandon gets to college, it will be better.  There are just too many frustrated kids right now with little tolerance for accepting the ways "it has always been done."

Thanks goodness.

Clearing up the Clutter

A couple of weeks back I polled the Fanscape staff and asked them for predictions for advancements in social media in 2010.  There were some great ones.  I'll talk about some of them in the coming days but first let's look at what emerged in 2009.

Top Social Media Trends of 2009

• Growth of use of social media - especially Twitter
• Alternative monetization of social platforms (non advertising) - aka "Freemium"
  
• Brands and businesses going social
• Emergence of personal branding
• Apps & Widgets

Those are the topline concepts.  I could go into them in great detail but I'd prefer to look forward rather than backwards.  The basic summary is that in 2009 brands began adopting social media strategies, there were some huge standouts such as Starbucks (my personal choice for social media company of the year), and we started to see mobile emerge and new revenue streams begin to gain traction.

For 2010 my team sees the following:

1. Clearing up the clutter
2. Creation of social media policies
3. Location-based apps / geolocation
4. Major mobile acceptance and usage
5. Real-time data integration
6. Emergence of social search
7. Premium and subscription models
8. Integration of hardware with software and web platforms
9. Shift from micro-sites to improved websites
10. Greater standardization of metrics and measurements
    

My favorite and the one I'm personally engaged in is the first one.  We call it "Clearing up the Clutter" but in simplified social networking terms, it can also be called, "Unfriending and Unfollowing."

If 2009 was the year that Facebook hit 300 Million users and Twitter became the world's biggest news feed, then 2010 will be the year we decide that following 500 people is not nearly as impactful as following 50 trusted sources.

It has been fun watching my Facebook friends grow towards 1,000 people.  I had no idea I had so many friends.  And I'll admit, when I first got into Twitter I loved hearing what Rainn Wilson and Trent Reznor had to say.  So I started adding more people.  I found the big voices like Guy Kawasaki and Tony Robbins.  And that's where it went off the rails.  In the past 12 hours Guy Kawasaki has tweeted 40 times.  No disrespect to Guy and his team of Tweeters, what he's saying is actually interesting.  But because he tweets so much the tweets of other people I follow get buried.  And thus my Twitter account is cluttered and if I want to get the most out of my Twitter then I have to unfollow people that either Tweet too much or make uninteresting Tweets.

The same is true with Facebook.  When you have 700 people updating their status, uploading photos, commenting on walls, adding widgets, and attacking your zombies, it gets to be information overload.  And the worst, the people who use Facebook to tell me about their friend's band.  Look, I respect that you love that band.  Please blog about it and talk about it all day long.  Just don't invite me to see them.  If I'm intrigued, I'll find them.  I know you are involved with them, if I want to see them, I'll contact you.  I have a rule that I follow.  If you are my Facebook friend but I don't really know you and you invite me to something once, I'll look the other way.  If you invite me twice, then I unfriend you.  Sorry about that.  It's not personal, I'm just trying to clear up some of the clutter so that I can see what is happening with the people that I actually care about.

I don't believe I'm alone.  I predict that in 2010 the number of people we folllow on Twitter and friend on Facebook will decline.  We'll still use those platforms and most likely new ones that haven't emerged yet, but we'll zero in on people who actually enrich our lives on a daily basis.

If you have an opinion on this, please let me know.  I'm very confident in this particular prediction, but I'm always open to opposing points of view.

Book: Blog Commenting - Part 3

Continuing from last week's book posting about Blog commenting...

Standards and Practices
The rules of engagement within social media platforms remain consistent.  What was mentioned in the Message Boards and Forums section and will be expected in all future sections are that a digital marketer's Standard of Ethics must embody:

• Honesty of Identity & Opinion
• Respect the Rules of the Venue

As well as maintaining the same Best Practices:

• Research
• Join for the Long Haul
• Join for the Bigger Discussion
• Be Transparent with Identity

I won't be repeating them in every section, just always refer to them when pursuing an engagement within the social media platforms that I describe, inclusive of commenting within blogs.

Example
Look at an active blog like Chris Brogan's and you will see that each post results in multiple responses.  A recent post on Chris's blog entitled The Multi-Branded Human had over 50 responses.  Each respondent had an opinion on Chris's post and Chris himself jumped in and conversed with his readers within the commentary section.

In this particular post, Chris discussed numerous name brands and the possible conflict that arises when working with competing companies.  He ended his post with a discussion-inducing jumping off point by asking, "What do you think?"

Chris asked for opinions.  He was seeking insight from his readers.  Conversations ensued and you can see the lively interaction between members of this sub-community.  If you wanted to promote your brand here, the opportunity exists, but you and your product would need to be relevant to the conversation.  If, for example, you were promoting your marketing agency you would need to cite specific examples that would correspond to Chris's article and be respectful of what others are saying.  To maximize your effectiveness, you would also need to show knowledge and authority.  In other words, you need to bring something to the conversation.  You can't just shill for yourself and your product.  You will see that the people who make compelling points engage others which results in conversations within the conversations. 

Summary
As you continue down the path of conversational marketing, you'll uncover many intricate tactics, such as commenting within blogs.  The rules remain consistent; respect and understand the community in which you attempt to converse.  Just remember that when you are commenting on a blog, you are visiting someone's virtual property.  Respect them and the others that congregate around them.  Integrate yourself into the community and bring knowledge and expertise.  Do that and you will have created a new area to expose your product.

Shit My Dad Says

"The baby will talk when he talks, relax. It ain't like he knows the cure for cancer and he just ain't spitting it out."

Read today that CBS will probably have a TV show on the air in the coming year or so based around the Twitter account, Shit My Dad Says. If you haven't seen this Twitter account, you should.  It is some funny stuff. 

Here are some quotes I plucked out:

"You worry too much. Eat some bacon... What? No, I got no idea if it'll make you feel better, I just made too much bacon."

"Nobody is that important. They eat, shit, and screw, just like you. Maybe not shit like you, you got those stomach problems."

"Does anyone your age know how to comb their fucking hair? It looks like two squirrels crawled on their head and started fucking."

You know why I love this?  Because I know this guy.  I mean, I don't know this exact guy, but I know a guy like him.  My company's previous landlord talked just like this guy.  He used to have this great way of telling you about life by using a lot of swear words.  My business partner and I loved to hear him pontificate.  When I saw this Twitter profile, it brought back memories of him.  

And it made me laugh.  I haven't laughed enough during the past two years.  Which is sad.  Because I grew up laughing and making others laugh.  You know what else makes me laugh?  Kicked in the Nuts.  Dot com.  Yep, www.kickedinthenuts.com - aka KITN is one of the funniest sites I've been to in quite a while.  I showed this site to my staff yesterday and laughed my ass off.  Unfortunately not everyone laughed as much as me, so hek, you may not like it as much as I do.  But do give it a try.  I'm told men love to see guys getting kicked in the nuts but women don't.  So this might be a site only for the gentlemen.  

Unfortunately they don't enable me to embed the video, so if you go to the site, navigate to the Recent Episodes tab and click Episode 13 REDUX (the second one down), it's my favorite.  Or try clicking HERE too.   

Feels good to laugh. 

Book: Blog Commenting - Part 2

Continuing from last week's book posting about Blog commenting...

Communicating and Marketing in Blog Comment Sections
Like message boards and online forums, blogs are micro communities.  The comments that follow each blog post represent the interaction within that micro community that is centered around the blogger and his or her topics.  That community tends to be mostly dedicated readers of the blog and they often feel a sense of pride and ownership in their reading and responding of that particular blog. Understanding that is critical.  Here are some tips to properly communicating within Blogs and their corresponding commentary sections.

• What are you selling? What ultimately do you want to promote?  Are you trying to sell a product or are you trying to integrate yourself into a community to showcase knowledge in a specific area and thus create exposure for your product?  Hopefully it is the latter.  Many blogs are moderated by the blogger.  Your comments will need to be approved by the blogger before they appear in the commentary section.  If you come right out and promote your product, the blogger will most likely not approve your post and it will never appear on the blog.  If the blog comment section is not moderated then your post will either be ignored or you will be inundated with negative comments and labeled a spammer. 
  


• Get to know the blogger.  Understand that when you comment in a blog, you are trespassing on the blogger’s property.  Think about it in those terms.  If you come to someone’s house, do you want them to invite you in or shut the door in your face?  Your first comment is like knocking on the door for the first time; make sure you say hello politely and show earnest care for their property.  Try to locate the blogger’s contact information on his or her blog and send them an email telling them you enjoy their blog.  Make sure you spend time reading through many of the blogger’s posts to familiarize yourself with the overall theme of the blog and what message the blogger is trying to convey.  When you actually make your first comment on the blog, try to stay positive.  If you agree with what the blogger has written, tell them so.  This will endear you to the blogger and will give you a nice introduction to the commenting community.  If you disagree, try to retain a positive outlook and ask a question rather than simply criticize the blogger.  Comment in several blogs over a several week period before you begin to promote your own message.


• Engage the community.  As you read the blog, you will notice that similar people post comments.  Engage with them.  Acknowledge good points made in the blog commentary.  Praise the individuals posting comments the way you did with the blogger.  Follow their links to find out more about them.  Understand the people within the community so that you understand what interests them.  As you did with the blogger, if you disagree with a comment made as a response, keep a positive tone and pose the issue as a question.  


• Promoting yourself and your product. The key to all marketing in conversational marketing is to allow yourself time.  It is nearly impossible to ingratiate yourself within a community immediately and start promoting your product.  You need to build trust and that takes time.  Once you have spent several weeks observing and commenting in blogs, you may then begin to post information about yourself and your area of expertise.  You may say something like:
  

I agree with what you are saying.  I work for a marketing agency that promotes products like X and I’ve found that if you do it this way, it will result in Y.  That’s just my opinion.  What do you think?

Book: Blog Commenting

Book time. The last three weeks I wrote about best practices and how to utilize message boards and online forums for marketing purposes.  Its a very delicate process because if you don't take your time and get to know the audience, you'll just upset people and your marketing will completely backfire.  Message boards and online forums were the first item in the first main topic in the book called Conversational Marketing.  This is the real one to one communication where you, the marketer, participate in discussions with individuals.  The sub-topics that make up Conversational Marketing include:

• Message Boards and Discussion Forums
• Blogs
• Question & Answer Websites
• Social Networks
• Product Review and Opinion Websites
• Brand Evangelist Forums on Blogs, Websites, & Social Networks
• Crowdsourcing Websites
• Expert Marketing Websites (aka "How To" Websites)
• MicroBlogging (Twitter)

Check Message Boards and Discussion Forums off the list.  I went into serious detail on them.  If you missed it, you can look back at my three part series: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.

Now on to Blogs or specifically Blog Commenting.

Conversational Marketing Through Blog Commenting

Overview
The reason people create blogs is because they have an expertise or an opinion about something that is important to them.  There are literally millions of blogs and people talk about everything from politics to their pets.  The majority of those blogs attract a very small audience, but even the smallest blogs often engage people who are close to the blogger.  As a blog obtains more and more readers, that blogger's voice becomes increasingly influential.  The blog starts to evolve from a personal memo to a distinct opinion that has avid readers who will respond with a positive comment, a differing opinion, or a question.  Much like message boards and online forums, a community may erupt within that blog's commentary section and people will begin to discuss the topic at hand with each other.  One effective way that a marketer can gain attention for their product is to engage in conversations within the blog comment community.  However, as with message boards and online forums, if the marketer jumps in and immediately starts to "sell" their product, they will be quickly removed either literally by the blog moderator or systematically by the community.  Time and attention are key and it is important to become part of the community.