PRDA Social Media Management: Asia

Slaying the Giant: How to Beat Facebook's Algorithm

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 27 Mar 2015 01:47:00 +0000

Facebook has done it again. Two months ago they stated that they would cut off Organic Reach for business pages. Then last month they announced that Facebook would change on March 12, 2015 the way Likes, Comments and Shares were tracked and that there would be less of them. It is unclear how you can count a physical action and come up with two different answers, but apparently Facebook can and they decided the number is going to be less. But never fear there are always opportunities for smart people that are willing to do the work. Facebook wants us all to take the easy route, the paid advert route, but that is a slippery slope with no possible chance of return.

Defying gravity:

March 12 the big Doomsday for Likes, Comments and Shares which are the primary factor that influences Reach came and went with little fanfare or scary happenings. In fact a local client of PRDA showed significant gains before and after, actually defying what was assumed to be the inevitable

Post Reach

Total Reach

So how do you accomplish this?

Social media has become more science than social over the years and this has never been truer than now. To filter through the enormous amount of content the algorithms in social apps are becoming ever more complex to select what you might like to see best. There is also the issue of money and the increasing focus on paid advertising for revenue. Between these two forces it is almost impossible to achieve good views anymore.

But it can be done!!

SEO tricks of keyword optimisation, formatting and proper publishing at the right time of day can trigger the algorithms. PRDA works hard to determine what these triggers are and how to make them work for our clients. But if you are not an expert at SEO and social message optimisation then I recommend using advertising in a limited way. Putting small amounts of money behind a variety of your posts will help you achieve your reach goals and it will start to tell you what performs the best. Here is an example:

This client had a reach of 100 or less for each post. This was disappointing as it has 100,000 Fans. Something was not right. We started writing a range of different message and image combinations and put a small advertising budget behind them. Four different posts US$1.50 per day and this is what we achieved.

With an amount of about US$0.80 per day and optimised messages we increased the reach to 18,000 with the majority coming from Organic. The combination of good Organic methods and a small money boost made it shoot up. Facebook liked the fact we spend money, their algorithm like the content and between the two we got huge bonus value.

Summary:

Over dependence on any one strategy is not always good. Trying to beat the system by tricking algorithms is time consuming and risky if you are not experienced. Sticking to paid advertising is a one way path to endless payments. Try balancing strategies to see if the sum of the parts is greater than the whole.

Much success,

Doug

www.PRDA.Asia

Social Media Writing for Humans: The Art and Science

noreply@blogger.com (Douglas White) — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 02:45:00 +0000

Writing for social media is a tricky business. So much effort is put into turning an exciting phrase or sexing up a boring topic. To be really effective at social media writing, it is important to look deeper than the words you choose. Humans take in and process information in predictable ways. Understanding the psychology of memory, recognition, and retention are great tools to significantly increase the effectiveness of your message writing. You can still be fun and sexy, but now you can be smart too. Some simple rules to keep in mind when writing:

seven words
first and last are the most remembered words
familiar or emotionally loaded words work best

Seven words:

Human beings have a short-term working memory. At most, it can hold seven words. For me it is much less, but I am over 50 years old, ha ha. Keeping this in mind, the next time you are tempted to write a novel on Facebook remember that the average person will only see or remember seven words at most. It is important to make those seven words count. The more words you use, the less likely any of them will register or be remembered. More work = less reward.

First and Last:

When reading a sentence the first words and last words are remembered most. The end words are remembered the best. So if you have seven words to communicate the message to your fans, it is good to prioritise. The words you place at the beginning and end are the most important.

Familiar and emotional:

Put away the thesaurus! People scan messages and words that are familiar or have high emotional value register best. Keep it simple silly (KISS) for sexcess. What did you see in that last sentence????

Here is fun list of memory games I found. Play around with them and your message writing. Practice makes perfect.

http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/chmemory.html

Much success,

Douglas

Visit us online: http://www.prda.asia/
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Men "man up" for social good

noreply@blogger.com (Douglas White) — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 04:01:00 +0000

Men love a good cause. This is well known. What is a bit more suprising is that men are now starting to outpace women in support of all types of charities and social programmes. A recent study by Barkely showed that 88% of men believe brands should support causes. Further, 55% of male internet users surveyed said they would pay more for a brand or product that supported a cause they cared about. Two-thirds said they would try a new brand because of a cause.

What does this mean for men? Well some men are taking it to extreme. Morgan Parker and Simon Lock have quit their jobs to ride cross country on motorcyles for charity. The 20,000 kms journey from Hong Kong to Brisbane will stop in 10 countries to support and raise money for 10 charities. A different charity has been selected in each country. Find out more about Morgan and Simon's adventure @ wheel2wheel.tv

Douglas White is the founder of PRDA one of Asia's leading social media agency.

Answer to the nature or nurture question: a look at RenRen and Facebook

noreply@blogger.com (Douglas White) — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 02:55:00 +0000

RenRen and Facebook started out as virtually identical applications. The basis was a free to join social network (SNS) that relied on the social graph for growth and sustainability.

This still remains largely true, but from here the family resemblance stops. Born of the same mother but having been raised in different cultures, at adolescence we find them to be barely recognisable to each other.

Both have grown well, the strength is unquestioned and future bright, but key characteristics are almost diametrically opposite. Let’s explore four characteristics:

Privacy:

Facebook has often been called on their questionable and arbitrary changes to privacy settings. However, the members of Facebook have proven that they have strong sway in keeping Facebook management in line. Facebook provides an array of privacy settings that allow the individual to protect information. Facebook still does not sell personal data or direct access to individuals pages.

RenRen has a slightly different take on privacy. I tend to agree more with the RenRen philosophy, SNS’s are for sharing, so by extension if you are on the site you should be open to this concept. RenRen provides full access (for a price) to reach their members for businesses. It is my understanding RenRen does not release personal information, but does facilitate direct contact.

Ease of entry:

Both Facebook and RenRen are free to join. But once again, there the similarities start to fade.

Facebook provides individuals, small business or just anyone a range of profile options such as personal profiles, groups or fan pages. Fan limits are either non-existent or set very high.

RenRen provides a single option for personal users with a 1000 fan maximum. This is satisfactory for most personal users, but many small businesses or charities looking to jump on RenRen may find this size restriction a bit tight. For a small fee the limit can be raised to 2000, but there is still restrictions on customisation.

Flexibility:

Facebook is a DIY wonderland. Customisation, free to use apps and widgets, fully functioning HTML pages give a range of options for customisation. If you are an entry level users or a large company, Facebook allows significant flexibility in customising your page provided you colour within the lines. What Facebook is lacking is any real B2C tools. Facebook is still predominantly a P2P network.

RenRen prefers to do the work for you. Tell them what you want and there is almost no limit on what they can do. As they control the code they can be much more indulgent on what is allowed. Of course it all comes at a cost. Additionally, RenRen offers a wide range of B2C products that may never find their way to Facebook.

Numbers:

If Facebook is a tool then RenRen is a sledge hammer.

Facebook allows for fairly accurate demographic segmentation and very small budgets. For as little as about HK$ 10 or US$ 1.5 a display ad campaign can be launched. It might not get you much, but literally you can reach one person.

RenRen is about HUGE numbers. After several meetings with RenRen it became clear that somewhere around 50,000 was a starting number and 100’s of thousands was an figure they were more comfortable. Since RenRen puts a limit on personal pages at 1000 fans, the only real way for business of any size to reach a larger audience is to upgrade to a B2C solution or Public page.

It is too bad that Facebook and RenRen can not play nice together because both offer interesting solutions and business models. Both models are, in my opinion, vastly different but valuable. However, RenRen continues to be almost elusively mainland China and Facebook is everywhere else.

Much success,

Doug

CLP goes green with online CSR campaign: Plant a tree

noreply@blogger.com (Douglas White) — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 04:32:00 +0000

“Love the Earth, Plant a Tree” on-line campaign targets the planting of 100,000 virtual trees to advance green causes in Asia.

CLP Green Park Home Page

China Light and Power (CLP) has committed to a five year plan to plant 1 million trees across Asia. In a pure play digital initiative CLP is using social media to reach out and engage consumers to get excited about environmental issues in Asia. CLP is using social networks such as Facebook and RenRen, microblogging for Twitter and Weibo along with forums, blogs and other social channels to reach a diverse Asia population. The campaign is launched in 3 languages (English, Simplified and Traditional Chinese).

The focus of the campaign is an educational animated microsite. The microsite titled "CLP Green Garden" allows users to create their own animated avatar, invite friends, select from 5 different types of trees and plant it in their garden while learning about environmental issues in Asia. As more people plant trees in the park the park grows. More trees, exotic animals and friends come out to play.

The goal of the two month campaign is to plant 100,000 virtual trees and donate HK$500,000 dollars to Green Partners across Asia.

Find the Green Park on:

Asia Consumes Online Mobile Video

noreply@blogger.com (Douglas White) — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 02:32:00 +0000

A recent study by Nielson confirms that Asia is hungry for video. Asia has a higher frequency of watching mobile video than any other geograhphic region. PRDA has been promoting the use of video as a primary communication tool in Asia through its online channel SOUTV for many years with great success. It is reasoned that the high adoption of video in Asia is attributable to 3 factors:

Communication across languages and culture: Asia is exceptionally diverse in language and culture. Video helps cross these divisions easier than text based or audio campaigns alone. If it moves it tells the story better.
Technology adoption: Asia is the hot-bed for electronics manufacturing and home to many emerging economies. This creates a perfect opportunity for early adoption of technology that supports mobile video viewing.
Infrastructure: The technology infrastructure across Asia has amazing. What is surprising is that where broadband pentration maybe high, but it is not always available due to power outages and other tangential reasons.

Video use in Asia has been on the upswing for many years as technology and economies grow at a robust pace. China still remains one of the biggest consumers of online video despite issues restrictions on certain sites. We will continue to see an increase as the adoption of smartphones takes Asia by storm.

Much success,

Doug

Douglas White is the CEO/ Director of PRDA Asia's leading social media agency since 2004. Based in Hong Kong, PRDA has presence in 5 Asian countries.

Social Media: How to destroy your brand on a budget

noreply@blogger.com (Douglas White) — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 05:31:00 +0000

I get it, not everyone has social media figured out yet. But really breast feeding Tele Tubbies? There is no excuse for taking fabulous brands and make them look like they belong in the discount bin at the dollar store. Rule 1, if you are running a company do not leave your social media strategy to your teenage nephew, unless of course he happens to be Mark Zuckerberg.

Let’s take a look at some factors that make a solid social media campaign and compare them against a recently spotted Facebook page debacle. We learn from both our mistakes and the mistakes of others, and the Cotai Jet's Facebook page is a real learning opportunity. Cotai Jet is the flagship ferry service for Macau tourism, the Venetian and the Four Season's.

Content - “is king!”. Just like you would have a party and not forget to bring music, food and drink you should not create a social media destination like a Facebook page and not have a content strategy in place to ensure a fresh stream of interesting and engaging content to your fans. Communication strategies are foundational.

Really is this the best you can do? Macau is the playground of Asia and the Cotai Jet is the chauffeur for such luxury properties as the Venetian and the Four Seasons. A place that brings you Lady Gaga and the Gran Prix can’t come up with some pictures? Everybody has something interesting to share, except Macau apparently. . .

Engagement/ moderation - If you think you are special enough to attract fans then you should be prepared to sign autographs! Talk to your fans! You are a superstar because of them, don’t forget to mingle and have your moderator be appropriate.

Who would you pick as you moderator? Well it appears that Macau likes Tinky Winky and Tinky Winky like to breast feed. It appears that Tinky Winky has almost no friends and only likes to engage in lactating behaviour. Who am I to judge, but really???

Authenticity - All aspects of a social media campaign need to ring true. It is very easy to detect Bullsh*t and fans do it faster than anyone.

154,542 friends for Tinky Winky the breast feeding TeleTubby (copyright infringement?) is a bit of a stretch. Considering there is no content or real conversation on the page this looks more than a bit suspicious. There is a reason that Indonesia has the 3rd most registered number of Facebook users. They are called friend farms. Yes, just like hookers you can also buy Facebook friends. And also like with hookers you probably don’t want your real friends, fans and customers to see you with them. Facebook pages are for real fans, keep your “paid dates” private.

Brand appropriateness - any social media campaign needs to align with the Brand. A significant contribution of any professional social media agency is to help their client find their “voice” online and to responsibly extend the brand into social media spaces.

We have discussed a number of issues with this page that call into question the appropriateness of the branding. It is difficult to imagine that the management of any of the Macau brands have reviewed or actively participated in this campaign. Like with any media campaingn, management buy in and support is critical to a successful social media campaign.

Just doesn’t suck - social media offers so many opportunities to do real cool stuff. Your page may not be the best, but there is no reason for it to suck.

Social media is quickly becoming the most important medium for brands to project themselves to their customers. However, it still seems it is not taken seriously. I feel there will be many more lessons to learn from before many brands get it right.

PRDA has been helping brands find their voice online for years. Our mistakes are behind us to ensure yours are not in front of you.

Much success,

Doug

Social media: No obstacles just road signs

noreply@blogger.com (Douglas White) — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 00:36:00 +0000

China is a unique place by almost every measure. They have their own way of doing things for sure. When managing social media or attempting to quantify consumer behaviour it is not wise to reference other country data to base your assumptions. An article, economically titled "China: An Update" by Yuping Liu-Thompkins, Ph.D provided a tidy summary of China consumer differences. She highlighted several trends that are of particular interest, and maybe not that much different from rest of world.

China – An Update « Ping! – Loyalty Science in Practice via kwout

Grouping -- This is a advertising/sales technique being used by an emerging type of online sites. They offer discounted products to persons (or groups or persons) that register on the site or perform some other task. In exchange for surrendering their personal details or participating in a small marketing activity such as filling up a form or posting a brand message to their social site wall, they get a discounted price. A win win situation for all. The discounted price is not a loss for the business and in exchange the business gets an expanded database or their brand promoted online.

Cash instead of cards -- Yuping describes the unique set of conditions in China, e.g. low labour cost, long history of shipping goods to villages and a cash based economy to detail how COD (cash on delivery) is more effective and less costly than online credit card transactions. A very different way of doing business that may make many Western businesses nervous, but it works.

The lessons we learn when we take the time to really listen can be very rewarding. There is not one solution to every problem and when using social media that crosses so many borders it is critical to be aware. There are no obstacles only road signs keeping you informed along the way if you are so inclined to notice.

PRDA has been delivering successful social media programmes in Asia for many years. With hundreds of successes we have learned well the unique and wonderful tapestry that is Asia. Look to experienced professionals to reach your fans.

Much success,

Doug

Social Media: Traditional media keeping the enemy close

noreply@blogger.com (Douglas White) — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 23:48:00 +0000

A interesting article was released by Allfacebook.com today titled 10 Facebook pages that are exploding in popularity. What was fascinating about this is that out of the 10 half are TV or Movie pages. Surprisingly Twightlight was not in the group. Traditional media is effectively using social media to extend the fan's experience outside of the 30 minute block of viewing time they would normally get on TV. Another article the other day suggested that as much as 90% of all TV shows are now available free online. One of the most important ideas we share with our clients at PRDA is that social media extends the experience of the brand. Whether this is outside the shop, studio or just making the ability to interact with the brand in new and more convenient ways is one of the key selling points of social media. Extend the experience!

BTW, I looked up the Facebook fan page of one of my favourite shows "Justified" and found 2 listed. Funny, the most populated one was those standard wiki page and the alleged official one had crap content. Which points to the second thing we always tell clients. Don't waste peoples time! I walked away -- it was justified. . .

Much success,

Doug

Social Media: SMB's win new customers big time!

noreply@blogger.com (Douglas White) — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 09:41:00 +0000

A recent report from Regus, the international serviced office company, provided some encouraging results. Their recent survey of SMB's showed that on average 40% had gained new business through social media channels. India takes the lead in using social media to get new customers with 52% of companies reporting success. China ranks above the average with 44%. This is no surprise due to the rapid explosion of social media activity in Asia. What is interesting

More Businesses Finding Customers on Social Sites - eMarketer via kwout

is that a year and a half ago SMB's were showing little activity in social media. The significant turn around show that the fundamentals driving social media are sound. That is the democratisation of the internet, low to no cost of entrance and it being extremely effective as a connection and communication tool. Of course success is more likely when the is a good strategy in place and social media is professionally managed. PRDA has been helping SMB's find success on line for many years. SMB's will continue to find innovative ways to use social media for customer acquisition, service and product development.

Much success,

Doug

Social Media: 5 Reasons Asia Rocks!

noreply@blogger.com (Douglas White) — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 01:00:00 +0000

Asia is the undeniable powerhouse of Social Media. If you think North America and Europe are setting the standard, think again. That is mere child's play compared to what we are doing in the East. With a huge variety of languages, cultures, application preferences and government concerns the social media terrain, to put it lightly, is bumpy. But despite all this, social media is stronger in Asia and growing faster than anywhere else in the world.

More Internet users then North American and Europe combined and only 20% penetration rate. Grow, grow, grow!
South Korea has the highest penetration rate of Internet in the world!
Australians spend more time on social media than any other nationality
Hong Kongers dominate Facebook. More registered users per capita than the U.S.
More Japanese tweet than the U.S.

If you want to find out what social media can do come East. Asia provides enormous opportunities to explore the true potential of social media. A booming economy, growing infrastructure and enthusiastic acceptance make it more exciting than Disneyland.

Note that in order to navigate this region it is best to have a good guide. Companies experienced in social media and Asia such as PRDA (Prosperity Research Digital Agency) are critical to make a successful go of any social media campaign.

Much success,

Doug

Our parents taught us well. We all love to share everything now!

noreply@blogger.com (Douglas White) — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 00:23:00 +0000

If there are two things that clearly separate social media from traditional it is the ability to engage and to share. Both of these functions have transformed the way that we interact with information. Not long ago these two activities were impossible. Think about it. You would not have a chat with a TV commercial and you definitely wouldn't try and pick your TV up and carry it to the neighbor's house to show them the cool thing that was on. But now the cornerstones of social media/networks is the ability to do just that.

Online Merchants Love Facebook’s ‘Like’ - eMarketer via kwout

Over 1 billion people online demonstrate the importance of these actions everyday. Like, forward to a friend, post to wall, Tweet, etc. I have no idea the number of these exchanges that take place each day, but it is easily in the billions. What is important to understand is that it has irrevocably changed the way that people interact with, consume, filter and ultimately choose information. Old school rules from advertising, marketing and PR no longer apply. A whole new set of rules, processes and procedures are quickly evolving to help explain and manage these new behavior patterns. The strength comes in how to best facilitate, but we find many trying to capitalize. This is unfortunate, however, another upside of social media is that if something is not "liked" it does not last with a click of your mouse.

Much success,

Doug

Around the world in 48 hours

noreply@blogger.com (Douglas White) — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 01:37:00 +0000

This was an amazing weekend. I had fun, sun and friends. There were pictures and sharing and kidding galore. A little drinking, a little sleeping and a lot of sharing. I spent time with people sitting right next to me and people thousands of miles away and it all seemed so completely normal. . .

Today we have the capacity to stay in touch with each other more efficiently than ever before in our history. And that is an understatement. We can communicate instantly, in real time with devices that fit in our pocket and do this while watching a movie and determining which direction we are walking all at the same time. I like this time very much. While on a beautiful junk trip this weekend thanks to my dear, and very sexy friend, BT. I was able to share photos of us lounging in the sun in Hong Kong while being sent pictures of friends also enjoying their weekend in far off locations like London, Paris and Seattle

A friend and life coach even shared a life opening video with me as she sat in Florida.

All in all I am amazed and dazed by how wonderful and efficient our lives have become through technology. But despite all the technology there are some bits that still don't seem to make sense. Like how did I get this fish in my bag???!!!!

Technology can transform our lives, but it clearly can not take care of everything. Perhaps a bit of self restraint or a little less of the bubbles next time?

Much success,

Doug

Social Media: How can people still get it so wrong?!

noreply@blogger.com (Douglas White) — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 05:29:00 +0000

I read an article in Social Media Today where the title immediately made me think, WTF? Engagement or Relevancy: What is more Important in Social Media? Anyone that has been involved in social media from a professional position should recognize two important mistakes in the title alone. I will then point out the huge error in the article itself to save you the time of reading the article and discovering it for yourself.

The two big errors in the title arise from the assumption that Engagement and Relevance can be separated. Engagement without relevance is SPAM! and Relevance without Engagement is pointless. So why would you ever imagine them being at odds or even separate. The answer to that I believe lies in the author's background and also provides the clue to the huge and 3rd error in the article. The author's background is in PR. I have long held that PR is a great profession (I believe the second oldest) but because of its assumptions and processes it is diametrically opposite to the requirements of social media. PR is about constructing and controlling the message and social media is all about engaging, influencing and participating. We see too often social media campaigns fall into crisis when PR companies take the reigns. This is no fault of theirs, it is just how they were taught.

The 3rd and hugest error is the POV the author takes about Engagement and Relevance. The assumption is that engagement and relevance is a factor of how useful the customer is to the brand. This is very PR thinking. Social media is customer centric and therefore the question is always how engaging is the brand to the customer and how relevant is the brand's content to the needs of the customer. Not the other way around. PR and Social Media are brilliant partners when they stand side by side. But if PR steps into the shoes of Social media a trip and fall is not to far off. Once again it is not their fault because they were taught this way. But brands that go shopping for agencies should be aware of these easy to spot errors and plan accordingly.

Much success,

Doug

Douglas White is the founder of Prosperity Research Asia's most experienced social media agency. We are the best in Asia because we are the best of Asia!

Social media: The fans win

noreply@blogger.com (Douglas White) — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 09:32:00 +0000

There has long been speculation and gut instinct that social media produced ROI. However despite many promises of being able to track online behavious accurately, there has been few statistics come forward. This has been primarily because of the weak link between online content and point of sale. However, this gap is quickly closing as brands pour more and more budget into digital and expect to see results. A recent study by Syncapse and reported by Haysam Fahmy in the blog Asia Digital Map shows, what all of us had thought true for a long time, people who invest energy in becoming fans of a brand in social media tend to spend more, be more brand loyal and are more likely to be brand amabassadors. Social media does payoff and in a big way.

Fans spend more!

On average a Facebook fan will spend almost US$80 a year more on a product than non-fans

Fans share more!

The most intreguing aspect of social media is converting customers to brand ambassadors. Fans of brand are 40% more likely to share brand information. This is powerful marketing.

The long and the short of this is that brands now have definite proof and measurement tools to show the clear value of social media. What is done with this is yet to be seen. Social media is still largely unknown and only few companies like Prosperity Research have the expertise to navigate social media effectively.

Social Media December 2007 to June 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Douglas White) — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 04:05:00 +0000

I originally wrote this post in December 2007. In social media years that was a lifetime ago. However, the words are more true now then back then. Social media's progress got a set back, or kick start, due to the economic crisis. You can decide your opinion on that. What I know is I believed then and I still believe now.

Well, the 2007 year is wrapping up and the final numbers are coming in. These are the all important numbers which demonstrate online behaviour in general and more specifically the consumer spending habits during the peak holiday period.

Online Holiday Sales Ho-Ho-Hold Up - eMarketer via kwout

It is unanimous that Social Network Marketing continues to dominate the press and the pocketbook of consumers. With word of mouth becoming the new cred over traditional corporate spokespersons the individual reigns supreme. Prosperity Research continues to advance natural techniques to understand the behavioural mechanisms that guide Social Network models. There is little need for big media buy or fancy gimicks in the new democratic space on the internet. The old addage of "talk is cheap" has an all new meaning.

eMarketer's Predictions for 2008 - eMarketer via kwout

Social Media? 12 reasons plus 2 more

noreply@blogger.com (Douglas White) — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 01:42:00 +0000

Social media is becoming an undeniable option for business. Some are still uncertain why or how they should use social media, but the tidal wave of users make the need to move into social media fell like a "must do". Fortunately there are good reasons and this article released by Social Media Today provides a compelling argument. Social media budgets are exploding and according to the author there are 12 reasons to jump in. That alone should be enough, but I can think of at least 2 more to add to this list that make the value proposition impossible to resist.

Listening -- the single greatest differentiator between social media and traditional is the opportunity for engagement. To be able to receive customer comments and product information in real time is extremely valuable. Traditional media can not provide this. Brands that recognize the value of receiving customer engagement and leverage this will outpace their competitors.
Community building -- social media is about community building and engaging customers. Many brands are still stuck in the "broadcast" mode of communicating and missing the great opportunity for becoming "friends" of their customers. When the shear volume of information that is pushed out into social media each day, the idea that someone "chose" to listen, opt in, comment on or subscribe to your message is remarkable. Once you have their attention, it is best not to lose it. Treat them well.

Social media is all about being "Social". The most successful brands recognize this. Brands that let their ego go for a bit and truly focus on their customers will enjoy success.

Much success,

Doug

Prosperity Research helps brands find their voice online. PRDA has significant experience and can help businesses find the value in all the
commotion.

Technorati Tags: social media, china, hong kong,

"Get Off the Advertising" blog repost

noreply@blogger.com (Douglas White) — Thu, 27 May 2010 06:08:00 +0000

I started writing about social media too early in the life cycle. Now I am spending time revisiting my blog posts from years back and seeing that they are still relevant. I hope you don't mind but I would like to re-share a blog from 2008 that was originally titled "Get off the Advertising".

Like those crazy government funded studies to prove that death is the result of dying or eating makes you full, here is another study which provides overwhelming evidence to the obvious; people don't like advertising. However, in the author's defense, despite this ubiquitous truth, businesses continue to advertise and so maybe it is still necessary to reinforce the fact that "People Don't Like Advertising”. This study goes one step further in its pursuit of seeking the obvious. It is now scientifically proven that people are especially averse to aggressive advertising. Another revelation???

So what can be done? Prosperity Research has been for years pioneering an alternative approach to promoting brands online. We believe it is just as easy to be interesting as be advertising. And, if you believe this study . . . well then people will like you.

Ad Clutter Reduces Effectiveness, Degrades Brands via kwout

Community Power in Social Media Crisis

noreply@blogger.com (Douglas White) — Mon, 17 May 2010 00:41:00 +0000

It is with both sadness and joy that I write this blog. Sadness because a favored client has had to shut down suddenly under difficult circumstances leaving many people in confusion and uncertainty and joy because I have seen the community created around this client come together with amazing strength and grace to support each other.

As one of the first social media experts I have found myself in the mix of many social media crisis situations. By nature of the term "crisis" they are not pleasant. But they can, if managed well, be an opportunity to show the true strength and power of social network communities and result in positive outcomes.

I watched these events unfold over the last days and was frustrated by the traditional media and their lack of help. Officials and commentators provided rehearsed statements, finger pointing and platitudes without opportunity for question provided little help. It was online that solutions were found and people found the support they needed.

This current "crisis" is about Planet Yoga, a yoga studio that had been operating in Hong Kong for over 7 years. Over that time they had developed a long list of members past and present. When we started working with Planet Yoga they had virtually no online presence. We built up a strong Facebook community of over 7000 fans that allowed their ardent yoga members a place to communicate and share outside of the studio. During the creation of the community we had no idea of the full value of this community.

Shock:

On May 13th at midnight Planet Yoga closed their doors abruptly and without prior public notice inline with rules of liquidation. Legally Planet Yoga needed to stop all communication and use the liquidation company for all further communication. However, a channel still existed that could be left open for their members to access information; Facebook.

Realization:

Facebook quickly became the focal point for the Planet Yoga members to share emotions and information. Another Facebook page was opened but it did not gain the momentum that the original page had.

Anger:

Hundreds of members offered support and consolation and expressed frustration and anger in many messages. But what was most compelling was the strong sense of community and the quick transformation of the page to a place to share and test information.

Members quickly assembled information and made it available. They set up emails and hot lines and organised off line meetings. The information found out by one was quickly shared to all making the process of finding solutions much more efficient. I watched this transformation happen quickly. In less than a day members had worked through issues and created great momentum in finding truths and support.

Solution:

Traditional media will have a place in our lives for a long time to come. I personally hope it remains, as it provides a "stake in the ground" from which to measure other efforts. But it is clear that social media is where people increasingly turn to find the truth.

Much success,

Doug

Social Media: Mind blowing stats counter

noreply@blogger.com (Douglas White) — Wed, 12 May 2010 02:05:00 +0000

We are all very much aware on the fast pace of social media. We usually think of it in terms of people around the planet. I came across this in Social Media Today. It is a social media stats counter created by Gary Hayes at Personalize Media. Whether you are a numbers geek or just trying to better understand social media and social networks, this widget is a great motivator.

Much success,

Doug

Back in the Social Media Saddle

noreply@blogger.com (Douglas White) — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 01:32:00 +0000

I have taken a hiatus that was much longer than ever expected from writing my blog. I noticed that my last "official" blog dates back to October of 2009. I am not sure how I lost my way, but I do know that the effect of not writing a regular blog makes me a bit grumpy and thick in the head. Or at least that is my excuse for the moment.

I find blogs to be, personally, difficult to write. Creating nice linear patterns of thought and sentence construction does not come easy to me. This is especially true with all the time I spend on Social Media with its fractured, fragmented and unrelenting content that to me often feels more like being in a blizzard than a soothing stream. Luckily my mind seems well suited to chaos and seems to adjust to filtering out these bytes of information and somehow making sense of it all.

The good thing about writing blogs is that it forces one to think through a thought from beginning to end. Check for its veracity and determine if in fact it has value. One of the benefits of social media is also it bane. The ease of sharing information seems to have removed some of the sense of responsibility in understanding before reporting it. I believe that too often content is shared based only on a clever title and maybe not much more. Whereas, I value the free exchange of information, I value more knowing that when I receive something from a source that I have confidence it is worth my time.

It is my opinion that everyone could benefit from writing a regular blog. Whether it is like me only for the critical analysis to see if I can prove, at least to myself, that I am being clever or whether I am, more often than not, full of sh**. Or if it is just to provide a good outlet to let your mind take some of the power out of the hurricane of thoughts that maybe going on inside. And then of course there is the possibility that what does make it to print is something others will be glad you took the time to do.

I am looking forward to writing on a range of subjects now that the fast has been broken.

Broadcast vs. Engagement
Use of multi-channels for effective marketing strategies
Social graph and search
If you have to buy your friends are they really your friends
PR and Digital Agencies -- why all the fuss
Social Quotient -- the Holy Grail of new marketing

Any many more. . .

Much success,

Doug

SMN, Business and consumers see things very differently

noreply@blogger.com (Douglas White) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 02:28:00 +0000

Why is business so hesitant to enter social media and social network spaces (SMN) despite the strong encouragement of consumers? Consumers love SMN. Facebook has grown to the size of a large country and China now hosts more social network profiles than North American and Europe combined. Consumers have clearly voiced for some time that they want business to be part of this space.

Mike Sachoff wrote in WebProNews

Majority Of Consumers Want To Interact With Brands Online | WebProNews via kwout

Not only do consumers want brands to be active participants in this SMN but they, in repeated surveys, have stated that they have greater confidence in brand messages received in SMN then any other source than family and friends. Given this it becomes particularly odd that business still shows such reluctance.

Thomas Crampton

Social Media Trust Outstrips Traditional Media in Asia - Thomas Crampton via kwout

So what is it that is keeping business away from SMN? Well there are a number of reasons but the one that seems to come up most frequent is "we are afraid of what people will say about us". Ms. Ochman recently wrote what she found to be the

BL Ochman, reposted in socialmediatoday, wrote

The Top Six Reasons Companies are Still Scared of Social Media via kwout

The reaction of business to avoid SMN has both logic and contradiction in it. The logic would suggest that by putting yourself in SMN then you open yourself up to comment. This only stands to reason. However, the contradiction is that consumers will and are discussing brands in SMN regardless of whether business is there or not.

If you consider the old adage "the opposite of love is not hate it is indifference" then the only thing worse than having consumers saying bad things about your brand is having them saying nothing at all.

My personal belief, after having talked to many clients about this concern of theirs, is that it is not based on fear but denial and lack of understanding. I say denial because there is the illusion that if business sticks to traditional marketing strategies then somehow they will go unnoticed in SMN. This is not the case at all. The only result of this is that brands miss the opportunity to know what is being said of them and to actively choose how to respond. So it begs the question for business; what would be considered worse? To find out consumers are speaking ill of your brand or that they are saying nothing at all?

Much success,

Doug

Leaked or Launch: LG BL 40 campaign leaves me guessing

noreply@blogger.com (Douglas White) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 05:57:00 +0000

LG had just launched a massive Asia and Europe wide social media campaign. It appears from the postings that it is about recovering leaked technology before the launch of their new product the LG BL 40. But it looks a lot like a slick attention getting launch campaign. US10,000 dollars to recover a lost phone? Seems pretty steep.

Example of postings seen:

“Leaked, the newest technology threaten competitors”I’m sure the phone that LG is looking for is embedded with the latest technology. In truth, mobile manufacturers first purchase the competitors’ new handsets to examine and analyze. On the LG’s timeline, this technology must be related to the new Chocolate phone. The new Chocolate phone is the successor of the original Chocolate sold over 21 million globally. Accordingly, the new Chocolate must have jaw-dropping features.We need to keep our eyes on what the media states. What do you think?

And here is a look at the phone in question:

Social Media Marketing: Asia hits social media like a tsunami

noreply@blogger.com (Douglas White) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 07:11:00 +0000

Social media has not been around for very long. Social networks and social media found their birth in the West with the likes of Friendster and YouTube. But it appears pretty clear that it is in the East that social media will grow up. Depending on which study you quote the numbers range from staggering to unbelieveable on how fast Asia is adopting social media.

70% of Chinese internet users have a social network profile

Focusing on Social Networks - eMarketer via kwout

Hong Kong and Singapore have more registered users on Facebook per capita than the U.S.!

If all of these consumers are online where is business? Back in April I wrote an optimistic blog about how business would follow the rush of consumers to social media. However, a half year later we are still waiting for business to join the party. Prosperity Research has helped many brands make the smooth transition to social media but many are still cautious to move forward. But as business starts to adapt to the new model of social media marketing I am hopeful they will take on board the new rules that apply. After all what makes social media "social" is about people talking to people.

Much success,

Doug

Social Media case study: Broadcast vs. Engagement in forums

noreply@blogger.com (Douglas White) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 06:35:00 +0000

There is a lot of discussion going about these days about the difference and effectiveness of broadcast and engagement styles of marketing.

Broadcast is the bastion of old school marketing. We still see it used extensively in the new "social media" arena primarily because it is less expensive, familiar and to some degree effective. However, if social media has a mantra at all, it is "engagement".

Engagement is the "social" part of social media. Where two individual (even if one individual is a multinational) can come together and converse. This theoretically creates a more powerful bond between consumer and brand which then compels (or propels) the consumer into spreading the brand's joy far and wide with no further motivation than the satisfaction of "engagement".

Well is there any truth to this? I for one sure hope there is. I have never been a fan of advertising and I am one of the biggest proponents of social media.

We conducted an 8 week longitudinal study testing the effectiveness of broadcast vs engagement marketing techniques in forums and on Twitter. This is an "early days" study, and so the experimental design is rough. Below describes the Forum study, the Twitter analysis will be presented at another time.

Over an 8 week period approximately 200 forum entries were posted to over 150 different English language forum sites each week. For the first 5 weeks a broadcast technique was used. On the 5th week through the 8th an engagement technique was introduced. There was no activity during the 6th week due to client review. The broadcast technique is described as:

Threads were created using statements (not questions)
Forum entries were written as a product message without intent to initiate a conversation or get opinion. There purpose was to deliver an informational message.

The engagement technique is described as:

Threads were created as questions so as to elicit a response
Forum entries were written in a conversational manner. Not all entries contained brand messages
Replies to comments from readers were followed up and brand messages were included when appropriate
The brand message was included at least once in all conversations

Results:

During the first 4 weeks of pure broadcast the view rate remained low in relation to total number of posts. What is most telling is that during this period there were no comments left on any of the forum entries despite the approximately 5000 views.

Engagement was introduced in week 5, however with week 6 being a temporary suspension of the campaign the effects were not reported until week 7. There we can see a significant effect. The view rate shot up to almost 3 times previous counts without increasing the number of weekly entries. But the most significant finding is the comments. Comments, which were absent from the broadcast phase now represented almost 10% of the view rate.

Whereas it is too soon to make judgments about the effectiveness of engagement over broadcast based on this limited case study, it is clear that there is a definite change in behavior which can be seen in both increase in views and more importantly comments.

Much success,

Doug