OK marketer, put yourself in these shoes (they’re more like boots actually). Your state government is facing massive budget shortfalls. Teachers are being laid off. Draconian cuts to vital public services are being announced left and right. And amid this tumult, you are the one tasked with using your marketing prowess to stave off disaster itself. The above paragraph probably makes you feel better about your own challenges, but think for a second…given the above situation…and very little resources…what would you do? Social media marketing for a social cause At the end of May 2009, the California State Parks Foundation (CSPF) found itself in this very position after learning about massive cuts in state funding that threatened to close 220 California state parks. In response, this nonprofit organization quickly launched a multichannel effort with its agency, Adams Hussey & Associates, that included direct mail, telemarketing, email, and social networking. I want to focus on that last part for this blog post. Because what amazed (and impressed) me the most was that CSPF used Facebook to shape the larger conversation about this topic. Before I get to that, let’s look at how CSPF used Facebook. They optimized their existing Facebook fan page to promote awareness, discussion, and (hopefully) attract new activists and members. “Find us on Facebook” language and graphics were featured in every email and all over the site. The “Friend Get a Friend” campaign launched on Tuesday, May 26, on Facebook via an update to 517 fans – “This year’s cuts are ten times as bad, so we need ten times the fans on Facebook.” The update explained to recipients the imminent threat parks were facing and set a deadline and a goal – 5,000 fans by Friday (May 29). The second Facebook update was sent on Monday, June 1 at 12:12 p.m. PST, stressing a 24-hour deadline and asking for fans and petition signatures. The California budget committee was scheduled to meet on June 2, so media coverage was at its height. The Facebook factor shapes the conversation “The California State Parks Foundation, the lead public organization advocating keeping the parks open, had its fan base on Facebook increase from 500 to 33,000 in the past two weeks, reports Jerry Emory of the Foundation.” – Tom Stienstra, San Francisco Chronicle , Sunday, June 21, 2009 Now this next part is truly impressive. With just two updates on Facebook (and in all fairness very smart cross-promotion through other channels), CSPF created a proof point for keeping the parks open, helping them meet their “promote awareness” goal. That’s right, the Facebook campaign itself actually entered the public debate. The massive growth of this fan page caught the media’s attention and was mentioned on several TV news spots and in national news articles. They took advantage of a timely and newsworthy story (the California budget cuts were all over the news on- and offline) and created a talking point to meet their communications goals (several news oulets mentioned the Facebook growth as evidence of a grassroots swell). As mentioned in the beginning of this post, raising awareness wasn’t their only goal. So let’s take a look at some of the other success metrics. Those two simple Facebook updates (aided by the cross-channel campaign) have helped raise several hundred thousand dollars in nonmember, one-time gifts. In addition, CSPF more than tripled the size of its email list and acquired many new activists that are being converted to donors online and via the telephone. CSPF is routinely using social media now. A subsequent Facebook and Twitter promotion gained 285 new members in four days, and their Facebook page has now grown to 54,000 fans. Other success metrics were a little harder to meet. While California’s budget that was passed at the end of July 2009 did not close the originally proposed 220 parks, budget cuts forced nearly 150 to partially close or reduce services. What you can learn from this case study Nonprofit organizations are a natural fit for social media campaigns. People (who believe in your cause) want to help, often don’t want to expend much time or money, and want to look good to their friends, family, and social network. A social media campaign lies at the nexus of these three motivations. And, most importantly, it gives your fans an easy way to act. Of course, the benefit isn’t limited to for-profit corporations. To wit, the Pepsi Refresh Project uses social media to leverage those same motivations. And this isn’t just a side project for Pepsi. They made a strategic decision to use a social media activism campaign as their main 2010 marketing push…instead of the Super Bowl. This is the first time in 23 years that Pepsi has not advertising during the Super Bowl. So what can you learn from CSPF? When creating a social media campaign, keep a few important principles in mind: A tight deadline always spurs action online. When supporters can get instant feedback on the effects of their efforts (seeing fan numbers grow) it makes them even more motivated. The best campaigns cross pollinate. CSPF didn’t just use Facebook. It also used direct mail, telemarketing, and email in a tightly integrated fashion, including a custom URL for the Facebook fan page. Even better, add other social networking platforms to the mix, such as Twitter. Be clear. While social media has grown explosively, not everyone you reach will be clear on every convention of every social media platform (which are constantly subject to change). As opposed to showing first-time Facebook fan page visitors the default “Wall” tab (which has no clear call to action), CSPF created a pseudo “New Fan” landing page that included three simple buttons: “Click ‘Become a Fan’ above to join the conversion!” (Please note, as of last month, Facebook replaced its “Become a fan” terminology with the “Like” button) “Join CSPF” “Take Action” Institute back-end tracking on clicks and conversions to determine where supporters are coming from (this is one thing CSPF would do differently next time). Mapping an effective media strategy I found this case study while perusing an early draft of an upcoming book from MarketingSherpa. To read the entire case study, along with ten other case studies from leading companies and 27 real-world examples of what works, order your copy of the soon-to-be released Social Marketing ROAD Map Handbook: A method for mapping an effective social media strategy . If you do so by May 28th, you’ll save $100 and get a free bonus gift. I want to thank Lead Author Sergio Balegno for letting me take an early look at his research, even though he was still editing it as I poked around. And full disclosure: While Sergio and I are not related, MarketingExperiments and MarketingSherpa are sister companies. Related Resources The MarketingExperiments Quarterly Research Journal, Q1 2010 (Social Media Marketing begins on page 51) Social Media Marketing in Four Steps Facebook and Omniture: A welcome step in social media measurement Please Be My Friend: Taking the first step beyond just being on Facebook Develop Your Social Marketing ROAD Map Strategy
This post is part of Mashable’s Spark of Genius series, which highlights a unique feature of startups. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here . The series is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. Name: Quirky Quick Pitch: Quirky is a social product development company founded in June 2009 by 23-year-old entrepreneur Ben Kaufman. Genius Idea: At its core, Quirky builds consumer products. It sells cable organizers , a modular spatula system , and double-sided USB sticks . It’s how they create and develop their products that really makes them stand out, though. Quirky describes itself as a “social product development company.” It essentially crowdsources product ideas and then places them at the mercy of Quirky’s thousands of users. The community votes on which ones they want to develop and then adds its input on things such as product aesthetics, design, logo, and even its name. The best ideas are then taken by Quirky’s team of engineers and designers and turned into 3D renderings. The next step is the most important one: the product is then placed on pre-sale, where anyone can buy the product. However, Quirky will only sell something if it hits a minimum number of sale commitments (usually under a thousand). Once that number is reached, the product is made and person who submitted the original idea gets a piece of the revenue pie. There are a few things to know before you go off designing tons of products for Quirky. First, it costs $99 to submit an idea. Second, even if your product is selected by the community, it doesn’t mean it will become a major hit. Finally, many products on Quirky still have yet to hit their minimum purchase requirement, and some of the products on sale on the site aren’t cheap. In the end though, we believe that Quirky is a killer tool for both entrepreneurs without the means to bring an idea into production and for geeks looking to buy useful — if not odd — products. The best ideas find their way to the top and are vetted by the community, which brings multiple perspectives and opinions to a product’s development. Quirky was founded by Ben Kaufman, who is the creator of Mophie , the popular iPhone and iPod accessory company, so it has some serious brainpower behind the company. You can learn more about the Quirky process here . Sponsored by Microsoft BizSpark BizSpark is a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today . Entrepreneurs can take advantage of the Azure Services platform for their website hosting and storage needs. Microsoft recently announced the “new CloudApp()” contest – use the Azure Services Platform for hosting your .NET or PHP app, and you could be the lucky winner of a USD 5000* ( please see website for official rules and guidelines ).” For more technology coverage, follow Mashable Tech on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook Reviews: Facebook , PHP , Twitter Tags: bizspark , Crowdsource , Product Design , Quirky , shopping
If you need to make major changes to an AdWords account, such as moving ad groups between campaigns, or even moving campaigns between accounts, here are some tips to ease the process. …
Kyocera unveiled their Zio M600 over two months ago at CTIA yet we’re still waiting to hear which carrier will be offering the device. The last time we checked in , it was rumored to be Sprint-bound with a $99 price tag attached to it. A source of ours is telling us tonight that it’s actually headed for Boost Mobile with a possible Best Buy exclusive deal. Close enough, right? The Zio M600 has received somewhat lukewarm reception thus far as it’s on the low end of the Android totem pole. We played with one at CTIA and found it to be rather unremarkable. However, this might be the key to its success. With a rumored $169-$219 unsubsidized cost and a $50 all-you-can-eat calling/data plan, the Zio M600 could do very well. As a quick refresher, the features include: 3.5-inch WVGA (480×800 pixels) touch screen Android 1.6 (Donut) 600MHz processor 512MB internal storage 3.2 megapixel camera Might We Suggest… Battle of the Network Stars When purchasing a new phone many of us are being faced with not only a question of a handset but a prospective betrothed wireless carrier for at least a two year term (this is/was the genius of th…
South Koreans have a big appetite for search, social media, and user-generated content. To prosper in this tough market, you must learn how their citizens search and use these search marketing best practices. …
A few months back a few documents were listed on the Bluetooth Special Interest Group website for a Samsung i897 handset. At the time it was found that the quad-band GSM device featured a 4.0-inch AMOLED screen, the TouchWiz 3.0 interface, and Bluetooth 3.0 support. Sounding very similar to the Samsung Galaxy S that debuted at CTIA in March, many believed it could be a variant destined for AT&T. As we draw closer to the inevitable release we’re starting to learn a few new specs. A tipster of ours informs us that in addition to the previous details, the phone will be running Android 2.1 “Eclair” when it arrives. Other hardware details are said to be a 5-megapixel camera and 2GB internal storage. The touch-only device features a display reported to be 800×480 resolution. If you ask us, all of this still sounds eerily similar to the Galaxy S. The two phones match up in pretty much every area so far. We’re hoping to dig a little deeper and perhaps get our hands on a picture or two. Be sure to check back or subscribe to AndroidGuys if you want to stay in the loop! Might We Suggest… Uh-Oh! Samsung Galaxy Hits FCC with AT&T Bands Yep, you read that right. That big, beautiful Samsung Galaxy S has been spotted hanging out in the FCC with AT&T bands in tow. You’ll have to forgive us if we’re not 100% over the moon with this …
If you wondered what Google meant when they said the Nexus One would be getting “more retail availability”, just take a quick look at the image above. That’s right, it’s an advertisement for a Nexus One sold through a retail channel! Oh my! When did this happen you might ask? Well, it appears wireless retailer and T-Mobile affiliate i Wireless has started offering a number of Android devices in the past few days, including the Nexus One. I Wireless is now selling the phone for $299.95 on contract after rebate — a good bit more than the $179 Google charges, but in return, it looks like you can select just about any plan T-Mobile offers (Google restricts you to the Even More 500 plan to get the subsidy). This is a pretty good deal if you ask me. So, anyone want to head over the i Wireless and pick one up? Source: Engadget Might We Suggest… 3G Issues Proving to be Super Phone’s Kryptonite It seems that the 3G issues that the Nexus One continues to have may be hardware related. According to an article at TmoNews, Nexus One users are able to change their 3G signal levels just by how the…
Click here to view the embedded video. In a press release put out today, Entourage systems, creator of the world’s first Android powered “dual book,” announced that they have partnered with The Douglas Stewart Company to bring the “dual book” to colleges and schools. It seems that both Entourage Systems and The Douglas Stewart Company want to integrate the “dualbook” with educational media when selling it to educational institutions. Seems like a good idea. Besides running Android, the interesting thing about this device is that it is both a netbook and e-reader in one. On one side of the device you have an e-paper read out, capable of displaying electronic ink files, and on the other side, you have a fully functional Android tablet. How well it runs is yet to be seen. Overall, the “dualbook” seems like an interesting concept, which has quite a bit of promise. I really hope it succeeds.. Take a look at the video and let us know what you think! Go Android! Might We Suggest… WePad changes name to WeTab Remember that pretty Android tablet that was announced a few weeks ago called the “WePad”? A friend of mine is tablet shopping, and she was interested in the iPad. I suggested she wait for the WePa…
As an avid user and supporter of Boxee for my HTPC needs, the announcement of Google TV left me wondering how I was going to be able to combine both the best interface for an HTPC hands down with my beloved Android platform. The guys over at Boxee are WAY ahead of me it turns out! A blogger over at the Candler Blog had an email conversation with Andrew Kippen of Boxee, asking him what he thought about the announcement of Google TV, and the implications it might have for Boxee. The following is Andrew’s response taken from said article: We obviously followed the [GoogleTV] announcement and the demo. We think that it would be great to see an open OS such as Android gain market share in the living room. It would enable users to download Boxee on their TV (we will be building an Android-based App) and start using it without the hassle of connecting their computer to the TV. We have somewhat of a different view of browsing the web on TV. While it was a big part of the Google Demo we believe browsing the web as-is makes more sense on laptops and mobile devices (due to their personal nature, the screen size and the input device) than it does on TV. We look forward to playing with the TV and working with them to bringing Boxee to Android devices. You read correctly. if there’s a TV platform running on TVs that can deliver a great Boxee experience then we want to be there. That means we’re looking at developing an Android App version of Boxee for the upcoming Google TV . [emphasis added] I wanted to make sure I read that correctly. I’ve heard they are working on an Android remote app similar to the one they have on the iPhone, but this sounds like something different: You read correctly. if there’s a TV platform running on TVs that can deliver a great Boxee experience then we want to be there. That means we’re looking at developing an Android App version of Boxee for the upcoming Google TV . [emphasis added] It will be interesting to see what this Boxee app is going to look like. It sounds like Boxee is going to leverage the Sony TV’s that are going to have Android built into them so people can run thier Boxee app without any computer necessary. This would be a major step forward for Boxee, and sounds like an incredible idea to capitalize on all the risk that Google is taking with Google TV, at no risk to themselves. I am getting more and more excited about Google TV, especially as I see useful, practical applications being thought about. Stay tuned for more details as they come out. Might We Suggest… Google TV Coming to a Set Top Near You! Google is reportedly teaming up with Sony and Intel to create a set top box based on the Android OS to bring home viewers rich web content via Android like apps right on their TV screen….
Nicht nur der in den USA zum 6. April eingeführte, globale iPhone/iPad-Wahlschalter ist jetzt auch im Deutschen AppStore angekommen, auch bei den bislang als “Kostenlos” bezeichneten AppStore-Downloads hat sich eine Kleinigkeit geändert: Der Button zum Download ist nun AppStore-weit mit “Gratis” betitelt. Ansonsten bleibt alles beim Alten. Wir bedanken uns bei Florian, Pascal und Franz Weiterlesen…
