Just One Click Away

Just like with music, almost any visual media is now available to anyone with internet access. And with that, YouTube has become the hub of internet video. Looking for a clip from a movie or a music video? YouTube will probably have it.

On YouTube people can post videos they made as well as anything they've found a way to record or get a hold of. So you'd think this would make a lot of companies upset when their copyrighted media gets posted.

Not as many people as in the music industry made a fuss about it, but YouTube has already found a way to appease the companies as well as keep the YouTube watchers happy. Their new platform, called "click-to-buy" helps the consumer easily purchase what they are watching. And the way they do it is very unobtrusive.


Here you can see a couple ways they do it. The bar across the bottom of the video only appears for a few seconds, and you have the option to "x" out of it if you like. The two buttons at the bottom stay there the whole time. If you get to the end of the video, or at another point when you decide you would like to purchase that song or video, all you have to do is click the link and it takes you straight to the purchase area.

If there's any question that this works, a great example is Monty Python. They made their own YouTube channel and put up a lot of clips. Once they did this their DVD sales went way up. They actually became number 2 on Amazon's Movie and TV Bestseller list. Though you can't say with 100% certainty that this was all due to YouTube's click-to-buy, it seems very probable it was at least a huge part of it.

YouTube even bragged about the Monty Python channel success in their own blog to let clients (or potential clients) know that they can make a lot of money by posting a few clips up. And even if they don't decide to do that, they can still make money from click-to-buy off the clips that others have posted without permission. It seems to be a win-win situation.

Although this won't make everyone completely happy, it seems to be a great way to keep the most people happy on both sides for the time being. And it's an excellent way to do it.

~Connie Jo

Twit-what?

Twitter: I've talked about it before and gave you some examples of how it was used. But what exactly is it? Who uses it and who should be?

First off, let's start with what Twitter is. Here's a quick video to fill you in:




Great! Now that you've got the basic outline of what Twitter does, let's delve in a bit more.

Just like blogging, people "tweet" because it's fun and simple. They can do it from virtually anywhere. And for a lot of people, they find connections and build networks of people that they never would have come to know otherwise. It's a great to way gain those buddies that you might be able to ask for a favor some time or will be able to tell you the best bagel shop in town when you're traveling to where they are.

Beside building networks, you can also spread the word about things you've learned or sites you've made. You can "tweet" a link out to your followers and they'll go check it out. It's an easy way to get people to your blog or business website.

A couple of the best examples of businesses that use Twitter I've already told you about. Both Comcast and CNN have taken hold of Twitter and used it well. Comcast has gained some great customer service and insight to what their customers are saying. And CNN has been able to get news to people quicker as well as have others help tell them about news. In both cases Twitter has helped these businesses have better customer loyalty.

Even for those businesses that don't want to start their own Twitter account, they can still use it to their advantage. By going to www.search.twitter.com, you can type in a business name, product, or anything you want and search for it. It will bring up all the latest tweets with what you mentioned. By doing this, a business can easily see what people are saying about them.

Twitter is just another way to get your customers involved in what you do. By getting them involved, and especially when they know they are involved, the customers will respond to the company better and want to help with ideas and suggestions.

With any type of company it is a great search tool. Even just for you consumers, it's a fun and useful way to get said how you feel about something, as long as the company ends up listening. So a word to you companies: search twitter, see what people are saying about your, and let them know you're listening. Your customers will appreciate it.

~Connie Jo

CNN and Social Media

Getting Smart with Microsoft and Best Buy

Parent: "Video games are unhealthy! You should get away from that screen for a while."

Child: "Video games are so much fun, I could play forever!"

Microsoft and Best Buy are no n00bs. They know parents get frustrated when kids play games forever. So together they have just launched a public service campaign to help bridge the gaming gap between parents and their kids.

At getgamesmart.com there are a number of resources for families, including game ratings and info, Q&A and blogs with experts, a place to share your story, a PACT that kids and their parents can work on together, and a chance to be a Get Game Smart Ambassador.

Ratings, Q&A, Blog, and Video
Ratings for video games are easily available to parents and they clearly state what ages games are appropriate for. Yet parents often ignore them, don't know what they mean, or let their kids decide what games they want. Now with this site, parents can actually get more information on what the ratings actually mean.

The Q&A section is also incredibly helpful. Anyone can ask a question and get it answered by an expert. You will find questions submitted by parents who sound genuinely concerned for their kids. They don't want to stop their kids from playing altogether, but they want to find the right balance and better understand their kids. One expert, named GamerDad, helps answer those questions. He helps the parents understand as well as feel more at ease.

The experts also offer advice and give tips on their videos and blog about multiple topics that parents are concerned about, including reducing family friction when it comes to games.

PACT
"Parents just want to do what's right for their children, and kids just want to have fun. When it comes to digital entertainment, here's a way to do both."
This is what's posted when you first click on their link for "The Pact". It is a tool intended for parents to be able to come to an agreement with their kids about how they will interact with all types of media. Once they've gone through the steps and the rules/guidelines are set, parents are able to refer back to the agreement that their child signed if there are ever any complaints.

Ambassadorship
One of the most exciting things they are doing right now is a video contest. Teams of one parent and one teen are getting the chance to put together a video about how their family approaches the rules of "screen time" (video games, TV, computer, etc.).

Videos will be voted on by the public and the top 10 will receive prizes. They will also choose one parent/teen team to be Get Game Smart Ambassadors for one year, giving advice to and collaborating with Microsoft. They will also get to talk to families about safety concerns and how to talk to their kids about it, and providing any other insight about digital media that there might be a question or concern about.

No Question About It
If there was ever any doubt that Microsoft or Best Buy cared about the products they were selling, it's now gone. They've proved they do care. Of course they are still going to sell the products, that's how they make money. But now they are helping kids and their parents make good decisions about when and how much they will play.

Parents will probably be more apt to purchase games (especially made by Microsoft) now that they know their kids will follow the Pact agreement. And with the chance of being a Get Game Smart Ambassador, I'm sure a lot more parents will get excited about the gaming world.

Microsoft and Best Buy: Congrats on making the first step. You've found your niche in Social Media. They can interact with you, read your blog, watch your video and upload their own, and continually ask questions. Now the gap can be bridged and more parents and kids will be able to find a place that works for them both.

~Connie Jo

For a Whopper?

"You've been sacrificed for a whopper."

How would you like to read a similar message to that from a 'used-to-be' friend on Facebook? Thousands of people did.

Last week Burger King launched an application on Facebook that allowed you to get a free Whopper if you deleted 10 of your friends. And contrary to how Facebook usually works, people would receive "deletion notices" complete with why they were being deleted.

It seems that Burger King didn't mean harm to anyone's actual friends. When looking at what their application said, they actually encouraged you to become friends with a stranger just so you could delete them. They even had a sample message for you to use when requesting a friend that read:

"Sup fool. I would like to create a false pretense of a a misrepresented friendship, in order to take advantage of it, along with Burger King, to reap rewards for myself, and enjoy a delicious burger, all with the comfort of never feeling guilty for sacrificing a friend that I actually care for."

They also had an actual website that you could visit, Whopper Sacrifice. From that site you could send an "angry-gram" to someone who deleted you. They were just trying to have fun and joke around with this new marketing concept.

So what was Facebook's problem then? Some people were probably deleting "real" friends without letting them know what was going on. And with all the notifications of deletion, Facebook didn't seem to be enjoying it.

Burger King is known for their edgy advertising and marketing ideas. They get the public's attention by pushing the envelope, and it definitely worked this time. Everyone is talking about this app. But Facebook did have them disable it Thursday because they claimed it was in violation of their privacy policy. Facebook does encourage creativity with their applications, but the deletion notifications might have been "too creative" for them.

Ultimately, the Whopper Sacrifice, was "sacrificed", as they put it. It went along well with the rest of their campaign and had a large impact, but it didn't survive as long as they were hoping.

Burger King used Social Media to their advantage. They came up with a very intriguing idea and put it into action. Social Media is usually used as a relational tool, but they were able to turn it around and make people "un-relational" just for a free whopper.

~Connie Jo

Social Media & Advertising

Social Media sites are almost always free, so they must fine other ways to fund their sites. What does that look like and what do people think about it?

Thanks for watching!
~Connie Jo

Let's Go Pre-Shopping!

As we've been moving deeper into this age of the Internet, we've relied more and more on it to get the information we need and want about so many things. Besides using it to connect with others, we research, comparison shop, give reviews so other people can read them, and browse just to gain knowledge of the new items available. In a word, we "pre-shop".

Pre-shopping is so much a part of today's society, especially with generations X and Y. It's only a matter of a few keystrokes and a couple clicks to find information about whatever product you're interested in. This information can come from a companies website, and in may cases from other people's blogs.

Any company* should take advantage of this and jump into the world of social media. If not to give useful information about their products, then at least to see what other people are saying about them. People certainly love to help others and show off their knowledge whenever they can. So by finding what they're saying you can learn how others perceive your company.

Back in 2002, the Roomba self-vacuuming machine from iRobot was first released. Since then, other models and updates have been released. Customers have continued to be fascinated with them. One customer even enjoyed his so much that he posted this video with seven reasons to get one:

Here is an example of a customer who recently Tweeted about her Roomba:

It can be a bit cheesy and humorous, but it's valid. When a customer loves their device that much, they'll let others know. And the next time someone is interested in purchasing a Roomba, they may see this video and be that much more convinced that they should get one.

As you could probably guess, the easiest products to find an abundance of information on are other technologies. A few examples are the Roomba, cameras, computers, spy watches, mp3 players, cell phones, etc. There is so much social media, mostly in blog format, that contributes to pre-shopping. A couple examples are ubergizmo.com and laptoping.com. Go to these and many other sites and you'll find plenty of information about a lot of products. And techfresh.net has tons of categories for you to look through, letting you know about all the most recent innovative technology devices.

As I've said before, today's consumers are online. They are blogging, using Facebook ,Twitter, and MySpace, writing in forums, and getting all kinds of information from each other. These formats you can't control. But companies who help their customers "pre-shop" will probably have an advantage over others, as long as the information is honest and true.

Get your customers the information they want online, and it could save your employees time from having to answer numerous questions. It's where they are, and where you should be helping them.

~Connie Jo

*Not all companies can do this online, but most of those who sell products directly to their customers can.

Comcast Cares, They Really Do!

Whenever I used to think about Comcast, what came to mind was a cable company that struggled with having great customer service, especially since they did a bulk of it over the phone. Now that Comcast has stepped into the world of Social Media and is using that untraditional venue for their long traditional business, people have seen a great change in their customer service.

The Face of Comcast Cares
Comcast has become part of the Twitter frenzy. Frank Eliason, Director of Digital Care for Comcast, has taken charge of keeping in contact with customers and helping them by using Twitter and social media sources. Pictured here is a "tweet" by Frank. He comes across to customers as a very helpful and down to earth guy. Since this change, customers have been a lot happier with the customer service that has been provided to them.

Here is a video interview of Frank Eliason describing what he does for Comcast and his experiences with Twitter and other online sources. It is four and a half minutes, but there is some very good information here.





One Users Experience
Blogger Jacob Morgan recently had a great experience with Comcast after having "tweeted" directly to Frank. He was having problems and needed help right away, but was going to be out of town starting the next day. Because of Frank's promptness and service, he was able to get someone out to his house by 6:00 that evening.

Jacob Morgan, being the blogger that he is, shared his story with all his readers. Those readers, I'm sure, are now more impressed by Comcast's service and will probably be more likely to use them as a cable provider in the future.

Is It All Better?
Comcast seems to have really stepped it up in the world of customer service. But it might only be with customers that have reached out to them online. When I did a search on Twitter or Technorati.com I found many complaints that people have posted about Comcast. These customers were contacting Comcast over the phone and were not getting the response they needed. Comcast should find a way to let them know that the online options are out there for them and also try to give more attention to the customers that choose not to contact them that way.

Comcast has really taken hold of the world of social media and used it for their advantage. Yet it only works well for them because it is working well for the customers. Kudos to Frank Eliason for taking this on and succeeding.

~Connie Jo

Can't Stop the Music

Music is, and will continue to be, shared among the masses. When someone hears a song or band they love, they will spread the word. Some people will burn copies of CD's for friends while many others find ways of sharing with people online by using Torrents or applications like Limewire. Even basic applications like Project Playlist give people the ability to put together a list of music that others can listen to when visiting a site of theirs.

Ever since music has become more 'viral' and easier to share for free, the Music Industry has made a fuss. Due to the ease of sharing that today's technology, combined with social media provides, music labels have lost a bit of money in record sales. And no matter what they do to try and stop it, people will figure out ways to get around it.

Project Playlist banned
If people are going to spread the word, let them. Music labels complained and successfully got Project Playlist, a very popular application that allowed people to share playlists of music that they enjoyed, disabled on MySpace and Facebook. By taking this down, I believe it took away some very good free advertising.

Let's say I were to visit someones Facebook page and happen to hear a song on their playlist that I really liked. There is a good chance I would go purchase that song or look more into that particular band. It seems to me like that band just received some good, free, word-of-mouth advertising.

Sharing Will Happen
Like I said at the beginning of this post, people have always shared music with one another. It's part of human nature to share what is good and enjoyable. Before the Internet, it was only possibly to share with those around you. Now you can share music with people on the other side of the world. Labels have tried to stop people from sharing illegally, yet so many people do it that it's an impossible task to accomplish.

Although music labels are continuously losing money (although it's not enough to hurt them too much) because of free sharing, they should begin taking more advantage of that same capability through social media. MySpace is full of bands who post a few of their songs to try and get the word out about who they are.

It makes sense that the music labels should try to make the best out of this situation that they will never be able to control. By letting people use applications like Project Playlist they will continue to get free advertising all over the world. It's true that not quite as many people will purchase music as in the past, but it will be sought out all over the world and there will still be those faithful people who purchase music legally.

I, for one, will continue to discover new music through social networking. I'll "trial" the music online, and if I enjoy it enough I will most likely purchase it. The music industry can't stop others from sharing, but we should try to do our part to support the labels as well as the artists we enjoy.

~Connie Jo

Where is the Consumer?

Where are your customers right now? What are they doing? Many of them are on the internet using Social Media and networks, communicating with one another. Are you providing where they already are? Think about that for a second.

As I'm sure you're aware, today's consumers have been becoming increasingly internet savvy. And even more recently we've seen a huge jump in people using networking sites (such as Facebook, MySpace, and Linkdin), blogs, forums, and the like. With so many people online, and many who give their unscreened opinions, it's hard to ignore the opportunities that social media offers.

Businesses are endlessly searching for the 'hot place' consumers are hanging out. They want to be able to market to their consumers where they will most notice it. For too long, too many businesses ignored the internet. They didn't realize, or just didn't believe, that the internet would be a very useful tool. Most businesses now see the internet and having a company website has a 'must do', and this is fabulous. An even more important use of the internet that businesses are catching onto is Social Media.

Social Media is at such an increasing trend right now and a good number of businesses are using it to their advantage. There are also those businesses that have seen significant or noticeable damage because of the huge crowd able to view what starts as one or two bad reviews about their company.

With consumers more able and willing to communicate with each other, it forces businesses to strive for better quality in all aspects of what they do. And this includes getting involved in the world of Social Media. Marketing has, and continually is expanding into this world whether it wanted to or not. The way businesses, both small and large, handle this says a lot to the consumer about what type of quality they offer.

In this blog I'll be discussing multiple ways in which Social Media is having impact with businesses and consumers from all around. I hope you'll join me on this adventure.

~Connie Jo