Methodical Madness

Is Twitter biting the hand that feeds it?

 

We’ve been watching and writing about Twitter for over a year now and a recent Mashable article highlights some of the concerns we’ve seen with recent Twitter developments. Earlier this year, Twitter held its first developers conference, Chirp. It was there that the microblogging site announced its first app – an iPhone app called Tweetie. 

 

With this announcement, Twitter said loud and clear that they aren’t just going to sit back and let others dictate how their site is used. Overnight, Twitter killed a whole burgeoning development segment. Third party app developers went on alert and some were sent running scared. Venture capitalist took notice as well and funding for Twitter based apps dropped from $21.6 million between June 2008 and May 2009 to $10.4 million between June 2009 and May of this year. That’s a 50% drop in early-stage investment over the past year.

 

Twitter has seen rampant site growth and third party app development over it’s short life. If it wasn’t for the company allowing anyone and everyone to build on top of their system, they wouldn’t be the powerhouse site they are today. The microblogging site owes its success to the independent developers that created applications to make the user experience more rewarding. 

 

Twitter has added Android and BlackBerry apps to the smartphone mix, effectively cornering the market. Their iPad app has all but killed development in that area and the addition of the Tweet Button ousted Tweet Meme and other sites that do the same. So far, we haven’t seen Twitter purchasing additional apps, but we wouldn’t be surprised if they develop more location based systems a la Facebook and Foursquare, purchase an official url shorting system and photo sharing app, as well as better use of analytics and trending topics. All of these areas seem natural for Twitter expand into. 

 

With less focus from developers on Twitter apps, we could be coming to an end of the golden age of the site. If developers perceive the site as a direct challenger, the site will be left to develop their own apps and this will stagger innovation and creativity that has, to date, been one of the defining characteristics of Twitter. Could this be the beginning of the end of Twitter’s market dominance or is this just a bump in the road we try to figure out Twitter’s next move?

 

Facebook burnout: Have we finally had enough?

Innovative new sites are springing up to accommodate Facebook-weary social networkers

We speculated in a previous post about whether or not Facebook users were getting fed up, and it seems as though the sentiment has only grown since then. In the past few weeks, stories have been popping up around the web about users growing tired of the social media goliath and the new sites that are looking to capitalize by giving users a better option. 

Teens in particular are increasingly abandoning Facebook. The reason is largely that they’ve simply lost interest and are looking to other sites for amusement. Privacy issues are a relatively easy problem to address with fixes in site functionality – mass malaise is far more daunting and difficult to turn around.  

Which isn’t to say privacy issues aren’t a major reason people are getting fed up with Facebook. A Mashable survey showed 30% of respondents intended to leave Facebook because they’re uncomfortable with the accessibility of their private information. 

With the scent of blood in the water, many players have jumped into the game to try to create “the new Facebook.” The leader of the pack is the soon to be launched Diaspora. Without specifically mentioning Facebook, they make it clear they are the privacy focused alternative to the social networking giant. Investors are certainly convinced there is opportunity for a new social network to take off as Diaspora exceeded its fundraising goal – 20 times over. 

They aren’t the only ones creating Facebook alternatives. Check out this article from ReadWriteWeb for a rundown of the new social networking sites that are coming soon and how they are trying to solve the specific gripes users have with Facebook. 

Despite growing user apathy and the rise of exciting new options, Facebook’s growth continues unabated. Perhaps Facebook is so fundamentally baked into our day-to-day lives that these new rivals will all ultimately fail to make a dent in its dominance. Or maybe one site will succeed in recapturing the spirit of fun and novelty that we all got caught up in during Facebook’s early days. 

What do you think: are you considering dropping Facebook in favor of one of the new players?

Jason Ross is a copywriter for The Duffy Agency. He loves working on both traditional and social media projects and speculating on the future of the ad industry.

 

 

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How four businesses used Twitter for serious sales success

Without the help of big marketing budgets, many small businesses have hit it big thanks to exposure through Twitter. Looking at their stories, you can glean some valuable lessons on integrating Twitter into your business. As Twitter, on the surface, probably seems quite frivolous to you, we figured some real life success stories would help make its marketing potential clear and inspire you to find your own Twitter uses.

Here are four Twitter strategies companies are using to overcome the challenges of connecting with customers in a digital world where traditional methods just don’t cut it anymore.

Neenah Paper meets their customers where they hang out
The paper industry is about as traditional as it gets, and until recently Neenah Paper was no exception. But when they noticed traditional means of scoring new sales (phone calls and in person meetings) were steadily becoming more ineffective, they took a look at where their potential buyers were. It turned out the graphic designers and printers of the world were spending an ever increasing amount of time cruising social media sites. When Neenah Paper’s sales force started testing out Twitter as a way to engage new prospects, they found a much more receptive audience. They now have a sales team of dedicated tweeters scoring new sales left and right.

Zappos’ employees open themselves up en masse
Zappos is the consummate example of social media done right. With almost no marketing budget, Zappos now brings in about $1 billion a year. They’ve risen to that from the $1.6 million they made in 2000 largely by marketing through social media and Twitter. CEO Tony Hsieh leads by example, having tweeted his way to over 1.7 million followers. He encourages all his employees to get as involved as he is. 200 of them have jumped on board. They excel at using Twitter to provide customer service and making themselves accessible. As a result, they now have an army of loyal fans. 

CoffeeGroundz Cafe saves time for their customers
This small coffee shop in Houston was the first to realize Twitter’s potential for placing take out orders. Customers loved the idea of having their coffee ready for them when they walked in the door. By using Twitter to solve one of their customers’ biggest problems – the need to save time – they doubled their clientele and created a sense of community. They also use Twitter to organize tweetups at their shop, each one of which brings in about 200 paying customers.


Kogi crowdsources their creative work
When the people behind LA’s Kogi Korean BBQ Taco Trucks realized their predominantly youthful target was on Twitter, they dove in after them. And what a splash they made. More than 72,000 followers now receive updates of where the trucks are parked, what the waiting times are and when they’re leaving. They also engage their fans by letting them name their trucks and design the company t-shirts. The locals responded to the call and now turn out in droves to scarf some mobile tacos every day. Their success even inspired Newsweek to dub them “America’s first viral restaurant.” 

As these stories demonstrate, Twitter can be a powerful tool to help solve your customers’ problems. And if you manage to do that, they’ll love you for it. Heard about any other success stories?

Jason Ross is a copywriter for The Duffy Agency. He loves working on both traditional and social media projects and speculating on the future of the ad industry.

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Google one step closer to communication dominance

With Google Voice, the web giant crams most of your communication needs into one browser

Given their recent track record with the likes of Google Wave and Google Buzz basically tanking from the word go, it’s difficult not to feel skeptical when Google releases a new “revolutionary” product. But where Buzz and Wave failed, Voice has every chance to succeed. The former services were entirely new communications platforms. Their use wasn’t communicated clearly and as such people didn’t know why they should bother putting the effort into incorporating yet another networking tool into their lives. Voice is back to basics, offering a service everyone understands and needs.

But why should you rethink your calling habits? Web services like Skype and of course mobile phones work pretty well for you already. Well, there are some pretty nifty advantages to making calls from your browser. Advatages like:

• having one universal phone number
• being able to call all of a contact’s phones at once
• listening to voicemail as a caller leaves a message
• transcribed voice messages that appear automatically in your Gmail account
• text messages that go to both phone and email
• send texts for free online via Gmail
• mobile app lets you call and text for free
• low international calling rates.

It’s the coming together of all our major communication needs in one toolbox that makes the launch of Google Voice especially intriguing. If Voice takes off, Google will add calling to the list of successful communication platforms that cover email, video and photo sharing and chat. All of which are browser based, making them easier to access from anywhere than app-based platforms that need to be downloaded and installed. With the advent of HTML5 and the ever increasing array of functionality of web browsers, the future might be a lot less app-centric than we think. 

The major mountain left to climb for the search giant is social networks. Google has tried to break into the space with the aforementioned Wave and Buzz, but have fallen flat on their face so far (GoogleMe may or may not change that). But Voice could at least put them at the top of the heap in non-social network communication.

What do you think: is Google Voice going to change the way you call, or is it another miss from Google’s throw everything against the wall and see what sticks strategy?

Jason Ross is a copywriter for The Duffy Agency. He loves working on both traditional and social media projects and speculating on the future of the ad industry.

 

 

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Top social media stories of the week

A rundown of the hottest articles we found thanks to Twitter

 

 

If there’s one thing we love Twitter for, it’s sharing social media news and ideas. Just in the past week we’ve found a good heap of fascinating and useful stories from websites and blogs which may have slipped under your radar. Here’s a rundown of the top stories that got us talking.

Google Tests Streaming, As-You-Type Search Results
Google is looking to revolutionize the search engine game again. Click the link to see a video of streaming search results in action and decide for yourself if it’s great news, or just a gimmick.

Kit Kat’s Risky Word of Mouth Marketing Campaign
Advertisers usually shy away from the powder keg subject matter that is religion. Kit Kat decided to take the risk and launch a word of mouth campaign based on claiming to have spotted Jesus in a half eaten Kit Kat.

Can Augmented Reality Help Save the Print Publishing Industry?
With doom being proclaimed for the traditional ways of newspaper and magazine publishers, they are starting to explore some exciting new approaches to distributing their media. Not only is augmented reality adding fun, but a new depth to storytelling.

Social Media and Letting Off Steam
We tend to let go when we’re on social media, giving the world the piece of our mind we generally reserve in real world exchanges. But this isn’t always a good thing as the impression we create online can be far different than what we expect, or want. Some fascinating thoughts to ponder as you tweet and update the world about what you're thinking right now.

Kinderkreis: Danse Gooshers!
And finally, your hilarious viral phenomenon of the week comes from Germany in what is either a hoax, or the most unsettling children’s program of all time.

For more of our favorite articles, blog posts and bizarre videos, follow The Duffy Agency on Twitter: @theduffyagency.

Jason Ross is a copywriter for The Duffy Agency. He loves working on both traditional and social media projects and speculating on the future of the ad industry.

 

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5 ways businesses can use Facebook Places

Location based services just hit the mainstream. Here’s how you can capitalize on it.

Foursquare was doing very well for itself. It was marching along at the head of the location based services (LBS) trend with almost three million users having fun by “checking in” to restaurants, stores and other places via their mobile phones. Yesterday, a bombshell dropped on the LBS movement as Facebook gave its 500 million users a similar service. Foursquare may live on, but it’s suddenly dropped into a distant second after being the long time leader.

If its users take to it, Facebook Places will vault LBS into the mainstream. As marketers, we couldn’t be happier because this unleashes a new array of creative possibilities for brands to get in touch with fans and have fun doing it. Here are 5 ways you can use Places to get your audience involved. Bear in mind that some of these depend on future developments of Places and just how open Facebook are with its information. Knowing Facebook, it’ll be pretty open.

Reward users for check-ins and loyalty
Foursquare’s major advantage over Places is its reward system where users get badges, points and “mayorships” for their checkins. But there’s nothing stopping you from creating your own rewards for users who checkin to your location, which isn’t that difficult to track as each Place has its own page. This can also be real world rewards where users take their phones to locations like shops and restaurants and show their Facebook stats to get free stuff. This is a big draw as it essentially turns day-to-day life into a game where ordinary tasks become accomplishments.

Reach out through your Place Page
Speaking of each Place having its own page, you can go into Facebook and claim your business’s location as your own by uploading proof in the form of a business license or the such. You can then send messages to the people who “like” the page with updates, offers and contests. You can get users to talk to each other about their experiences and provide reviews. If they’re positive, they can be extremely effective.

Networking
When you go to conferences and events you can checkin and see who else is attending. You can then check out their profiles and decide which ones are worth reaching out to. You can also keep an eye on what competitors are up to by seeing what events they attend. 

Create checkin based apps
Facebook has opened up the Places API, which means you can create apps that use the checkin data gathered from Places. This has the potential to bring together and reward people at events by checking in through the app. You can also create location based games or contests like scavenger hunts that send people around cities to find specific locations and complete tasks. An app could also come with auto-notifications that send a message when a user nears a specific location. There are loads of possibilities with this one.

Create a friend for fans to hang out with
I’m not sure this feature will be around forever as it has loads of potential for blowback, but why not have fun with it while it lasts? You can tag friends when you check into a place, and said friend may or may not actually be with you. Creating a humorous brand profile that people can check into locations with could be a fun way to get people to interact with you to earn rewards and status, while giving you greater exposure as your profile shows up in news feeds.

Those were a few of our initial ideas. Any lightbulbs going off over your head? Let us know. Here are some more thoughts on the future of location based advertising through Facebook from eMarketer.

Jason Ross is a copywriter for The Duffy Agency. He loves working on both traditional and social media projects and speculating on the future of the ad industry.

 

 

 

 

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Spreading your content through Twitter just got easier

For all you businesses trying to connect with people and gain exposure through social media, we have good news: Twitter has just reduced the barriers to sharing your content to almost zero.

With third party applications from the likes of TweetDeck and TweetMeme, the barriers were already pretty low, but Twitter’s new Tweet Button makes sharing content about as easy as it can get. Which is good because when it comes to web surfing, people have extremely short attention spans.

The new service is a button you install on your blog posts, articles or other web content that lets visitors share what they find interesting without leaving the page. A box pops up that logs you into Twitter, and from that box you can Tweet a pre-shortened URL with your own message. And after they’ve tweeted about you to their followers, they receive a couple suggestions of people to follow. You get to decide yourself who is suggested to them, so the social media exposure becomes two-fold as you can gain both buzz and followers.

Installing the button is fairly simple. You need to go to the Tweet Button webpage, choose a size and layout, enter the accounts you want Tweet Button to recommend, and then copy and paste a couple lines of code into the html of your blog or website. Here’s a short video on getting started with Tweet Button.

 

The new service also lets you track how many retweets your content gets by showing you a running counter. This will help you better understand what content your audience finds most compelling and refocus your efforts. As we’ve discovered over the course of writing this blog and other projects, predicting what will take off through social media is no mean feat even for experienced pros.

Getting others to share your content should be a top priority in your online efforts. It won't revolutionize your social media efforts as your success still hinges on creating exceptional content, but we’d recommend implementing the new Tweet Button since fewer steps in the sharing process equals more people doing it. You can give the button a try here on Methodical Madness below.

Jason Ross is a copywriter for The Duffy Agency. He loves working on both traditional and social media projects and speculating on the future of the ad industry.

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The Summer of Memes

Internet memes come and go so quickly that sometimes they’re old news just as you’re hearing about them (Sad Keanu Reeves I miss you). At any given moment there are several memes floating around. This summer has seen great blending of brands and quirky fads.

Sweeping college campuses this spring, Bros Icing Bros blends Smirnoff ICE with an impromptu drinking game. The game involves giving someone a hot Smirnoff ICE and upon receiving the bottle, the person must drop to one knee and chug it. Some of the best have included plastic-wrapped inside a toilet and  wrapped around a friends pet. The site is now defunct but that doesn’t mean that the concept is dead. Blending the red hot campaign of the Old Spice ad with Bros Icing Bros comes Bros Spicing Bros. If you’re sick of the Old Spice guy, it's another fun use of the brand and expands its exposure is way up. The brand is seeing a resurgence and sales are way up.

Thanks to I Can Haz Cheeseburger, cats have been internet meme fodder for quite some time. Cats are everywhere these days. The meme tracking site, urlesque.com, created a fight bracket that pits one furry internet meme against another. Around 40,000 people voted and Maru emerged victorious. The feline sensation has over 55 million page views on it’s YouTube channel and over 150 videos. It’s hard to be cuter than that.

 

No summer internet meme list would be complete without the inclusion of the meme of the moment, Antoine Dodson. After stopping a man from attacking his sister, the local North Alabama NBC affiliate interviewed Antoine Dodson. He became an overnight Internet sensation. Antoine is rather colorful in his interview and The Gregory Brothers remixed the interview and created an amazing dance track.

 

It’s so catchy that YouTube commentator, DeStorm TV, decided to do his own version of the song.

 

Facebook works it’s way into the meme world. Not because the mega-site has done anything interesting but because of the movie, The Social Network, about Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.  Here is the original trailer.

 

 

And of course, cats come back into play, with a parody of the making of LOLCats.

 

While Internet memes come and go quickly, they can be a brands best friend. In the case of "The Social Network", the more parody videos that are created, the more people will seek out the original trailer, increasing hype and exposure. Antoine has created a cottage industry selling copies of the song on iTunes along with other merchandise, and Old Spice is on a roll that doesn't look to end any time soon. Internet memes and viral campaigns are only going to become more popular. If your brand isn't looking to branching out into online video, now is the time to start.

What are your favorite memes?

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Google Wave may come back with Google Me

It should come as no surprise that Google Wave is being shuttered by the end of the year. It’s another in a long line of failed efforts from the search giant. Sure, Wave was pretty much set up to fail as Google didn’t clearly explain how it should be used and made early adoption difficult as people clamored to get an invite.  Buzz was a victim of Google’s model of throwing things against the wall and seeing what sticks. Wave was doomed from the beginning and follows long line of failed projects such as Jaiku, Dodgeball, Google Video and Lively. 

According to Google:“But despite these wins, and numerous loyal fans, Wave has not seen the user adoption we would have liked. We don’t plan to continue developing Wave as a standalone product, but we will maintain the site at least through the end of the year and extend the technology for use in other Google projects. The central parts of the code, as well as the protocols that have driven many of Wave’s innovations, like drag-and-drop and character-by-character live typing, are already available as open source, so customers and partners can continue the innovation we began. In addition, we will work on tools so that users can easily “liberate” their content from Wave.”

From Google’s statements, it appears they never intended to support Wave long term. Instead they wanted to work out the kinks so it can be used in another manner. Wave is revolutionary in that it gives you the ability to share photos, videos and comment on them in real time. Could Wave return as built in feature of the Google OS or their Facebook challenger, Google Me? 

Google’s other big project, the supposed Twitter killer Buzz, launched to great fanfare and criticism earlier this year.  Unlike Wave, where you had to get an invite to use it, by having a Google account, you already had an active account. Most people, including myself, weren’t happy with this new feature openly sharing content without the users permission.  Since it’s launch adoption has been slow and it’s impact isn’t as strong as Twitter, Digg or Reddit. Because Buzz hasn’t seen the hype and promotion that Wave had, it makes you question Google’s commitment to the project and if we’ll the axe fall on it next year.

The question now becomes, what does this mean for Google Me. If they stick true to form, Google Me will launch out of Gmail. This means that everyone that has a Gmail account will see it magically transformed into a Google Me profile. Rumors are flying about what features will be a part of the site. I would expect Wave to be a big part of that along with a retooled version of Dodgeball, Jaiku, and Buzz. 

Whatever comes out, expect it have to full support of Google. They want to cripple Facebook and only a major push can have any hope of putting a dent in Facebook's 500 million users. Working in Google's favor is Facebook fatigue. Users of the world's largest social network are starting to look for new sites to join and Google Me could be in the perfect position to exploit that need. While Google has been tight lipped about the Me project, expect details to start trickling out soon. 

Stefan Halley is the Digital Project Leader for The Duffy Agency. He loves to talk about social media.

5 rules for creating a successful Twitter campaign

Like any media, social media takes planning and commitment. Unlike other mediums, social media requires a level of understanding and commitment not necessary for traditional media like TV and print.  Before tweeting for your brand, campaign or recognition, it’s important to understand the medium. Sure anyone can open a Twitter account but to run a successful Twitter account there are many steps. We’ve boiled it down to five, but each of these could be their own blog post (in some cases, they already have been their own blog post). 

1. Research - This is often overlooked but it can make the difference between a successful Twitter campaign and a failed one. Before launching a Twitter campaign you should know who are the thought leaders, what are the keywords associated with your campaign and which Twitter profiles are the most active in your area.

2. Develop Content - When developing your message for your Twitter profile as yourself the following questions. What are you going to say? What do you want people to know when they view your Twitter stream? What kind of people do I want to attract? 

3. Build Your Profile -  If you want people to take your seriously on Twitter, make sure you fill out your profile as detailed as you can make it. This will be important for SEO purposes as well as attracting the right kind of followers. Here is a handy guide to help you create a Twitter profile that screams “Follow Me!”

4. Follow Others - Starting out, if you aren’t following anyone odds are no one is following you. Start with following the thought leaders and anyone already using hashtags or are tweeting about your field. There are several tools currently existing that will help you locate the people you need and want to follow.

5. Engage - This is the most difficult part. Anyone can broadcast their message through Twitter. The Gods of Twitter are the brands and people that engage their followers. You’ll be able to establish authority and spread your content even further once people feel that you aren’t only broadcasting your message but are also talking back to people that respond to what you are Tweeting.

Successful Tweeting is more of an art than a science, but with an understanding you’ll go from painting with your fingers to masterworks in no time.

Stefan Halley is the Digital Project Leader for The Duffy Agency. He loves to talk about social media.