Social Organic Reach Is Trending to Zero: How to Meet the Challenge
Social networks are maturing and evolving by answering the need to monetize the value they are creating. Brands need to mature and evolve, too. Article just written and published for ClickZ this month.
I just bought a new iPad. I can’t believe I’m saying that because when I bought my first iPad I thought it was the most expensive, frivolous toy I’d ever purchased. Then it became my new best friend. I became so attached that when my son began borrowing it regularly to use iMovie and watch […]
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Every so often, Facebook hosts its f8, a conference in San Francisco aimed at developers, media, and partners. This year, in front of an audience of 2,500+, Facebook introduced its vision for the next year and beyond. With Mark Zuckerberg kicking things off, Facebook introduced a dozen or so new products organized into three including […]
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Marketers have to convince audiences to care. Success is determined by what they think–it’s what branding is about. http://ow.ly/w5O2s
The onus is on established tech entrepreneurs to help the younger generation realize the consequence of the get-rich-quick ecosystem.
This article from VentureBeat sounds like the pre-amble to the hysterically, but sadly, funny opening episode of the HBO Series “Silicon Valley,” where one of the startup founders in the Palo Alto incubator ranch home was praised for his product “Nip Alert.” I laughed. But inside I cried.
Building companies is hard work. Creating meaning is hard work. Making it matter is hard work. The new generation of tech entrepreneurs would be well advised to do their level best to avoid the whoopee and hoopla of acquisitions like What’s App, and get back to writing good code and making insanely great products that make a difference.
And, just to pile it on, read what Don Dodge, Developer Advocate at Google has to say, in his article “I could build Instagram in a week.” He points to first mover advantage, the network effect that results in building an excited and active community, and simply great, intuitive design that people love to use. There’s an awful lot of luck, as well as science, in a big hit. But rarely is there anything “quick” about it.
Content marketing best practices are telling brand marketers to find that valuable piece of content and charge for it, with a coupon or a dollar value, or in some other nefarious way that delivers an immediately measurable ROI.
But there’s another way to look at it. The best content is the content that audiences want to enjoy and cherish, that they value and potentially would pay for if they could.
Brands that have the courage to give away for free something that the reader would otherwise pay for are in it for the long view. And they get something back — loyalty and long term customer value.
Altimeter does this so well. I learn from every new report they distribute. And, not being part of a large and rich organization who can afford delicious — and expensive — Forrester reports and Gartner Group studies, I sincerely appreciate the work and effort that goes into an Altimeter report, and the value they are giving me, without asking me to pay. So thank you Altimeter. I appreciate it.
With the rapid proliferation of big data and marketing automation, the role of the marketer is changing rapidly. Review this webinar from Altimeter to look at the primary objectives for today’s modern marketer:
Delightful. All marketing plans need to reflect how this is done.
When I read that this new company was the “Airbnb for Office Space” I knew exactly and precisely what it was. What power! For both the little startup, HiRise, and a testimony to what Airbnb has accomplished.
But it only works if the compared company is (1) known, and (2) respected/liked/admired. You wouldn’t want to be the “Ford Pinto of bicycles” now would you?
Getting back to HiRise. Nice story out of the gate on the WashingtonPost. But wait. I went to a new window and entered hirise.com. Did I go to this stealthily interesting new startup? No I didn’t. I went somewhere else completely.
So guys, if you have a few $K to spare in your angel fund, please, please spend it on a decent domain. Don’t make people get lost, and give up. Offer whomever is sitting on your domain $20K to buy it from them. Chances are, they’ll bite. Or they’ll say no. And what have you lost? It’ll cost you much more to direct people to your kludgy domain through advertising than the cost of a decent domain. If you don’t know how to buy it, GoDaddy.com will help you out.
Enough said. Yay for (go)Hirise.com. Nice idea.
When I graduated college, I don’t even recall there was a commencement speech. Presumably there was. But I don’t recall a single nanosecond of it. Nothing was said to kick me into the world, all fired up and ready to change it when I got there. So, not having anything better planned and no better offers, I left London for America, and ended up in Silicon Valley in the mid 1980s, working on software for the newly launched Apple Macintosh.
Lucky me.
Steve Blank’s commencement speech to ESADE speaks to global business leaders of tomorrow, but could just as well be spoken to anyone starting out in the world today. To those who don’t have the wherewithal, or the courage (yet) to start their own company. Or to those who are joining companies that are started by those who do have that wherewithal and courage. Or to those who are working inside the stodgy organizations of yesterday and wondering why they feel so unempowered. Or even to those who just don’t know where they are going next.
The message is the same: be an optimist. There’s opportunity absolutely everywhere.
When the taxicab or hotel business lobbyists run to the politicians to get laws passed that will save their business, you know Uber and AirBNB are onto something. It’s sad when a local bookstore closes down, but exciting when you can borrow any book at any time from your library on your Kindle, because Mr Bezos figured out something before anyone else.
These technology innovations are changing the rules of businesses that have for decades enjoyed market dominance. And there are many more begging for change. Because as consumers, we are becoming more demanding, and we won’t settle for the status quo any more. And we’re not afraid of change.
I asked someone yesterday “when was the last time you browsed live TV channels?” His response? “Probably about five years ago.” Same for me — apart from occasional, miserable experiments with “I’m bored, what’s on?…” that last maybe 10 minutes before the TV goes off and Amazon or Netflix goes on. Because live TV pisses me off. The absolute unadulterated rubbish, interspersed by absolutely ghastly advertisements, on 500 channels that I don’t want to ever see. Ever. Ever. No love lost for me there.
The last time I went into the AT&T store to sort out my complicated mobile phone bill for a family of five, I came out thinking that I was being shafted at every turn. Every possible dime was being squeezed out of me for things I don’t think I need or know about. No love lost for me there either.
After both experiences, I know that the moment I can switch to a new, disruptive technology to replace my TV and my mobile phone, I will. Cable, AT&T and Comcast? You’re next.
It’s a truly exciting time to be a newly minted graduate.
Lucky you.
AdAge asks who pulled off the most awesome viral stunt of the year.
I picked the PepsiMax — with a huge salute to Travis Okulski for allowing the pee-in-your-pants video to be aired by Pepsi. I don’t think I would have kept my cool, and continued calling the cab driver “Sir” throughout … and Jeff Gorden? He has a career in movies.
But also would loved to have picked Amazon. The Amazon Air Prime video totally got the nod for starting conversations in the “real” world … I can’t tell you how many people talked to me about this video when it came out. Was it real? Could it be done? Was Amazon really going to get into this business? Do I really need things in 30 minutes? What do I need in 30 minutes? Chocolate? Condoms? Cheez-its? The end result was lots of thoughts about how Amazon was ‘owning it’ in online delivery, and probably would own the future too. Good for Amazon.
The Volvo Truck video made me cringe. Ugh. I don’t like thinking about Van Damme’s crotch. And I’m really not in the business for Volvo Trucks anyway, and never will be.
Photoshop Live was cute, but did it really show me what was so cool about Photoshop? No. It just made me realize I probably couldn’t do any of those features as well as the bloke in the van with the pen tablet. And I went to art school. So I felt disconnected.
WestJet? Boring. Any video that starts with that faux Father Christmas voice (I’m English. He’s not Santa Claus) and sounds like “Twas the Night Before Christmas” will make me head for the hills.