comScore, Inc. has today released a global report how women interact with the web called, “Women on the Web: How Women are Shaping the Internet” – it’s an extensive analysis of how women are are interacting online across social networks, online video, mobile communications, online retail trends and a number of other key areas.

The report comments that social networking sites reach a higher percentage of women than men globally, with 75.8 percent of all women online visiting a social networking site in May 2010 versus 69.7 percent of men.

Here are a few conclusions I drew from the comScore report.

1. Don’t just look to connect and reach women on women’s magazines, celebrity gossip and baby sites – the report comments that “women are more engaged than men on the Internet -you just have to know where to look”. Think beyond the obvious suspects when looking for online communities where you can reach the female consumer.

2. If you want to connect with women you need to understand how they interact in social networks – the report states “social networking is central to women’s Internet experience”. Women of all ages connect on social networks sharing photo’s, playing games, and watching online video. Globally, women spent an average of 16.3 percent of their online time on social networks in April 2010, compared to only 11.7 percent for the men.

3. Women in the US control the cash – more women than men get engaged with online transactions and collectively spend more.What does this mean then when it comes to the tone and content of your online marketing?

4. Act global but understand local influences – we need to deep our understanding of regional and cultural differences impact in Internet behaviour. The report goes into some depth about differences they have found across the globe.

5. Stop making the excuse that Social Networking is only relevant if you are marketing to a youth audience -  the 45+ female segment is driving the greatest proportion of growth for Social Networking sites, in terms of both visitation and time spent. Yes the 15-24 may use these sites more frequently and use them more however the 45+ age group visit and use Social Networking sites just as much as the 25-34 and 35-44 age groups.In fact older women are using Social Networks significantly more than men do. In North America, with 9 out of 10 female Internet users visiting a social network site in April 2010.

6. Men and Women use Twitter differently – the report comments that in an April 2010 comScore survey, men were found to be more likely to post their own Tweets than women; women on the other hand used Twitter more to find deals and promotions, as a place for conversing online and to follow celebrities.How does that change your content strategy for Twitter?

What other research and insights have you found about how female consumers use the web and how is it influencing your online marketing, PR and communications? What other insights did you glean from the comScore report?

Comments

All this was brought to mind as I flipped through Consumer Reports recently. The magazine poked fun at a manufacturer of a doggie shampoo that bragged that its product had undergone no animal testing. This might be one product that you’d want to test on animals, no?

And that’s the point. While proclaiming products free of animal testing is a nice bland corporate citizenship stance, it was copied out of the standard issue company goodness catalog, and makes little sense in this situation. Now, there might be a great story to tell about the kinds of testing that was done, or the kinds of testing that was avoided, but that’s not part of cookie cutter good citizenship. That kind of claim would actually require your company to stand for something.

And plenty of companies that make human cosmetics or pharmaceuticals can stand for something with the same “no animal testing” claim—it’s an absolutely wonderful thing to stand for—but not a doggie shampoo maker. Which again is the point. Your corporate citizenship needs to fit you and your business, not be some kind of generic checklist that could have come from any random company.

Don’t get me wrong. In no way am I criticizing companies for any of these good things they do. It’s certainly better than so much of the bad behavior that we’ve seen from corporations over the years. But the repetitive list of good causes and environmentally friendly and other uncontroversial niceties don’t distinguish your business either. Don’t let your customers file you away as the same as everyone else. Your citizenship activities should differentiate your business the same way you strive to be unique in your offerings and your marketing.

Comments

We should start a company blog – just not right now.

We should be making our website more user-friendly – just not right now.

We should be doing a lot of things – just not right now.

Not right now – it’s the phrase that companies and executives/decision makers use when they know they’re behind in the game but they’re not sure how to get into it.

It’s the excuse that takes the heat off the boardroom meetings when asked about the new platforms that are emerging (or have emerged) and is it something our company should be looking at.

It’s the fallback of folks that could make it happen right now if they wanted to, but it seems like a lot of work.

Besides, there’s too much that can go wrong to make the risk (or perceived risk) worthwhile.

True. There is a lot that can go wrong.

There is a lot of work involved.

There is stuff that will be completely out of your hands.

But look at it another way. When you first started your business, was there a chance things could go wrong? Did it involve a lot of work, and long hours, to make it happen? Were there things you couldn’t control, no matter how much you planned ahead?

Of course there were, yet you’re still here.  Because you put the effort in and took the risks. Because you knew that not everything will always goes to plan; you just need to make sure you’re ready with a back-up.

So if you’re caught in the not right now dilemma – either yourself, or with someone that makes the decisions for you – take the chance and think differently (or try and show the not right now’s how to think differently).

• You don’t need to jump in and participate in social media right away – but you can listen.  Twitter Search,  Facebook Groups,  Google Alerts and other  free and  simple platforms can help you see if you should be in social media, and where, and when.
• If you can use email you can blog. Platforms like Posterous and  Tumblr allow you to write a blog post simply by emailing in your thoughts – their tech guys will do the rest. Five minutes of your time today can turn you into a thought leader for tomorrow.
• You can change your website now and relatively painlessly and have the most user-friendly platform for both you and your customers. Better still, you’ll be in control and not tied to some web guy’s timescale.

Not right now is easy – anyone can say it, and make a pretty good case for it as well. That’s why it’s used so often.

But while you’re saying not right now today, your competitors are jumping in right now and owning tomorrow. So when does not right now become not now, not ever, because you’ve simply been left behind?

Comments

While social media cheat-sheets and short cuts are available almost everywhere you look, the truth is that we have some work ahead of us. To help, I’ve assembled a list of five best practices to help you build, cultivate, and measure success in the new web right now.

1. Dedicate the time

We’re all very busy and our to-do list is never ending. Because time is a big concern, think about social media as an opportunity cost. Will your investment in identifying and connecting with prospects, customers, and influencers outperform your other activities? The answer is yes for most businesses, so carve out time for strategic experimentation. In short, you get out of it, what you invest.

2. Conquer your fears

Many business owners believe that social media gives people a chance to criticize their business. That’s true, but avoiding social media doesn’t mean that their opinions will never see the light of day. Your brand is at the mercy of those who take to social media to share their experiences, so you might as well take an active role to contributes to the stature and perception of your brand. You might even learn how to improve your product and service in the process.

3. Listen and research to learn and contribute

Social networking is far more effective when you realize that creating profiles and updating social networks aren’t arbitrary. There’s an art and science to all of this, and the process begins with listening and research. Step one: create a list of keywords that represent your market and then use the search box in each social network to see what people are saying about you. As you examine the results, you’ll identify the people who are leading conversations and the dialogue that invites and inspires participation. If local business is paramount to success, use services such as Twitter, Facebook, Yelp, LinkedIn. Also monitor location-based networks such as Foursquare, Gowalla, and Loopt.

4. Establish an attractive and expansive presence

Your presence online is far more valuable than you may realize. While you may think that you should focus on your website, your social-media presence also represents you and what you offer. The ability to showcase your products and services to attract customers and spark conversation is arguably greater on social networking sites than your own website. In any case, connecting the dots between social networks, websites, and the real world is now as important as the service and products that you offer.

5. Use engagement as the new customer service and marketing

It’s not what you say about you, it’s what they say about you that counts. Customer service and engagement overall is a new and genuine form of unmarketing. Customers, prospects, and influencers are already engaging with others to contribute, learn, and discover. They are forming and sharing opinions and making decisions based on the information they find online—with or without you. You should use engagement as a fast, free, and powerful way to reach and serve customers.

This is your time to engage! Doing so will earn you permanent residence in the hearts and minds of the people who make up your markets. This will expand market opportunities, build brand awareness, stimulate demand, and engender loyalty and advocacy.

Comments

For this post of 50 women bloggers, I pulled from my own feed reader and used suggestions from my esteemed colleagues. This list, however, is by no means comprehensive. I figured that women bloggers weren’t being mentioned because 1) people just don’t know which bloggers to read or 2) people don’t think female bloggers write relevant content, especially as related to tech and social media. This list is to help remedy both situations.

Help add to this list by leaving your favorites in the comments. In a couple of months, hopefully I can turn this into a list of 100! 

Start-Ups

Naomi Dunford - Itty Biz  - Naomi’s hilariously tart commentary on scrappy marketing tactics for companies without a marketing department.

Esther Dyson  - The Huffington Post - A veteran angel investor, Esther has first-hand experience helping to do the delicate work of nuturing a start-up. Her trademark candidness only further convinces you that what she’s saying is the real deal.

Shonali Burke -  Women Grow Business - As editor of Women Grow Business and head of her own consulting agency, Shonali Burke is the embodiment of the entrepreneurial spirit. She tackles topics that sometimes speak to the unique issues that women face, but mostly her insight is invaluable across the board.

Tara Joyce  -  Rise of the Innerpreneur - I put Tara under my “Start Ups” section because her blog should be an immediate read for anyone with an entrepreneurial jones. She explores what she calls “meaningful capitalism,” which means discovering your own business passion, and bringing it into the world in a mindful way. And it’s highly inspiring.

Tech

Veronica Belmont - Veronica Belmont’s Blog  -  Mostly tech and gaming focused, Veronica writes with infectious, geeky enthusiasm about what’s brand new. 

Dawn Foster  - Fast Wonder  - Using a combination of her technical and business expertise, Dawn educates companies on how to get business value from being a part of online communities…without boring us to death.

Jenna Wortham - The New York Times Bits Blog  - Before writing for The New York Times, Jenna was a culture and technology writer for Wired, and it shows. Her pieces generally focus on smartly outlining digital culture, while simultaneously showing how people are putting new technologies to use in their lives and businesses.  

Xeni Jardin -  Xeni’s Blog -  Xeni is a stylish and well-known tech culture journalist who watches the industry with both an aesthetic and functional eye. Find her on Boing Boing.

Corvida Raven - SheGeeks -  Corvida vets and blogs about useful tech services and tools with an eye to what is going to make your online journey less noisy and more interesting.

Adria Richards - But You’re A Girl - InspiredMag called her blog fresh for a reason, because Adria takes on tech – and life – with vibrant and energetic posts.

Leah Culver - Leah’s Blog  -  People get all hot and biscuit over Leah’s programming speak because she’s a high profile woman in a male dominated industry with an impressive list of successes to boot.
   
Barbara Coll -  Webmama - With nearly 15 years under her belt in the biz, this industry veteran has plenty of insight into what works and what won’t.

Social Media

Amber Naslund - Altitude - As the Director of Community at Radian6, you can be pretty sure that Amber has seen it all when it comes to engagement and metrics. Maybe that’s why her blog is full of actionable suggestions for a better social experience.

Jessica Faye Carter - Technicultr  -  As both an author and the CEO of Nette Media, Jessica Faye Carter knows a thing or two about developing sound social media technology. She focuses on women and multicultural communities, which gives her a unique and crucial voice within the conversation of our current understanding of social strategy.

Beth Schillaci - Marketing Roadhouse - Beth is an industry professional that has experience in both the client facing and technical sides of social media and marketing. This means that her blog posts are a well-rounded mix of why, how, and for whom, with a dash of personal opinion to keep you from going astray.

Gwen Bell -  Gwen Bell’s Blog -  Gwen talks social primarily from a personal standpoint, but that hasn’t made her any less of a success in the business world. You’ll love her easy and open writing style.

Jennifer Leggio - Social Business - A passionate social media evangelist, Jennifer Leggio tackles issues on her blog that concern us all: the issues of safety, privacy, and security in a Web 2.0 world. With more than 15 years of media experience, we look to her to keep us abreast of the ever-changing security landscape of social media.

Shannon Paul - Very Official Blog - Shannon focuses on the successful integration of social media with PR and marketing campaigns.

Tamar Weinberg - Techipedia - Aside from being the Community & Marketing Manager over at Mashable, Tamar has been all up in social interactions for the better part of 15 years. Though she looks far to young to have all of that meaty experience, her blog posts will satiate with concentrated insight and glimpses into her personal experiences of everything social. 

Writing

Thursday Bram - Thursday’s Blog - Lots of blogs discuss writing, Thursday’s blog gets down to the logistics of writing for a living, nitty gritty included.

Meryl K. Evans  - Meryl.net  - With a strong tech background, Meryl’s understanding of how to write both accurately and engagingly for new media makes her blog an invaluable resource.

New Media

Kathryn Jennex - Kathryn’s Blog  -  With the eye of an artist, Kathryn takes on new media through the view finder of a true creative.

Shai Coggins  - Studio Notes - The co-founder of b5 Media, Shai is intimately acquainted with both print and online media. And it’s no surprise she’s packing a Psych Master’s Degree, because she gets what it is that drives readers.

Juliette Powell  -  Juliette’s Blog  - Juliette refers to herself as an “integrated media specialist” and I couldn’t agree more. She fuses online and real-time expertise to stay seated at the crossroads of what we’ve learned and where we’re going. Her excellent blog posts aren’t as frequent as I’d like, but they are always well worth the wait.

Sarah Austin  - Pop 17 - Sarah’s entertaining posts are both thought provoking and relevant while still being charming. Think the girl you sat next to in art class meets a successful online presence.

Sarah Prout - Sprout  - More of an online media curator, Sarah posts the fascinating and the gorgeous for your reading pleasure.

Marketing

Lisa Barone - Outspoken Media - Lisa’s honest observations call it how she sees it within the industry.

Susan Getgood - Marketing Roadmaps - A smart marketing blog with its attention focused on results.

Sonia Simone - Remarkable Communication - The self-proclaimed “marketer for people who hate marketing,” communication and strong customer relations are her causes célèbres.

Rita McGrath - Rita’s Blog - As a Columbia Business School professor, Rita’s analysis of strategy and entrepreneurship goes beyond just an academic perspective to sketch a holistic profile.

Maisha Walker  - The Internet Strategist  -  Demystifying internet marketing since 2004, Maisha’s style is clear and easy to understand, as is befitting of one with her passion for languages.

Martina Zavagno - Adverblog - Working with a premium sports brand has given Martina an insider perspective on integrated marketing, and she’s willing to share!

Nettie Hartsock - Nettie’s Blog - She’s a journalist and a digital strategist, which you can tell by her easily read and understood blog posts.

Shelly Kramer  - Vision. Voice. Value. - Adept at helping brands find their “voice” in the social space, Shelly’s own voice stands out as personable and knowledgeable without using dozens of cheap buzzwords. 

Valeria Maltoni  - Conversation Agent  - Valeria helps businesses understand the way that consumers and their communities have changed the conversation.

Laura Ries  - Ries’ Pieces  - Widely considered to  be a branding expert, she blogs infrequently, but her posts are meaty with plenty of observations to digest.
   

Marketing to Women

Andrea Learned - Learned on Women -  With a concentration on marketing to women, Andrea’s posts hone in on what we can learn about all consumers and campaigns by focusing on women in the marketplace.

Stephanie Holland  - She-conomy - Stephanie’s charmingly witty observations about the mistakes made when marketing to women will have you both entertained and careful not to wind up on that list.

Michele Miller  - Wonder Branding  - With such a diverse resume, Michele is the ideal candidate to speak to large brands, but she’s also cheeky and honest, which is why she is the perfect candidate to speak to everyone.

Holly Buchanan - Marketing to Women Online - You can tell that Holly has experience as both a copywriter and creative director because she tends to focus on the importance of reception, rather than just presentation.

Coree Silvera - Market Like A Chick - Thoughtful, in depth, and most importantly, topical. Coree doesn’t miss an opportunity to take on even controversial subjects in marketing.

Sara K. Smith - Wonkette - Following in the grand tradition of the original Wonkette, Ana Marie Cox, Sara blogs snarky and sassy about all things political.

Cheryl Contee - Jack & Jill Politics -  Situated at the intersection of race and politics, Cheryl Contee aka Jill Tubman keeps a close watch on goings-on and calls it like she sees it.

Carmen Van Kerckhove - Racialicious  -  A smart blog about race and pop culture in a world that thinks we don’t necessarily need to discuss race and pop culture anymore. Carmen Van Kerckhove is fearless and articulate, writing and curating posts that will get you thinking and even, on occasion, laughing.

Heather & Jessica - Go Fug Yourself  - Slightly snarky, witty, but most importantly dead-on point fashion bloggers Heather & Jessica have been critiquing celebrity couture with sass for quite some time now. Though they aren’t your mother’s polite fashion bloggers, they always manage to tell the truth without being blatantly nasty, making for an wholesomely entertaining read on eye candy.

Julia Roy - Julia’s Blog - As the Senior Manager of New Media at Coach, not only is Julia Roy a serious fashionista, she’s also quite the savvy media minx. She uses her personable blogging style to highlight how she’s fusing cutting edge social tactics with the creative vision of one of the most respected luxury brands.

Beth Kanter - Beth’s Blog - With a vault of non-profit successes from which to draw, Beth tracks and blogs about social strategies that work for non-profits on a mission.

Kivi Leroux Miller - Kivi’s Nonprofit Communications Blog - As a do-it-yourself nonprofit marketer, Kivi has a whole arsenal of suggestions for how to market when your organization struggles with a lack of funds and time.

Ruby Sinreich  - Lotus Media - An activist and a developer, Ruby finds time to blog about the intersection of social spaces and doing good, especially on a local level. Her experienced-based posts are rich reads, and occasional new baby pics are just icing on the blog cake.

Katya Andresen - Getting To The Point  - With all of that Network For Good experience under her belt, Katya’s personal blog is full of advice on what she calls “Robin Hood Marketing” - the idea of stealing from corporate savvy to sell just causes. Her personal passion fuses with her professional expertise for a read that is both applicable and compelling.

Comments

73% of online women are now active social media users, engaging weekly or more often with top social media platforms. Social media is playing an increasingly important role in the everyday lives of Americans, particularly when it comes to getting advice on consumer products with many consulting blogs or message boards before making purchases.

Some of the key findings of this study caught my attention:

• Blogs are second only to Internet search as the preferred media source for product purchasing information for BlogHer Network users. Second only to search – wow! That should get you fired up to get all your news and information visible in search and push blogger outreach to the top of your list of “must master” this year. Getting results with women bloggers is a skill. And despite many webinars and articles to the contrary, it is not ‘just like media relations.’
• Message boards/forums are second only to conversations with friends and family as the preferred source of product purchasing information for iVillage community users
• Among the iVillage community, 73% say that they are sharing topics on message boards/forums that they would not share on social networks. Of those, Relationships (61%), Health (45%) and Work-related (39%) issues were the top topics they would not share on social networks. So don’t discount the sometimes considered old-hat message boards and forums.

“The study confirms that social networks are a key place to capture women’s attention on the path to purchase,” said Jodi Kahn, Executive Vice President, iVillage. “The days of relying on one source for information are over. Online peer-to-peer advice on message boards has increasingly become one of the most valuable sources for product recommendations. Marketers cannot afford to overlook this captive audience.”

Getting results in social media takes education and constant research. Is social media training on your list of to-do’s for 2010?

Comments

Retargeting via Google Adwords

Retargeting is not new, I have been writing about it since 2006 and working in this area since 2003. Recently, Google Remarketing, via adwords, has brought retargeting to the masses. Though, in my opinion, Google has not done a good job in educating advertiser on how to effectively engage in retargeting. To start with, Google says, you should retarget every visitor who came to your site. That is a wrong approach and I highly discourage it. As you read through this post , you will know my reasoning behind it. You have to understand remarketing to effectively use it. I am listing 5 questions that you should ask before you put that JavaScript code to start remarketing.

5 questions to ask before starting a Retargeting Campaign

1. What is the purpose of this retargeting campaign?
   This is first question you should always ask. Also ask, Why are we doing this? What is the purpose of retargeting? As you answer this question, you will automatically start to answer some of the questions listed below.
2. Who are your target customers?
   Remarketing to all of you visitors, in most cases, not a good idea. If you are a portal, news site, have daily updates then it might (maybe) make sense to remarket anybody and everybody who visited your site. For most of the sites it doesn’t make sense to retarget everybody. Think about this, why would you want to target me with an ad to sell TV when I recently bought a TV from your site?

   Trying to sell ice to the Eskimo?  Try it. You’ll be sorry. To be effective, you should segment your visitor base and understand their needs. For example, by targeting the shopping card abandoner you have a better chance of conversion. By targeting those who have already downloaded a whitepaper, you have better chance of selling your free trial. The message (ad) you will put in front of these visitors will speak to their needs and hence will be more attractive than a generic message. Which leads to our third question.

3. What will be your message?
   If you know the purpose and audience segment for the campaign then it is much easier to write your message (ad copy). Your ad copy has to be effective to drive people to take action. Make it right. Say you want to target all the people who downloaded a whitepaper on A/B Testing but did not sign up for free trial then your message can be “You know A/B Testing leads to higher conversions. Get started with a Free trial of xyz tool”. Alternatively, if you are trying to remarket to all the visitors who came to your site, reviewed few page and left without downloading the whitepaper then your message should drive them to download the whitepaper. Remember, one message does not fit all. Message has to resonate with the segment that you are targeting.
4. Where will the visitors land?
   You have identified why you want to engage in remarketing and who you are targeting, now you have to make you sure that when customers arrive on your site they get the relevant information and clear call to action on the page they land. Sending visitors to an appropriate landing page is critical for the success of remarketing .
5. How will you know you are successful in remarketing?

   You can’t manage what you can’t measure. Define your KPIs so that you can measure the effectiveness of remarketing. Properly defined success measures will also allow you to take necessary actions (test and fine tune ad copy, message or even the segments) to ensure you achieve your goals.

Google Remarketing Gone Wild.

Recently I came across two examples of remarketing where, in my opinion, the thought was given to the first 2 questions. I have an example to share with you. A while ago I visited Lyris newsletter template download page via a newsletter link. I gave my email address and downloaded the templates. Since I am done downloading, I don’t have a need to download them again.

However, the remarketing campaign keeps remarketing to me with a message inviting me to download the whitepaper (see below). If they have something new to offer then I might go back. If they have to offer the next logical step in moving me towards the sales, I might pay attention to it but I am not going to go back again to download the same templates that I downloaded few days ago. Seriously! Do not waste your impressions on me. If increasing brand awareness is the goal of this campaign then they should have a different message in the ad copy.

(Note: Currently there is a limitation in Google Adword retargeting which makes it harder to segment and target that segment only. If you are interested in segmenting and targeting then send me an email and I will provide you a solution that will help you target efficiently.) 

Sidebar: Below are some of the ways you can use remarketing

• Cart Abandonment – Target visitors who have abandoned the shopping cart to bring them back to the site and complete the purchase. This is the most widely used and talked about use of remarketing.
• Next Steps towards Conversion - Target visitors who took some prelim steps but did not complete the next steps towards purchase. E.g. Target the visitors who downloaded a whitepaper but have not come back to sign up for free trial.
• Cross Sell/New Products – Target past customer with an up sell or cross sell. If a visitor bought a shirt recently maybe it is time to show them an ad for a tie that will go well with that shirt.
• Brand Awareness – Remarket to people who have visited your site in past. Remarketing can put your brand right in front of them to further build brand awareness. Though this one is difficult to measure.

Comments

This optimization offered by PeaPod isn’t around anything really exciting, but about the truly mundane: delivering groceries.

If you’ve never used an online grocery service, you might not have thought about how it works, but thousands of customers use PeaPod to deliver groceries to their homes when they want them, some several times a week. So, after they’ve loaded up their shopping cart, customers select from dozens of time windows for the delivery in the next few days.

PeaPod shows a list of times, which you’d expect, but they also do something you might not expect. A couple of those times alert the customer that selecting that time wil cut $1 or $1.50 from the delivery fee. Now, I don’t know for sure why some times are discounted, but I can guess that it might be PeaPod is trying to fill the schedule for that truck. I don’t know how sophisticated the algorithm is, but it might be more aggressive about offering discounts as the time gets closer (the same way airlines maximize revenue per seat based on load). It’s better for PeaPod if the truck leaves full with a full delivery schedule, just as no airline wants a plane to take off with an empty seat it could have sold, even at a steep discount.

Sometimes, PeaPod offers even larger discounts—as much as $3 off the $10 delivery fee. It’s possible that PeaPod is giving discounts because the particular customer is proximate to another house that has a delivery at that time, so it costs almost nothing in time and gas to deliver while they are in the neighborhood.

You’re probably not in the grocery business, but how could you use this idea? Many businesses must schedule deliveries or other appointments for repairs and other home visits. Today this is largely a hassle for the customer, where they must be home for an entire day or half a day and the fee is the same no matter when they do it. Most companies do this because after they have all the locations lined up for the day, they plot the most efficient route that saves the most time and gas.

Suppose you did what PeaPod seems to be doing, and offered discounts for people to choose less popular times of day (to fill your schedule) or times when you have another call nearby? Suddenly, because you are cutting customers in on a reduced fee, they suddenly are less frustrated about the inconvenience, because you’ve made them part of the process and given them some control over their schedule and their costs.

Take a hard look at your own policies and procedures and ask yourself if you are doing things the same old way. Could technology be applied in a new way to optimize your process for you and your customers? What wasn’t possible just a few years ago is cheap today, so don’t let old thinking stymie improving your customer’s experience.

Comments

1. Woot - This online retailer takes the unique approach of only selling a single product each day. Around each daily product is a dedicated conversation stream, live commentary and a detailed description. By focusing on a single product, not only do they add a layer of conversation and description to the product, but they also give their users the perception that each daily deal is special and only available for a limited time. This focus allows them to add urgency to their site and convert browsers to buyers quickly. While you may not be able to convert your entire business to just selling one product at a time, this model may be the next evolution of the long-standing “deal of the day” model that many businesses have used at one time or another in the past.
2. Groupon - How much would you lower your standard prices if I could guarantee you 100 customers? Or how about 1,000? The premise behind Groupon is to offer customers “collective buying power” - which essentially means that you can offer a great deal and it will only kick in if a set number of consumers take you up on it. Go on the site and you will see deals sorted by region and many of them have been redeemed by thousands of people. What Groupon shows you is that sometimes you CAN actually count on volume to compensate for lowering your prices. The nicest thing about the site is that instead of trying to recreate this model on your own site, you can add a special offer for your business to Groupon.
3. Hotwire - By now most people are familiar with the new auction based pricing model that Priceline introduced into the travel industry. Letting consumers set the price for what they are willing to pay was a revolution in the travel industry at the time when Priceline was introduced. Hotwire used the slightly adapted model of offering exact prices, but not letting you know the details of what you booked until after you pay. If you have your own eretail site, this model can be a good way to get rid of excess inventory in a different and more fun way.
4. Blippy - If you don’t live your life in social media, the idea behind Blippy will likely confuse you. It is a social site that lets people automatically share the latest things they have purchased (and how much they paid for them) by linking the site to a single credit card. This level of transparency and sharing may seem crazy to many people, but the site represents a social experiment that points to an interesting opportunity for businesses whose customers may be used to sharing every small detail of their lives. It may be an outlier in this list of business models as they admittedly don’t have a revenue model for the site as yet – but the shift in what people are willing to share online is the real trend worth watching.
5. Dubli- This site offers some of the most creative pricing models you can find online - and models that have not yet been duplicated across many others sites. The first is what they call a “reverse auction” where products have a starting price and you use credits that you purchase on the site to reveal the current price. Each time a member of the site uses a credit to reveal the price, the price goes lower until someone decides to make the purchase. The second model is based on a “unique price auction” which means you need to have the lowest bid that no one else chooses to have in order to win.

Comments

How do you define “Engage” and do you believe that people and business that fail to engage will cease to exist in the next decade?

Engage was inspired by the original Social Media Manifesto published in June 2007. At the time, the manifesto served as a rallying cry for businesses to embrace the new world of participatory media in order to earn attention and ultimately relevance in democratized and highly influential online societies. As people were and are becoming increasingly selective about where they discover and share information, consumers are also expanding their social networks (or social graphs) and changing how they form and maintain alliances online.

In the middle of the essay, I summarized the transformation of business landscapes and the ability to connect with customers and influencers as undeniable, wrapped around three simple, but resonating words that were intended to serve as marching orders, “Engage or die.” If we do not participate and eventually lead online interaction related to our business, then we are walking a path toward oblivion. Consumers, regardless of industry, have choices and if we’re not top of mind where and when they’re seeking information and direction, then we are absent and forgettable.

“Engage or die” became the prevailing mantra of not only the essay, but also the social business movement and honestly, it is truer today than it was three years ago. To this day, it continues to inspire champions and it was also the inspiration for this book. As you can imagine, those words might not attract potential readers in a positive light. The message, and the book overall, is incredibly helpful and motivating and as such, the essence of the title was representative in one word and one word only, “engage!”

Over the next decade, everything changes and while the realization that transformation is inevitable, it will only gather unstoppable momentum. The true value of this book is that it minimizes public experimentation and guesswork and helps businesses, of all shapes, sizes, and industries, to answer their own questions as well as the questions they didn’t know to ask. It’s designed to expedite meaningful and effective engagement strategies and escalate the brand within all communities of influence online and offline.

What does Engage mean to you as a personal brand?

What’s in play right now is something so profound that we are only on the verge of realizing its true impact and potential. The path that many of us are on today however, places us on a collision course between our personal and professional brands as well as the brands we ultimately represent. Social media requires us to engage transparently and as such, the networks and corresponding social graphs that we’re forming blur the lines between who we are to friends and family, peers and professional contacts, and also those we hope to reach on behalf of our business. Our attention is finite and it’s increasingly thinning to a point of diminishing returns.

We, along with those who follow our online updates, will become selective in those we follow tomorrow, focusing our streams into curated and discerning channels of material contacts and information. Think about it this way, if you’re the admin for a Facebook Fan Page on behalf of your brand, you usually interact with a captive audience, and as an admin, people see and hear the “voice” and avatar personifying the brand. But in order to grow the community, we have to attract attention where it’s focused, which means engaging in outside communities as well. When you do so however, you lose the “brand” facade and are now participating as the brand “you.” Now your streams start to cross as those who follow you may or may not be interested in the promotional updates that hit their news feed.

Engage tackles this subject as it teaches us how to effectively embrace “multiple personality order” to maintain strategic presences for our personal and professional brands and the relationships that are important to each.

You recently rebranded your blog from “PR 2.0″ to “Brian Solis.” Can you go over the repositioning? Do you feel that after carving out your niche, you can go for the “more general audience”?  How does this decision impact your core audience of PR practitioners?

This is a topic that is heartfelt and one that continues to unfold daily. PR 2.0 was an overnight success over a decade in the making and that’s not something everyone realizes as it is just now starting to get traction. As such, new PR is gaining awareness among the decision makers who can lead the communications industry toward significance and prosperity. However, the true story is the shift from PR to public relations and this crusade was captured in my last book with Deirdre Breakenridge, Putting the Public Back in Public Relations – a book that is a must read for anyone in PR or marketing communications.

Everything is changing. PR is also undergoing a renaissance much like service, marketing, advertising and all disciplines affected by conversational and participatory media. PR is also a topic that is debated in minefields. I believe that in order to truly transform businesses from a position of introspection to one of an outward view, and in turn, bring about change from the outside in, PR, for the most part, does not travel freely on paths to executive offices, the boardroom, nor marketplaces. While internal groundswells are triggering responses across middle management, my goal is to bring both ends to the middle, evoking a reaction among leaders to accelerate change from the top down.

If it’s one thing we’re learning is that everything contributes to public relations and this is why social media and strategic and meaningful engagement becomes paramount to the future of any business. Everyone on the front lines within social networks as well as those responsible for the creation and dissemination of social objects are now part of the public relations team. As a result, this becomes so much bigger than PR 2.0. This is now about the personification of a brand and its culture and the ability to connect it to those who can benefit from the interaction and alliance. My work is dedicated to every aspect of business to contribute to the socialization of the brand and every touch point that connects companies, audiences, influencers, and consumers. This is now the minimum ante for businesses to compete for market and mind share today and in the future.

Comments