Hi Social Media ReInvention Community. Sorry for not publishing and keeping in touch over the last few months. Some personal hiccups derailed and distracted me. Writing about these share-worthy links and sharing my take on why you’ll find them valuable is part of the process to get myself on track. (more…)
I've reviewed numerous articles explaining how and why Facebook continues transforming and reinventing itself under Mark Zuckerberg's visionary leadership (including but not limited to):
"Bringing the other two-thirds of the world online will enable them to invent and create new things that benefit us, too."
"Not only do the vast majority of people have no access to the Internet, but even more surprisingly, Internet adoption is growing by less than 9% each year. That's very slow considering how early we are in its development and that rate is only slowing further."
"The challenge for our industry will be to develop models for Internet access that make data more affordable while enabling mobile operators to continue growing and investing in a sustainable way. Efforts like Internet.org — a global partnership founded by Facebook and other technology leaders –are already under way to solve this by working with operators to provide free basic Internet services to people."
Here's a great 2013 CNN interview with Zuckerberg describing Internet.org (my apologies for any commercials preceding the interview):
Based on these mobile user numbers and the percentage of Q2 2014 revenues generated from mobile advertising, Zuckerberg and Facebook nailed it. And, speaking of killer, seamless, mobile apps …
3. Acquire Mobile Platforms (and Emerging Ones) that Increase Short Term / Long Term Competitive Advantages
In April 2012, Facebook bought Instagram for $1 billion. They recently acquired WhatsApp for $19 billion in February 2014. March 2014 marked the acquisition of Oculus VR (a virtual reality headset company) for $2 billion.
Facebook Brand Portfolio Illustrations:Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger by Marco Goran Romano
4. Give New Innovations Time to Develop (even if patience contradicts The Hacker Way)
Zuckerberg's brainchild employees 7,000 people. Even at Facebook, creativity and innovation slowed under increasing bureaucracy and jockeying for resources (in both talent and money). Stringent metrics and timelines meant new products had little time to improve post-launch.
Promoted apps are no longer dependent on App Store "Top 10 popularity contents"
These targeted newsfeed advertisements are based on a Facebook's user's history
1-Click shopping simplifies buying for Facebook users
1-Click shopping simplifies customer conversion for the advertiser
This advertising medium has resulted in 350 million app installations (Carr estimates this equates to almost $1 billion in revenue). He cites one mobile gaming CEO who invests 75% of his marketing budget in Facebook mobile install app ads because they drive $70,000 in revenues per day.
Facebook Tests Buy Button
If the experiments with the Buy Button prove fruitful, Facebook can validate the ROI value of digital marketing in not only building awareness, but also in converting eCommerce sales. Here are direct quotes from the experts:
"With this step, Facebook is becoming even more firmly established as a major player in direct response advertising, and though this test is still only a test,it's a definite sign that Facebook wants to restart its efforts to become an e-commerce company as well."
"If the test is successful and rolls out, Facebook could eventually earn money on the feature by charging a fee or revenue share in exchange for processing payment and improving conversion rates. It could also use the purchases to prove return on investment to advertisers, encouraging them to buy bigger campaigns."
Closing Thoughts
Mark Zuckerberg is the next Steve Jobs (along with Sergey Brin and Larry Page). I was publicly criticized for making that statement more than three years ago. He is a visionary leader. Remember how Facebook originally started out as a desktop application? That's what makes its reinvention as an industry leader and emerging pioneer in the mobile space so impressive.
And, it only took two (2) years! I can't wait to see what's next as Zuck & Company keep moving fast and breaking things.
Did You Enjoy This Post?
If yes, please share it with your friends and subscribe to my blog. Many Thanks!
"The mandate is different on Twitter; you have to be interesting.You need to develop a voice, which is something Facebook doesn't ask of you." – Sherry Turkle, a clinical psychologist and Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor
Learning How to Be Different on Twitter is Now a Liability. Hard to believe what made Twitter cool is now considered a curse. Taking time to find valuable content, sharing it with people who specifically choose us, and challenging ourselves to continue growing and retaining that audience's earned attention — that's now bad?
Creating Content that Earns Attention. Learning to create and package interesting content takes time, practice, and effort (especially in 140 characters or less). After 3,100+ tweets, I'm still learning.
What Happened to the Joy and Challenge in Learning? The joy and challenge in learning to communicate on Twitter comes from other people choosing to follow your tweets. It comes from other people sharing your content with their followers (when they have hundreds of millions of other options). It's seeing how you can build direct relationships with people in another part of the world. It's the thrill in earning someone's attention and permission (versus interrupting it).
Making Twitter "Mainstream" isn't The Prescription
The Investment Analysts' View: Make Twitter a Mainstream Product. Why? So brands can cram the channel with as much advertising as possible. Investment analysts believe Twitter's sole key to long term growth is a traditional advertising model.
So interrupting users with unwanted, crappy ads (and pissing us off in the process) that's a terrific strategy?
Focusing On What's Important. A better user experience means rookie and veteran tweeters can focus on creating and sharing helpful, and valuable content. The challenge in a one-screen, digital-first world is don't suck.
Because if our tweets increase in educational, entertaining, or news-breaking value, they will earn our attention. Twitter's user growth will return.
Everyone wins.
Note: I invest in Twitter (and also tweet). The impact of my investment actions and holdings in this company (and others) are equivalent to a dog shaking off its fleas — inconsequential.
Please let me know if you agree or disagree with my thoughts in the comments. I would love to hear from you. I’m here to read, listen, and learn from YOUR PERSPECTIVE. Comments are open. So let’er rip!
If You Enjoyed This Post, Please Share It and Subscribe to My Blog
p style=”color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, ‘Times New Roman’, ‘Bitstream Charter’, Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; widows: 1;”>You can unsubscribe any time you like. Many Thanks!
The Wall Street Journal Careers Section published the following articles on January 24th describing the challenges and sense of futility job candidates encounter when applying to a prospective employer:
Both articles highlight relevanttrends in personal brand differentiation and demonstrating digital strategy / digital marketing expertise.
Bottom Line. Becoming an expert is one thing. Demonstrating that expertise online to a potential client or employer is another. Because, it doesn't matter if you're trying to earn a digital marketing or social media marketing position or another position in an unrelated industry.
Either way, your online presence must be FINDABLE and HUGE.
Clients or Employers Conduct Online Due Diligence
Is Your Online Presence Visible or Invisible? Clients and employers use online search and social networks in hiring evaluations. Key themes emphasized in both Wall Street Journal articles included:
How The Internet Reinforces a "Show-Me-What-You-Got" Mindset
Why Clients and Employers Want to Understand How You Think
Too Many Job Candidates / Self-Proclaimed Experts, So Little Time
How Employers / Clients are Using the Internet Evaluate Talents and Skills
Your Online Activity Represents How You Think. Your resume does not. The opening paragraphs of the No More Resumes, Say Some Firms article reinforce this growing notion especially among employers:
"Union Square Ventures recently posted an opening for an investment analyst. Instead of asking for résumés, the New York venture-capital firm—which has invested in Twitter, Foursquare, Zynga and other technology companies—asked applicants to send links representing their "Web presence," such as a Twitter account or Tumblr blog. Applicants also had to submit short videos demonstrating their interest in the position."
"Union Square says its process nets better-quality candidates —especially for a venture-capital operation that invests heavily in the Internet and social-media—and the firm plans to use it going forward to fill analyst positions and other jobs."
"Companies are increasingly relying on social networks such as LinkedIn, video profiles and online quizzes to gauge candidates' suitability for a job. While most still request a résumé as part of the application package, some are bypassing the staid requirement altogether."
"A résumé doesn't provide much depth about a candidate, says Christina Cacioppo, an associate at Union Square Ventures who blogs about the hiring process on the company's website and was herself hired after she compiled a profile comprising her personal blog, Twitter feed, LinkedIn profile, and links to social-media sites Delicious and Dopplr, which showed places where she had traveled."
"We are most interested in what people are like, what they are like to work with, how they think," she says."
Rage Against the Machine
A Two-Front War: Other Candidates and the Company's Online Applicant Tracking System. The accompanying WSJ video shares why optimizing a resume for keywords is vital. Your resume can be unfairly weeded out by a machine's keyword algorithm (even with internal referrals).
Show Clients and Employers Differentiating Content
"A friend of mine Eric Friedman tells the tale of his job interview with renowned VC firm Union Square Ventures in New York. During a pivotal second round interview Eric sat down with one of the partners, Brad Burnham and presented his resume. Brad told Eric to hang on to it as he just wanted to chat. When Eric pressed him as to why, Brad responded with something remarkable which went like this: “You can work really hard on crafting a well written, organized, resume with bullet points of accomplishments – but you can’t fake 500 blog posts.” On the web, it’s “show me, don’t tell me.”
Therefore, achieving this goal requires more effort. And, I'm reminding myself to focus on one thing at time.
Because, starting is everything.
Your Turn. How are you going to show your expertise / your art to a potential employer or client? How are you going to differentiate yourself among the masses?
Please share your thoughts in the comments. And, I hope you'll return next week for Part 3.
Here’s a video from The Wall Street Journal providing a synopsis of the situation:
A B2C Battle for Facebook Real Estate
The article describes how both companies sharing similar names are fighting for the URL: “www.facebook.com/merck”. The case is currently under review by the New York State Supreme Court.
Facebook's Consumer Reach Matters. The court battle demonstrates Facebook’s importance in each company’s digital marketing mix and pharmaceutical marketing consumer reach. Key quotes illustrating this point include:
“Merck KGaA said it entered into an agreement with Facebook for the exclusive use of the Web page in March of last year, but last month the drug maker discovered that it no longer had administrative rights to the page, which was filled with content related to Merck & Co.”
“Because Facebook is an important marketing device, the page is of great value, and its misappropriation is causing harm to Merck," the German company said. The spokesman said he couldn't estimate the actual costs involved in the loss of the Web page.”
Ownership of the Merck Facebook Vanity URL is TBD
Merck & Co. Last Had The Facebook Vanity URL. Here are pictures of both company’s respective Facebook pages on November 26th and November 30th:
November 26th: Merck & Co. Facebook Page:
November 29th: Merck & Co. Facebook Page:
November 26th: Merck KGaA Facebook Page
November 29th: Merck KGaA Facebook Page
Neither Side Currently Has Use of the Vanity URL.According this ZDNet blog post by Emil Protalinksi, Facebook will not allow either party to use the www.facebook.com/merck URL until both companies agree who can use it. This explains the November 29th versions of each company’s Facebook pages.
Conclusion
Platform Agnostic Is the Best Web Marketing Strategy. If you’re a subscriber and regular reader of Adam Singer’s blog, The Future Buzz, you’re probably familiar with Adam’s posts on creating and executing a platform agnostic web strategy.
Content from these Future Buzz posts reinforce this credo relative to this news event:
“You don’t rely on any single network, search engine, ad campaign, email list or other organic (or even paid) asset for attention. Rather, smartly, the mix you rely on for awareness is distributed.”
“Your long-term path for digital success is simple: don’t be lured into banking all your equity in someone else’s platform. Continue to embrace a platform agnostic approach, and thrive.”
“Remember, you’re essentially contributing to someone else’s network on Twitter – certainly there are returns, but make no mistake they profit from your attention. I know you might not have a problem with that because you gain something too, but it’s good to be conscious of that fact.”
“These are all just tools to share content and ideas, no more, no less. You need a cohesive strategy for all of them to drive conversions in one spot. A blog is the perfect place for that if you want focused attention and to build an interested community. What if any one network you don’t control falls out of favor or changes the rules? At the end of the day, self-hosted blog owners control the vertical and the horizontal, whereas on Twitter or any external network you’re at the whim of someone else.”
“Careful of how much time you devote to Twitter instead of contributing to your own channel. Spend the most time nurturing that – time spent in Twitter comes at the opportunity cost of fresh content to your blog. You can use Twitter and other micro networks to draw subscribers and interest, but the premier value is in working on your own material in a unique space.”
“Self publishing lets you become platform agnostic. You aren’t limited to one single network like Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or anything else. Rather, you effortlessly plug into all of them, including reaching unloved but extremely valuable RSS and email users. Not everyone will ever use every single platform, but everyone can share, comment and subscribe to content that is published via a domain you own. In fact, more platforms makes self-publishing more valuable, because independent content can easily be shared anywhere on the web.”
“By having a self-hosted blog or publication you control the design, calls to action and user experience. Change is not up to some external entity (whether for benevolent reasons or otherwise). Rather it is up to you. If you plan to build a community that stands the test of time it is far too valuable to place this ability in the hands of another.”
Are Both Firms Too Dependent On Someone Else’s Platform? Both firms participate in social media. But, neither Merck & Co. nor Merck KGaA maintains a company blog.
Maybe, this presents an opportunity for each company to develop a blog as the central hub for each organization’s web marketing strategy. And, the other social networks like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, et. al. take on the role of social media outposts / distribution channels.
Otherwise, what's to prevent any of the social networks from "changing the rules" where Merck & Co. or Merck KGaA currently invest their social media participation …
Is It the Design and Marketing Icon Who I’ll Miss?
No. Several excellent articles talked about Mr. Jobs many accomplishments. I’ve respected and admired the innovative products Apple created under his leadership. Plus, he successfully lead and revived Apple twice (after being forced out the first time).
And, his ability to successfully lead Apple while dealing with personal illness is unbelievable. His professional and personal resiliency are remarkable.
Here are my favorite articles highlighting Mr. Jobs’ professional career:
“Later, I asked him why he had seemed happier with the boy than with the boy than with the two famous artists. His answer seemed unrehearsed to me: Older people sit down and ask, What is it? but the boy asks, What can I do with it?”
Show Me. These videos for “If You Don’t Have an IPhone” or “Learn” are classic examples “what can it do”:
“It’s in Apple’s DNA that technology alone is not enough. It’s technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields the results that make our hearts sing. He illustrated it with the image of a street sign at an imagined intersection between Technology and the Liberal Arts. He meant it as a description of the kind of thinking – multidisplinary, sensitive to human needs and potential – that created the products. But it also describes the broader social impact of his company. Before Apple, that intersection was largely deserted. Today it is a virtual Times Square.”
“It isn’t just that he made computers cool or put them in pretty boxes. It’s that he put those computers in new conceptual boxes. A machine originally designed for processing equations and building bombs turned out to have a wonderful hidden potential: for song, laughter, poetry, community, family.”
I'm a Frustrated Artist. All my life, I always envied my friends / classmates with natural artistic ability. The painters, architects, writers, photographers, cartoonists, etc. who created something from nothing. They created beautiful art.
And, I always wished I could do that.
Blogging Became My Personal Art. Blogging fuels my creativity unlike any other hobby or passion. And, if it weren’t for Steve Jobs’ and Apple’s influence on other companies to make technology easy to use and learn, I probably would have never pursued it.
Conclusion
I Wrote This Post With a PC. The computer I’m using to write this post is my personal PC (a laptop from the HP Pavilion line). I’ve used it for the past six (6) years. It runs Windows 7, but it still seems slow (especially when resuming from sleeping). It’s an improvement over Vista, but all the things my wife loves about her MacBook (i.e., instant on, easily connecting to a Wi-Fi network, using a touchpad instead of a mouse) aren’t matched by PCs.
For example, I spent an hour Friday evening finally getting my 10 year-old goddaughter’s new Dell Inspirion laptop to connect to our wireless network. My wife kept telling me to let it go, but I didn’t want to disappoint my goddaughter. She wanted to show me how good she was in navigating the Web (so I kept at it till I finally succeeded).
Maybe It’s Time to Go MacBook Pro. I love and lust for Apple’s products. I swear by my iPod and iPhone. And, my wife swears by her MacBook. My seven-year-old daughter creates her own videos with my wife’s MacBook.
It’s probably because they learned what Macs can do. And, I haven’t. Yet.
Please let me know if you agree or disagree with my thoughts in the comments. I would love to hear from you. I’m here to read, listen, and learn from YOUR PERSPECTIVE. Comments are open. So let’er rip!
If You Enjoyed This Post, Please Share It and Subscribe to My Blog
Full Disclosure: My employer provides management consulting advice to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry. The opinions and content published within this blog post are mine only.
The Challenge. As cited by the article, the FDA will conduct a hearing on June 28th – June 29th to "focus on competing interpretations of medical data about Avastin's effectiveness in delaying the spread of late-stage breast tumors." The FDA wants the upcoming hearing focused on scientific data. However, Avastin's manufacturer, wants patients to be able to testify.
What's at Stake: Drug Access and Reimbursement. The Wall Street Journal quotes Avastin's cost around $88,000 for a series of injections. The article further states: "The Kalley's say that if the FDA withdraws approval for Avastin as a breast cancer treatment, insurers and Medicare might not cover the costs, even though doctors can still prescribe it for breast cancer."
A Case Study in Integrated Public Relations Strategy
Traditional and Digital Public Relations (PR). Mr. Kalley's and AQABA Web Technologies public relations strategy aligns the support of influential legislators and policy makers and builds public awareness through social media channels. These traditional and digital tactics form an integrated public relations strategy that informs, publicizes, and rallies support from important stakeholders:
Breast cancer patients
Physicians
Lawmakers
News media
* Traditional PR. Meet face-to-face with key Michigan legislators and influential Capitol Hill policy makers. In addition, The Wall Street Journal article references that The Kalleys would be meeting with Avastin's company representatives.
* Digital PR. Publicize in the online channels when meetings with Michigan legislators took place and with who (readily observable in the Freedom of Access to Medicines Twitter stream).
* Digital PR and Traditional PR. Promote within the online channels (i.e., Twitter, Facebook) positive media coverage (i.e., the recent Wall Street Journal article appeared on the front page of WSJ's print Marketplace Section).
Building Public Awareness Via a Social Media Home Base
The Freedom of Access to Medicines Home Page. Mr. Kalley and AQABA created a foundation web page to increase public awareness and build patient advocacy. The web page acts as the home base for the foundation's public and media awareness activities:
Easily Connecting Through Social Channels. If you scroll further down the home page, you'll find the following social media "buttons" on the bottom right-hand section of the foundation's home page. Easily finding these social media "buttons" is critical so the foundation can quickly connect with supporters and advocates who can further spread its mission through online word-of-mouth.
LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook are Social Media Content Distribution Outposts
Four (4) Social Media Outposts. The "home base and outpost model" leads viewers back to The Freedom of Access home page from selected social networks. The four outposts distribute content that:
Describes a physician-patient discussion on drug access and reimbursement
Provides real-time updates of important meetings with key legislators/policy makers
Promotes the mission of the foundation
Thanks supporters sharing testimonials
For more information on using a content outpost approach as part of an overall public relations or social media strategy, here are additional resources:
How Freedom of Access to Medicines Leverages Twitter. Real-time updates about meetings with key government officials and policymakers are part of the content strategy. Twitter plays a significant role in promoting the foundation's activities with these stakeholders:
How Freedom of Access to Medicines Leverages Facebook. The foundation's Facebook page provides more detailed updates beyond Twitter's 140 character limits. Facebook's status updates provide summaries and links to online articles the foundation wants to share with supporters.
How Freedom of Access to Medicines Leverages LinkedIn. Mr. Kalley leverages the SEO benefits of his LinkedIn Profile because the #1 Google search result for his name is his LinkedIn Profile:
His LinkedIn Profile describes the foundation's patient advocacy mission and objectives in the Professional Experience Summary Section:
Conclusion
The Freedom of Access to Medicines Blog Launched on May 1st. As of the original publication of this post, the missing piece in the Freedom of Access to Medicines digital public relations portfolio was a blog. However, The Freedom of Access to Medicines Blog launched on May 1st.
Initiative and Creativity in Public Relations. The Freedom of Access Medicines example showcases how an organization can harness The Internet's global scale and reach particularly through social media. Similarly, The Wall Street Journal article references how Avastin's manufacturer employs Weber Shandwick (a large, global public relations firm) to garner public and media support.
One Person's Individual Efforts Augmented by Integrated Social Media Tactics Can Make a Difference. I'm sure other organizations and individuals are taking notice of Mr. Kalley's and AQABA'S combined face-to-face and digital efforts. I plan on following the results all the way to the June 28th – June 29th finish line.
