Foursquare is For … NOW!
There’s a new location-based trend in the here-to-stay world of online socializing sites. Sites like Gowalla and Foursquare lead the way about a year ago. Now Yelp (the foodie website) has added a “geo” element too. In the case of Foursquare, they’ve announced two affiliations in the last month that might be game-changers. They are now partnering with the Bravo network and with Zagat!
Stop.
What are you talking about?
Ok. Let’s start all over. In layman’s terms: Foursquare is a combination social network-gps locator-game that encourages one to “check-in” and leave “tips” when one is out and about. So let’s say, you’re going to the movies, or a bar, or a restaurant, or a museum – or anywhere, really – you open up the application and Foursquare will do a search for where you are. (Because it can locate you.) If your location doesn’t come up, you can type it in. Where it gets a bit fun and competitive is that one can become the mayor of a place or get points for checking in more times than anyone else in a given week or in a specific location. And yes, each check-in gets uploaded to your respective status update on Facebook or Twitter or both. If you’re on Facebook or Twitter, you’ve probably seen some updates.
Businesses get a free plug for doing, uh, nothing. But smart businesses – like Tasti D-Lite on the Upper East Side of NYC – have been offering discounts or free product to mayors or to others for just for checking in. This promotes guest visits and loyalty – and what restaurant doesn’t want that?
It’s a great site for cities because you can also see where your Foursquare friends have checked-in – and they may be around the corner. And now you can go join them.
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Contact us if you have marketing insight to share, and we may feature you as a Guest GBA Blogger. GBA is headquartered in Washington D.C. and specializes in strategic video production! Let us know how we can help your company stand out from the pack!
Here’s an informative video that breaks it down better than I do: How Foursquare helps consumers and businesses: http://slidesha.re/6e1NB0
If I owned a restaurant or a bar, I’d make sure I let all Foursquare types know that any check-in will be honored with a complimentary glass of wine or a draft beer or a dessert. As long as they showed their check-in.
For the record, since Christmas, I’ve been “out” 18 times, checked into 34 places and have been crowned the “Mayor” of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church and WordHampton Public Relations. (Um, these two mayoralties are pretty much a joke; I was experimenting with the site. Nonetheless, I AM the mayor of my church and my business. LOL!)
Here’s a brief description of Foursquare’s deal with Bravo taken from Gavin O’Malley at Media Post: “Foursquare offers entertainment brands an opportunity to interact with their customers on both a personal and local level,” said [Foursquare co-founder Dennis] Crowley. “By extending on-air, this partnership also allows us to reach beyond the tech-early-adopter crowd and introduce an entirely new audience to Foursquare.”
Bravo will create on-air spots that drive users to “check in” to Foursquare from various locations across the country that have been featured on Bravo series, as well as venues recommended by Bravo talent.
The network will offer a series of branded “badges” specifically designed around series that include “The Real Housewives,” “The Millionaire Matchmaker,” “Top Chef,” “Top Chef Masters” and “Shear Genius.”
But Foursquare didn’t stop at Bravo. Writing for Mashable.com, Jennifer Van Grove says,
“The New York Times is reporting that Foursquare has signed a deal with trusted restaurant review service Zagat. Zagat’s official Foursquare page is already live and includes official Zagat-rated tips and recommendations that users can add as to-dos to their Foursquare experience.
Zagat is calling the partnership “Foodie Love,” and there’s even a new accompanying foodie badge. Zagat.com is extending the partnership beyond Foursquare and starting a “Meet the Mayor” online interview series that will feature discussions with prominent Foursquare mayors.
Foursquare’s relationship with Zagat is clearly an answer to Yelp’s introduction of check-ins, especially given the trusted and prestigious nature of Zagat content.”
Oh. Foursquare is apparently this close to announcing partnerships with the History Channel, Warner Bros., HBO and Explore Chicago.
Guess it’s time we all started exploring Foursquare, eh?
Steve Haweeli is President at WordHampton Public Relations Inc. Contact Steve directly at steve@wordhampton.com or follow him on twitter @SteveHaweeli
Organizations approach us wanting an online video presence, and typically choose the path of Client Testimonials, Product Demos, or something similar. Those are great choices, but the road less taken to brand loyalty is the Viral Video.
WHY VIRAL VIDEOS?
1. Youth is still the magic demographic for marketers, and news flash, this generation of young people watch way less television than generations before. Millenials are too busy watching videos on YouTube. They typically don’t care who made those videos, or if they have an agenda, as long as the video is entertaining. If your company wants to boost its coolness factor while making a great first impression, then it is hard to ignore the viral video format.
2. They are cheap to produce. At least compared to other formats of online video or television. Weigh the cost of making a slick TV commercial with actors, a set, props, a big crew, and the ad time needed to air it versus twenty-five or so viral videos. Out of that large group of videos maybe you decide six will have a holiday shopping season theme, three a St. Patrick’s Day theme, and so on. This means you make a viral video whenever you want, which leads to the next point.
3. Saturday Night Live, the late night gang (Letterman, Kimmel, Stewart, etc.), The Soup, and South Park are trendsetting shows because their sense of humor is smart, edgy, and most importantly – relevant. They all address topics in today’s news cycle. The typical sitcom or commercial is in the can months prior to airing. That is why Tina Fey’s impersonation of Sarah Palin is buzz worthy and even perception altering, and the plot of Two and a Half Men is not. Your company should harness the same trendsetting power using viral videos.
4. Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert discuss complicated issues using a variety of short format videos. Jimmy Kimmel and Joel McHale depend on short format videos in their shows. Why do they rely so heavily on this format? Because sophisticated ideas are easier to digest in video format than in text. Luckily, as you’ll see in the Getting Noticed section, viral video works best in short format.
5. Expanding on point four, it is much easier to create an emotional response with a viral video than text. Unless crafted by a truly gifted writer, text doesn’t make people dance, sing, cry, or laugh the same way a good viral video does.
6. A viral videos is easier on social media eyes than a traditional corporate video. As people relax and look at photos of their friends on Facebook, they aren’t interested in watching serious stuff. They want a short funny viral video that fits in line with their current thought process & attention span. Case in point, NBC has really embraced viral videos. To gain new viewers for one of the best sitcoms on TV, The Office, they create viral videos with its characters in situations that don’t air on the show. New late night host Jimmy Fallon even gears all his segments to play like viral videos, hoping they catch on the following day with an audience that was unable to stay up late enough to see his show.
7. The distribution of viral videos is changing rapidly. You can now watch YouTube from your Tivo. And don’t forget about cell phones. A couple years ago people use to only call each other, take pictures, or listen to music. But, with larger high resolution screens and an easy to install YouTube application, cell phones have evolved into a viral video friendly platform.
8. Corporate product videos have grown because companies can showcase their product without the aide of salespeople. Corporate viral videos should be growing because they can showcase a company’s personality just as easily and quickly.
9. A good viral video is everlasting. If the video is clever and funny today, odds are good it will still be clever and funny 5 or even 25 years from now. Furthermore, your potential audience is huge, and viewers can be watching it half way across the world while your firm’s employees are asleep.
10. If you build a position by making multiple everlasting videos, you become a part of people’s daily routine. For example, the “Will It Blend” series by Blendtec keep its audience coming back regularly to see which object will get get demolished next.
GETTING NOTICED (Non-SEO)
So you are a believer, but aren’t sure what will work. Producing material your audience wants to see is paramount. There is so much competition, boring material will quickly get lost forever. Corporate viral videos need the right mix of great content, execution, and promotion to get noticed. But be careful, you don’t want to shove the video down people’s throats. A major component of a viral video is the feeling people get when they stumble across something unique. They love sharing the feeling from watching that unique video with their friends. So what common factors can be found in the viral videos people share?
Content Rules
1. Funny is king in the world of viral. Lorne Michaels realized the power of the viral video, and let Andy Samberg go crazy with SNL digital shorts. That decision paid off in a big way with hits like “Dick in a Box.”
2. Music (Jonah Rocks), Dancing (Evolution of Dance) and Inspirational (Susan Boyle) are other popular themes.
3. E*Trade provides a good example of unusual juxtaposition: a baby talking and trading stocks. Another example, a cat playing the piano.
4. Which segues into our next rule. Babies & Animals are both great characters for viral videos. The cuter the better. There is a reason Super Bowl commercials are saturated with chimps, babies/young kids, and clydesdales. Commercials and viral videos share a lot in common.
5. People like the anticipation of being scared. Think about the buzz The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity received. Those are two of Hollywood’s biggest rags to riches stories due in large part to the buzz generated prior to release. The thrill of being scared works in viral videos as well. Remember the reaction to UFO’s flying over Haiti?
6. If all else fails, sex sells in any medium. Even boring godaddy.com commercials.
7. If all else still fails, parody a successful video. Long before there was Jersey Shore, there was “My new hair cut.” This video spawned tons of parody videos that back drafted off the original’s success. Many of the parodies themselves got over a million views, including one that has almost 5 million hits!
Execution Rules
8. Short is usually best. TV is very passive and the Internet is not. Viral videos need to capture audience attention immediately. The longer the video runs, the harder it is to keep viewers engaged. Dramatic Chipmunk is only 5 seconds long! This short simple viral video was the core concept in this year’s Carmax Super Bowl ads.
9. You want fans of the video to have the ability to use your material to create their own remix versions. The song that made Tay Zonday an Internet phenom with “Chocolate Rain” was remixed for a new product launch of Cherry Chocolate Dr. Pepper.
10. I’ve used a lot of examples from TV Commercials primarily because the Super Bowl commercials are fresh in everyone’s head, but remember this is not a flashy TV commercial. You don’t need to make it look like one. Make it look like a gem in the rough. TV Commercials have a lot of edits, transitions, and graphics. Viral videos are sometimes done in one shot on a consumer camera, or at least made to look that way.
11. Hollywood studios overdub or subtitle movies to release around the world. If you have a successful viral video that has universal appeal, translate or subtitle it to increase the size of your online audience.
EXERCISE: Mix and match these 11 rules to get the creative juices flowing: Lets say you are a gum company with a big budget for a viral video. Use rules 1,3, 4, 6 to create a viral video concept with a supermodel chewing gum while balancing an elephant on her pinkie finger in outer space. Oh, and the elephant is chewing gum too of course. Not a cheap viral video, and it doesn’t follow rule 10, but it would certainly generate buzz.
GETTING NOTICED (SEO)
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is critical. The goal is for your video/content to spread like wildfire to new audiences. Setting up proper SEO gives you the best chance for those new audiences to find your video quickly and easily.
Video SEO is similar to website SEO and the rules listed below apply to all online videos, including viral. If you’re not all that familiar with SEO, check out this article for an overview. Some of these tips are for large organizations, others for small business, and some fit both.
1. Use Clear Titles – Picking the right title gives you an enormous advantage getting noticed, but don’t use misleading phrases like “leaked video” to generate excitement and clicks. It can backfire when your audience feels tricked.
2. Provide an Accurate Description - Include a call to action directing viewers back to your website or possibly to a contest you are throwing in conjunction with your viral video.
3. Choose the Right Keyword Tags – Use Google Adwords for help compiling a complete list.
4. Generate Back Links
a. Email bloggers that relate to your viral video.
b. Submit video to social bookmarking sites. TubeMogul can really help to make this step quick and easy.
The eight most popular social bookmarking websites online: 1. Twitter, 2. Digg, 3. Yahoo Buzz 4. TweetMeme 5. StumleUpon 6. Reddit 7. Technorati, 8. del.icio.us
c. Submit a Press Release. Some good free places to submit Press Releases include: 1888PressReleases, ClickPress, 24-7PressRelease, PRLeap
d. Post the video using your company’s social media presence, like on your company’s Facebook Fan page. Certain social media platforms carry more weight than others. Here is the length of time people watch videos from different sources according to Tubemogul: Twitter 1:58, Facebook 1:14 , and Digg :58.
Highlights from top eight back linked online videos of all time: 1. Susan Boyle Performs on Britain’s Got Talent 2. Rick Astley’s Rick Roll 3. Judson Laipply’s Evolution of Dance 6. Free Hugs Campaign 7. Ok Go Treadmill 8. Michael Jackson’s Thriller
5. Generate Views
a. Do what you can the old fashioned way by emailing friends and family a link to the video. Ask them to help by sending it to their friends or posting it to their Facebook page. You could also include a link to the video in your email signature.
b. If you need more help with views, a paid method might be the right option. Just make sure you know what you’re buying and you’re setting yourself up for a good ROI. YouTube Promoted Videos provides one approach for getting your video in front of more eyes. uSocial can also deliver views, but buyer beware, they may not be the views you want!
Three Viral Videos that had an effect on the 2008 Presidential Election: 1. Will.i.am and Friends’ tribute to Obama “Yes, We Can” 2. The powerful “Dear Mr. Obama” from Joe Cook and team on the war in Iraq 3. “I Got a Crush….On Obama” by, of course, Obama Girl
YOUTUBE SEO
YouTube SEO has similar characteristics to regular video SEO. A proper title, keyword tags, description, and back links are all still important. However there are other factors that contribute to a high ranking in the YouTube search results.
1. The most obvious factor in YouTube SEO is the video’s number of views. But don’t be fooled, the factors below are not far behind in importance.
2. Number of ratings the video has received. The higher the rating, and the more ratings a video receives boost YouTube SEO juice.
3. The number of comments, good or bad. The more lively the discussion under the video is, the more likely people will keep coming back to see if others have posted a comment.
4. How recently the video was submitted. YouTube’s complex algorithms favor new videos in their search results. Take advantage of a new upload, because unless your content is a runaway hit, it’ll get harder and harder to rank high on the list over time.
5. Now we are getting into the areas that are truly overlooked. Is the video uploaded from a YouTube Channel? If so, how many views does the channel itself have? For example, Green Buzz Agency has a channel. If our current viral video with Julia Dales has a lot of hits, then it will increase the SEO for all the other videos in the Green Buzz Agency channel.
6. The number of subscribers to the channel. This indicates that the channel continually posts worthy content and is rewarded by people who have bookmarked the Channel. It is similar to a website’s SEO increasing when its fans bookmark the site in del.icio.us.
7. How active is the owner of the YouTube Channel? YouTube rewards active owners, the more you manage and maintain your channel, the better.
8. How all the other videos in the channel perform in the areas listed above.
GBA is using our current Viral Video featuring Julia Dales to maximize our website & YouTube SEO. Check back in a couple months for a case study on what worked best for us!
BUILDING A LONG-TERM POSITION
The ultimate goal of any company venturing into the world of Viral Video should be to build a long-term position for your brand. Sure, the buzz you generate with a one-hit video is great. But once you’ve invested the time, money and effort into building an audience, you should continue to utilize it. After a couple well-conceived, well-executed videos, your audience will start seeking out your content. Viral Video is no different than any other marketing tactic – the goal is brand loyalty.
There are many other tricks of the trade. If you liked this primer, be sure to come back next month when Green Buzz Agency will have a complete and downloadable guide to Viral Videos featuring more tips, strategies and facts. In the mean time, check in weekly for more Marketing & Video blog posts, and of course new viral videos from Green Buzz Agency!
Tod Plotkin is Principal at Green Buzz Agency. Despite moving to Washington, DC in 1999, he still misses following the Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox on a daily basis. His passion for video production is equaled by his love of peanut butter and jelly. Follow Tod on Twitter @GreenBuzzAgency.
Have you ever walked into the middle of a conversation and suddenly had the awkward feeling that everyone was talking about you?
Motrin has. About a year ago, they became a trending topic on Twitter when Moms, one of their key customer groups, were talking about the insensitivity the company displayed in a recent ad campaign. The consumers summed up Motrin and its use of social media this way: “They don’t get it.”
One year later, we see Motrin exerting an active presence on Twitter and other social media sites and doggedly determined to become “Part of the Conversation” rather than the “Topic of It.” But just “Being” on social media does not necessarily mean you are “Doing it Right.”
The Green Buzz Agency Blog provides insight for Marketing Decision Makers and other fun people
As someone who helps companies wade into the social media waters, but do it in a way that is authentic and in alignment with their brand, I have picked up on a few red flags that I would like to pass along. I call it:
The 5 Ways to Know if You’re Using Social Media Wrong
1) Your Twitter page reads like the CNN ticker. Social media is NOT the place to post your newsfeed! That has become a staple of many homepages, where it is ideal for SEO bots that are scouring the web for updates and new content. But social media is about interaction and one-to-one contact. Nothing says “impersonal faceless corporate entity” like following your favorite brand on Twitter and receiving the Tweet “Thanks for following us. For more information, visit our website.”
2) Your company Facebook friends are also your kids’ Facebook friends. Like any marketing initiative, social media campaigns should be targeting Quality over Quantity. With more than 370 million users, chances are that you have actual customers on Facebook. A simple step many companies overlook is the proactive promotion of their social media sites to gain targeted customers and build relationships with them. Do not let it become a web-based popularity contest where every fan, follower and contact is weighted equally.
3) Your Social Media Marketing is something you’ve assigned to the Interns. Successful marketing campaigns always stem from being integrated across the company. That requires buy-in from the top down! I get very nervous when an executive tells me the company is already on “MyFace” or “SpaceBook.” Too many execs think that new technology is beneath them and refuse to take the initiative in learning what it can do for their business.
4) It Doesn’t Seem Like Your Social Media Profile is “Doing Anything.” Although social media functions in areas like SEO and PR, it is, at heart, a marketing device. And somewhere along the lines, people have forgotten that marketing’s job is to create sales. Which means that social media should be attached to business objectives! That actually generate revenue! A strong advantage of social media over traditional marketing vehicles is its built-in trackability. There are great tools out there to set goals and determine ROI on any social media marketing efforts.
5) You tried social media and it didn’t work for you. I have heard more than my share of marketers explaining, “It detracted from our messaging” or “It’s not a good fit for us.” 9 out of 9 times, what they’re really saying is they didn’t like it or understand it, they didn’t integrate it into an overall marketing campaign and they got tired or bored of it after a few half-hearted attempts. My favorite is when I later find out that the boss’ 16-year-old niece put them on Facebook. I’ll be the first to admit that for many companies, a Facebook Fanpage makes zero sense–so don’t waste your time. But you are missing valuable customer insight if you are not monitoring these powerful online conversations. Effective use of social media, like traditional media campaigns, requires an intelligent strategy tied to real world objectives, executed consistently over a long period of time.
If these all made perfect sense to you, congratulations, you are among those who “Get it” in the new media environment. If any of these sound like you or your company, I would encourage you to re-evaluate what you are doing or who you’ve put in charge of it. Like so much in life, there is more to success than just “being there.”
Shawn Butler is a campaign strategist at Relevant Social Media based in Atlanta. You can contact him at Shawn@RelevantSocialMedia.com.
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The GBA Blog provides insight for Marketing Decision Makers and other fun people
by Alison Walsh
Linkedin to Facebook via Twitter . Oh my! If you have to hear another one of your junior staff talk about being “poked,” you’re going to have to call HR and schedule a workshop.
Slow down, Michael Scott. Poking is basically a Facebook alert, Dunder Mifflin can still be held in high regard among the paper industry. In fact, you may want to start awarding Social Media Dundies.
Your PR team can assist you in building a web site that is savvy, eye-appealing and keeps the look and feel of your company. Almost as important as building the the web site though, is maintaining the site, which is where all of these Social Media Sites come into play. One way to keep these sites fresh is by re-publishing editorial coverage you garner.
Basically, there is a world of fans and potential fans of your business out there. You want to reach as many of them as possible. The internet has evolved business models. The word “global” no longer attaches a negative connotation because you easily can be a “global business” while still holding the position of “locally owned and operated.”
That said, online communities are just as important as the one in your backyard. Your PR team can generate conversation and buzz throughout online communities, so you have time to chat with your neighbors over the fence.
Tweet us (”That’s what she said!” – Michael Scott) at @greenbuzzagency today!
The PR Specialist behind this post is Alison Walsh. Email Alison: alisonhope.walsh@gmail.com
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Free Yogato!!!
There are business cards in Mr. Yogato’s store (pictured above) that describe a promotion to win free Yogato.
Here is how it works:
There are 3 ways to win free Yogato. Try one, two, or all three ways.
Way 1:
Once you join the Green Buzz Agency Facebook fan page, find the discussions tab. There is a discussion called “Free Yogato.” Reply to the discussion, and you are now entered to win free Yogato. Once enough people reply to the discussion we will start randomly drawing for weekly winners. The more people that reply, the more Yogato will be given out.
Way 2:
Same setup as Way 1, except the discussion is in the Green Buzz Agency LinkedIn group. Once you are in the GBA LinkedIn group, reply to the discussion titled “Free Yogato.”
Way 3:
Follow @greenbuzzagency on Twitter.
Tweet “Check out Green Buzz Agency for Video Production, Social Media Consulting, Photography, and Graphic Design:http://bit.ly/1RvLV9” Random weekly winners will be selected.
Once the free Yogato promotion starts, we will draw weekly winners until the week of January 24th – 30th 2010. However, it can be altered at any time at the discretion of Green Buzz Agency. Please check back to this blog for updates on the status. All winners of the promotion will be contacted, as well as announced via the Green Buzz Agency Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn pages.
There is an additional promotion running between Green Buzz Agency and Mr. Yogato’s, but you’ll have find it on the business cards in the Mr. Yogato’s store at 1515 17th Street NW – Washington, DC. The business cards are at the back of the store, near the board games.
