How to integrate Social Media into our Marketing Campaigns - Lesson 1

How to integrate Social Media into our Marketing Campaigns?

Social media can be said to have three components:

1) concept (art, information or meme)
2) media (physical, electronic or verbal)
3) social interface ( intimate direct, community engagement, social viral, electronic broadcast or syndication, or other physical media such as print).

What is Social Media?

Social media is the democratization of information, transforming people from content readers into publishers. It is the shift from a broadcast mechanism, one-to-many, to a many to many model, rooted in conversations between authors, people and peers.

Traditional vs New Media

1) Ongoing debate whether new media will take over traditional media.

2) A trend where traditional media are crossing over to new/social media as an extension of their brand.

3) Advertising revenue rebalance once they shift over.

4) With new media, news is usually disjointed with no real narrative to support them.

5) More young people are going to the internet to feed their information needs.

6) Citizen journalism will become an increasingly important part of overall journalism going ahead.

7) Prime time has been replaced by my time.

The social network trailer - this should be interesting

Why is Facebook so Popular?

I was interviewed by a SPH journalist on my views on social media. 


His questions 


1.) From Friendster to Facebook, how have social networking sites changed? What are some of the common trends in terms of the features offered by current popular social networking website What, in your opinion, are the reasons for these trends?

2.) What do you think makes a social networking site a hit with local teens? Sites like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr...what do they have in common that the teens appreciate? 

3.) Since the advent of Web 2.0, what are some of the social networking websites that have tried to make it big but failed locally? What do you think are the reasons for their failure?


My Replies


1) The social networking sites have evolve in terms of features and user's involvement over the years. In terms of features, Facebook, as compared to friendster has got a lot more functions and apps. The nature of facebook allows people to share info and thoughts about themselves. And the brilliant part about Facebook is the possibility for users to share many facets of their lives, in different formats - one-to many, one to one & one to a selected few, at any pt of time.  Sharing of photos, thoughts, events, even selling of products, become now a social media lifestyle that we  are heavily entrenched into. We are so used to checking status updates of friends, photos, events, just to get a sense of 'connectedness' with our community.

The user friendliness of facebook allows users to take on and experience the features without any hassle and problems. When users find that updating facebook and twitter is smooth sailing, it enhance the experience of many and will motivate them to take on this lifestyle for fun or even to destress. 

Other features like facebook groups, fanpage and marketplace are apps and areas that attract the business/cause minded people. The dimension to which how these appls can be used is enormous and unlimited. the outcome of the experience is also determined by the creativity of the user itself. The platform is there. But it is up to that individual to know how to use it. 

As society evolves and people becoming more materialistic and self centred, we increasingly find ourselves losing friends and perhaps yearn to fill certain level of our own loneliness. Having a facebook account and the act of logging in and staying 'online' is a sub-conscious way of killing boredom, loneliness and emptiness in our souls. As we get bogged down with our daily stresses in school, work and social life- the social media realm, in this case facebook, becomes an avenue for us to vent our frustrations, thoughts, not commonly & easily expressed in other channels. 

There's always two side to a coin. While social networking sites have helped us connect to our friends and having some kind of bondness amongst people, the bad side includes issues of losing privacy, cyber bullying and breeding anti-social behaviors, to name a few.

The time spent on social networking websites have increased exponentially. based on a recent report, the average time spent for sinagporeans on social networking sites are closed to 4hrs per day. 

The improvement in ICT has also allowed fast development in the telco industry, in particular smart phones and touchscreens making social networking access easier and faster. Alot of people are assessing facebook or twitter via smart phones. This has also increased the rate of access and usage of s networking sites.

In essence, our real life can be sum up using our facebook account as a basis. the facebook account becomes a virtual extension of ourselves and its akin to managing our other life on the online realm. For some, it is like having a personality that is out of this world, perhaps only relevant in the social media world.

2) Essentially, why certain sites are more successful than others is due to 'good word of mouth' and a 'strong brand name'. When youth become exposed to a new social website, they will be hesitant to join unless there are strong peer reviews. The peer pressure within youth is rather strong and should the opinion leaders (amongst them) join the social networking sites, chances are that the late majority will follow suit. 

There are three components of a good social networking site. The site should essentially provide aspects of communitainment;

1) Community

2) Communication 

3) Entertainment

Good sites provide a community for people to fall into. It allows people to communicate through various senses and lastly, there is an entertainment value. 

3) GOOGLE BUZZ

- nobody is using it.

- Google came late to the party.

- no unique niche about this app.

The functional areas of Marketing Communication

Marketing is all about the activities companies undertake to bring their products to the market.

What makes marketing communication so exciting and challenging is that there are so many tools from which to choose from.

Here are the eight most common tools -

1) Advertising
Advertising is non-personal, paid announcements by an identified sponsor.

2) Sales Promotion
Sales Promotion works by adding extra value, such as a price discount or a free trial, to an offer to stimulate consumers to try or buy a product.

3) Direct Marketing
Direct Marketing is an interactive, database-driven MC process that uses a range of media to motivate a response from customers and prospects.

4) Public Relations
Public relations means efforts to generate and control publicity in an effort to gain the support and co-operation of those publics.

5) Personal Selling
Personal selling is interpersonal communication in which a salesperson uncovers and satisfies the needs of a customer to the mutual benefit of both.

6) Packaging
A package is a container and conveyor of information. A package can help in brand building.

7) Events and sponsorshops
Events are highly targeted brand-associated activities designed to actively engage customers and prospects and generate publicity.

8) Customer service
Customer service is a company's attitude and behavior during interactions with customers.

SHU QI was my only Consolation of the night

                        

                       As an Omy blogger, i recently got invited to a blogger movie premiere.

I got a pair of tickets to this new chinese movie, City Under Siege starring heart throb Aaron Kwok and sex bomb Shu Qi.

Without prior knowledge of the show, my friend and I entered into Hall 4, fingers crossed and expecting the worst.

And yes, it was one of my worst.

Engaging the online blogging community is not quite a new marketing tactic. In fact when blogging was prevalent some 3 years back, alot of marketers have started to tap on this platform to reach out to the active and vocal netizens. The idea is to reach out to some opinion leaders and influencers - hopefully altering and changing their attitudes and behaviors towards the marketers' initiatives and messages.

According to asian movie pulse, City under siege is a movie mixed with sci-fi, romance, drama, action and adventure film which story revolves around a group of circus performers who in their treasure-hunting trip in a mountainous area in Malaysia, accidentally released and inhaled some kind of toxic biochemical fumes left by the Japanese during World War ii. Said accident caused the circus performers to undergo different stages of mutation, giving them supernatural powers but eventually transformed them into beast-like creatures.

Sadly, I wasn't too impressed by the storyline. A couple of sub plots were quite unnecessary. I couldn't understand the reason why Aaron Kwok got bloated after being thrown into the sea, subsequently getting back to his shape after a good night sleep.

Shuqi getting the sack due to a sweet young newcomer is kinda predictable and common.

The love story between Aaron and Shuqi was ordinary and anticipated.

There were too many cliff hangers, leaving me frustrated and confused.

My friend and I left 15 minutes before the end of the show as it was just too painful to watch till the end.

Luckily, Shu Qi was the consolation of the night.

She was smouldering hot. too hot in my opinion. Though she might have aged a little, she appeared very natural, enchanting, exotic and alluring. She was the catch of the night, with an angelic face and a bod to die for.

well if i really want to draw some lessons from this movie -

1) We need to appreciate our loved ones and know what we really want in life.
2) We need some supernatural powers/ intervention to help us fulfill certain dreams in life.

Nonetheless, thanks to OMY for extending this pair of tickets to me. This movie is worth 1.5/ 5.

Sorry for the bad review. I just can't give half a mark more.

Wendy Toh - Model and Actress

Wendy Toh - Actress and Model featured on Mind Your Body

The not so Conventional Marketing tactics

So we know marketing is all about 4ps. Or maybe not exactly. Whether we are promoting a product, service or even a celebrity, we need to study the macro and micro environment carefully. When we say macro environment, I am referring to the cultural, technological, economical, political and environment factors. The customers, competitors, suppliers, employees are microenviromental factors which we need to study further

Depending on the trade you are in, different marketing strategies and tactics are adopted for different reasons and initiatives.
We need to question the marketing intent behind every marketing initiative. What is the challenge and objective behind every activity? Are we trying to generate awareness? Or are we looking at a short term increase in sales and profitability. Are we looking at strategically 'attacking' our competitors?
The conventional marketing tactics include advertising- BTL & ATL; PR, Sales Promotions, Events, exhibition, Media relations, to name a few.  However, please remember when it comes to marketing, there is a myriad of tactics which we can use. Below are five less common tactics:
1) Get your products or services into production set or documentary series.

It is always good to make friends with script writers or producers. If you know they are developing a script and need content advice or products for the production set, be open about their request and try to fulfill their needs. Attempt to steer their interest to your favor; say if they are not sure whether they want to have their shoot in a hotel or coffeeshop, do grab the opportunity and tell them that your hotel lounge is available.
2) Be an opinion leader in the field of Marketing

If you are a brand manager, try to get some 'airtime' for yourself. This could be achieved through a carefully orchestrated media publicity plan. When journalist ask you for expert opinion, make sure your name and designation is quoted correctly. When your designation & company appear in the media, it gives people that additional visibility about the brand you are trying to promote. In addition, it positions you as a credible subject matter expert which the media can all trust.
It is always a good practice to send marketing & PR articles to Straits times classified or other internet sources. This will give you & the brand that additional publicity and awareness.
3) Credit Card Loyalty program marketing

Alot of marketers forget that this is a cheap and effective platform to target directly at the card's membership database. As banks are very focused on segmenting their target market, it will also ensure that you are reaching the right demographics by getting into the right cards. The investment is minimal. You don't really need a huge marketing budget to get your promotions listed. Do ensure that you have a sound strategy in engaging the various credit cards in SG. Credit card companies like DBS, Citibank, UOB, OCBC, HSBC prefer to sign exclusive deals that set them apart from their competitors. So you need to ensure that you have a good pletora of services or promotions which you can evenly spread across the various cards.
4) Don't neglect the social media & forums

I have been talking alot about social media platforms. Identify key social media and forums which you could target. If you are a marketer for IT products, forum like Hardwarezone.com is an important platform for you to measure your brand engagement and mention. Get into the forums and study the conversation and the things said about your brand. Do a content analysis and quantify the no. of positive and negative remarks. Plant a pseudo user and seek to steer the string of entries to your favor. Weave your messages subtly and suggest points or messages that are to your favor. Then see what happens. If the next few threads turn positive, you have successfully steered and changed public opinion!
5) Organise joint events with other brands

Identify key partners that are relevant and have similar brand personality with your brand. If there is good synergy in the partnership, do join forces to drive some good initiative collectively. It could be for a charity drive, forum, or even bundling of products to increase sales.

As a marketer, we constantly need to think of new and fresh ideas to market our brand. There are alot of facets and approaches in our marketing work. So keep renewing your mindset and take a proactive approach towards your work.

Be creative and try different avenues and you'll find that all your efforts will bring good returns and fulfillment, at the end of the day.

Arranging a news conference

Arranging a news conference

Arrange a conference only when your news is likely to generate considerable media interest – when you are announcing widescale job losses, for example, or announcing significant good news, such as a new factory with an accompanying jobs boost.

The idea is to bring everyone together – the media and key representatives from your company – so that you can deal with the announcement and any follow-up interviews at the same time.

Decide on an official spokesperson. By and large, the CEO or the Corporate Communications Director should address the press.

Have quiet rooms available for media interviews after the event, and ensure that staff giving interviews are fully briefed.

Organising a news conference is time consuming, and the event itself can be stressful, so ensure that yours will be justified before calling one.

If a news release will do the job, just as well, send the release – and save time and trouble.

33 lessons learnt in life ( 8 Aug 1977- 8 Aug 2010)

33 lesssons learnt in life


1) Age is just a number. Someone could be young but wise. Others could be old and ignorant. 


2) We came to this world with nothing. We leave this world with nothing. 


3) True friends go through sorrows and joys together with you.


4) Guard your heart and never let it be troubled and afraid.


5) Marriage is a sacred thing. Commit unto it only when you are absolutely ready. 


6) A real friend is one who walks in when the whole world walks out. 


7) It's better to try and fail rather than to fail to try.


8) It is more blessed to give than to receive.


9) Finding a good mentor in life is of paramount importance. 


10) Don't fight all the battles. Pick your battle to fight. 


11) Family is the cornerstone of society.


12) Whatever you do or say is public relations. 


13) You are as strong as your last trial. 


14) Passion is what keeps you going. 


15) A person of great understanding is patient, but a short temper is the height of stupidity.


16) Social media is the greatest invention till date. technology itself is neutral. It is the user who decides the ramifications of social media.


17) Investing in a house is far better than investing on a car in Singapore. 


18) impossible is nothing.


19) Sometimes you have to take a step back before you can move forward.


20) My passion is on sports, media, marketing and mentoring. 


21) We can't be employees for life.


22) Young people can disappoint and inspire you. It's the whole package you get when dealing with them.


23) Health is wealth. Happiness is a choice.



24) Life is not just about finding love, getting married, having kids and getting old. 


25) Laughing at our mistakes can lengthen our own life. Laughing at someone else's can shorten it.


26) You learn something everyday if you pay attention.


27) There is really gender differences in this world. Men and Women are different.


28) Never burn bridges with past employers and ex-colleagues. 


29) Love can keep you sane and also insane. 


30) Friends are never enough. Keep the number growing. 


31) We need to give thanks in all circumstances. 


32) It's important to stay true to ourselves and others.


33) God is good. Amen.

What you really want?

I noticed alot of people are unsure of their passion and what they want to do in life. 

I also spoke to a few students recently who said they are not quite sure what to expect in a marketing career. 

In life, I always believe in committing to our work, ideals and passion. I believe in having a point of view and always doing things differently. For aspiring marketers, i believe one important trait is the ability to understand situations, and to make fast and swift decisions to counter the challenges..

Well, if you are a marketing or mass comm grad and have no idea what you want to do in life, perhaps this article might help you alittle....enjoy and ponder about what you really want.

Dennis

Start on the Right foot - What i have learnt

Start on the right foot

For those who've missed this article last wednesday on August 4 2010.

What i have learnt -

1) You need patience in publicity work. This article was submitted way back in March 2010 and it only got published 5 months later.

2) Persistence is a virtue. You need to believe that your work is worth publishing. I emailed the publisher twice and ask her for updates and feedback on my articles. She replied me saying she will published these articles soon.

3) One content can be pitched to several different mediums. If you have noticed, this particular article on building a successful career appeared in other mediums like Exquisite Magazine as well. Maximise the mileage of your write up by sending it to multiple media outlets.

4) There are a lot of ways to get publicity. Sharing what you know in a public domain adds credence to your stature and profession.


Dennis

Your Press Release and Media kit

Covering the FIVE ‘Ws’

Having created a news angle to give your story newsworthiness, make sure your release contains the five ‘Ws’, or key facts around which your story is based. Check that you have covered the following:

1) WHO will be doing the activity? It may be an activity or an organisation, or both.

2) WHAT will they be doing? It may be an activity or an announcement.

3) WHEN will they be doing it? State the date and, where appropriate, the time.

4) WHERE will the event take place?

5) WHY are you doing it? WHAT is the reason?


Producing a media kit

If you are mounting a campaign or launching a new product, you may need to give journalists a lot more information than can be contained in a single news release. In such cases, you should organise a media kit. Place in the pack a copy of your news release and any other information that will be useful. For example, your might choose to include background information on your organisation, campaign, or product. Case histories, biographies of key personnel, factsheets, a list of frequently asked questions (with answers), and photographs can all form part of a media kit.

How to attract better coverage for yourself?

How to attract better coverage for yourself? (Young Marketers Publicity Series)


You have to constantly identify newsworthy stories, issue effective news releases and put together useful media packs to guarantee that you make the headlines.
Defining key messages

Try to give each audience information tailored to its particular needs and viewpoint.
Examples of key messages –

1) Your company was honored a prestigious award for customer service excellence.

2) You clinch a multi-million deal.

3) You took up a new sport or hobby.

4) Your company adopted a new charitable organisation.

5) You are promoted to a Senior Marketing Manager position.

6) Your company is launching a new product or service.

7) Your organisation is taking part in a corporate social responsibility initiative.

8) You just launched a new book.

9) There is breakthrough and advancements in your company’s technology.

10) Your company is celebrating its 10 year anniversary.

Understanding news releases

The principal way to get on television, radio, or in the press is to issue a news release. A news release is imply your news story, written in a journalistic style. Print and broadcast journalists rely on these releases to help them compile reports, features and programmes. To create an attention-grabbing release that will stand out from the hundreds of others received daily, make sure that your story is interesting, unusual, controversial, unique, unexpected or significant.

Understanding Public Relations

Understanding Public Relations (Young Marketers Publicity Series)

Public Relations, or PR, is a powerful tool that can make a vital contribution to your success. Learn to distinguish between effective PR and cheap publicity gimmicks in order to build a solid, respected reputation with your key audiences.

Understanding the basics

Public relations describe the way issues and messages are communicated between an organisation and the public. It is the discipline that looks after the corporate reputation. The aim of PR is to win understanding and support from, and to influence the opinions and behavior of, an organization’s or your key audiences. This is achieved through a planned, sustained set of activities. 

Building reputation 

The true purpose of PR is to create a well-deserved reputation. That may involve offering excellent customer care, communicating effectively with your audiences, and showing social responsibility towards the local community and environment. 

Identifying your target audience

Essentially, you need to know who you want to talk to. In most cases, you will have several audiences or ‘publics’, so a strategic approach to PR involves clearly identifying all of them. Some will be regarded as more important than others. Audiences might include:

Customers;

Staff;

Media;

Public;

Investors/shareholders;

Market analysis;

Local community;

Government

In most cases, if your main objective is to get publicity, then communicating with the media and public is of paramount importance.

Negative form of Marketing?

By Ted Chen & Daryl Chin

A 'NEGATIVE option' form of marketing, where clients have to 'opt out' of a deal, has riled company owners, with the Advertising Standards Association of Singapore (ASAS) receiving 12 complaints against one company so far.

The company, Singapore Information Services (INSIS), a trade directory publisher and subsidiary of Global Yellow Pages, has sent invoices to potential clients telling them that they will be listed in many directories - and will have to pay for the listings - unless they opt out.

But company owners and marketers find the method 'unethical' and want such practices stopped.

When director of Netfrontier Pte Ltd Raymond Chng received such an invoice on July 14, he almost paid for something he had not subscribed to.

'I could have paid it right away or forwarded the invoice to my colleague, who could think it is an invoice that I had verified, and proceed with the payment,' said 46-year-old Mr Chng.

Said Ms Lisa Watson, 58, chairman of the Direct Marketing Association of Singapore: 'From an ethics perspective, we believe any communication that uses false or misleading claims to 'trick' the consumer into taking an action should be questioned.'

The invoice, the second of two mailed by INSIS to Mr Chng, said the company should send a cheque for $390.55 (with GST) payable to INSIS. It said that company owners need to 'call, e-mail or fax' should they want to opt out.

The first invoice, dated June 3, asked for payment but made it clear that the company would be charged only if it were to subscribe to the listing service.

Mr Chng said he has had no prior contact or arrangement with INSIS or Yellow Pages.

The strategy used by INSIS is known as a 'negative option', said Ms Watson. This is where customers of a product or service have to take action for something not to happen.

Some examples of negative option strategies include books that are mailed to a person's home, with the receiver required to pay for them or ship them back. Two years ago, the Quality Paperback Book Club in the United States came under scrutiny for doing so.

Sellers use these tactics to 'help achieve their short-term sales objectives', said Mr Dennis Toh, 34, a Temasek Polytechnic lecturer on marketing.

'Sending invoices and pushing sales forcefully do not foster good customer relationship, but create negative and bad vibes towards the brand,' he said. 

Ms Belinda Ang, 29, a digital marketer, said these tactics were 'definitely wrong'.

'Professionally, any form of advertising should be an opt-in and not the other way round,' she said.

Last Wednesday, INSIS ran a half- page advertisement in The Straits Times stating that it had sent two mailers with 'pre-billings' directly to companies.

Unlike the invoice received by Mr Chng, the advertisement explicitly stated that clients can 'ignore the mailers if they do not wish to use the service'.

It is not known if INSIS ran the advertisement because of complaints.

'My fear is that most people won't know' that they are not obliged to pay, said Mr B. Tan, 39, who works in a law firm, and had received a second invoice on July 12.

'Prior to the ad, people may take the view that they have to pay,' he said. 'Such unsolicited services and charges should not have a place in our modern economy.'

Another local businessman, Mr Amos Ong, 38, was not too pleased with what he called 'preying on the unsuspecting and honest'.

'If this one gets away with it, then very soon we, businesses and consumers alike, would be receiving letters, followed by invoices for all kinds of services imaginable,' he said.

A check with the Consumers Association of Singapore shows that under the Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act Regulations 2009 for business to consumer transactions, a goods and services opt-out scheme is an unfair practice and the consumer can refuse to pay for the goods and services.

However, in the case of INSIS, the transaction is done between businesses and therefore the regulation does not apply. General contract law will apply instead.

In a response to these concerns, an INSIS spokesman maintains that the invoices were meant to 'inform subscribers of the availability of the service'.

'We wish to emphasise that subscribers who do not respond to the notices will automatically not be included,' he said.

So far, none of the complainants to The Straits Times had paid by mistake.

ASAS said it may look into the matter during a committee meeting this week.

Understand the Media Game

Understand the media game (Young Marketers Publicity series)

1) Understand that the ‘manufacturing of news’ is a complicated and complex process.

2) Journalists and writers are always looking for interesting and creative angles for their stories.

3) The media and you are seeking a mutually beneficial relationship during the news making process. 

4) The media industry is dominated by two major players; Singapore Press Holdings and Mediacorp. 

5) Different media outlets and owners have different editorial needs and perogatives. It is important to pitch your stories according to the editorial direction of the media. 

6) Do understand that broadcast (TV and radio), print (Magazine and Newspaper), internet newsmakers have different editorial and submission requirements.  

7) Handling the media can be an easy yet daunting task. You need to be mentally prepared to face them.

8) Never burn bridges with journalists. Embark on a long term relationship with them.

9) Journalists are working on very tight timelines. As much as possible, get back on their request as early as possible. 

10) Remember journalists are also humans. Do engage in small and casual talks when opportunities arise. It will improve your relationship with them further.