The MoPR Blog

It took me a couple months to “get” Twitter and to really understand why it can be a useful tool in one’s social media arsenal.

I won’t go into details on how to sign up or how it works – you can visit twitter.com for that information. What I want to explore is how Twitter can be an effective and powerful way to get your message out to an eager audience. Twitter can help companies extend their brand, and can even help executives develop their own personal brand.

Last summer I signed on, made a post, “followed” some people, got “followed,” then promptly forgot about Twitter for a couple of months.

Fast forward to October – with San Diego County experiencing some of the worst wildfires in its history. Since most of my family lives there I wanted up-to-date local news on areas where my family was located. I wanted to know specifically if they were being evacuated, if the fires were heading towards them and how big the threats were. The traditional news outlets weren’t cutting it. I needed fresh news with a targeted local focus.

Enter Twitter.

Local San Diego ABC affiliate KGTV launched a Twitter account that provided detailed and useful information on evacuation centers, where fires were, and how many fires were accumulating.

This was my personal “ah-ha” moment on the value of Twitter. With the San Diego fire example as a frame of reference, it was easy to see the value that Twitter held for companies, organizations and media that could use it to communicate with people hungry for specific information. Granted, the fire example is an extreme one with hundreds of posts in a 48-hour period; but it’s a good example of reaching thousands of readers with one, simple 140-character post.

Companies that want to extend, or even protect, their brand should view the San Diego Fire Twitter story as an example of the power of one-to-many communication that comes from Twitter. Twitter lets companies connect directly with their customers, broadcast their message to a massive audience, and even nip problems or rumors in the bud with direct and clear communication to those seeking it.

Here’s another example. Comcast recently started a Twitter account. Admittedly, they’ve had some brand issues with their customers. On Twitter, it’s open season. They answer customer’s questions, get praised and get nailed - all in a public space. To me, this says, “we know we’re going to get angry customers on Twitter but we’re also going to solve some other’s problems.” The ultimate message says, “We care about the quality of your service.”

The other possible option is to stay silent and have a one-dimensional Website. Or worse, have your customers tweeting about you and your problems as you stand on the sidelines, oftentimes unaware that conversations are even taking place about your company.

Another example of extending your brand through Twitter is a local collaboration software company here in Portland. The CEO tweets freely on all kinds of subjects: design, art, new products, and the company. The company recently unveiled a new brand mark and it was discussed openly on the Twitter account by the CEO. People were invited to give input, options were thrown back and forth and then the final brand mark was unveiled. Since the company specializes in collaboration software, do you think the company walks the walk of being collaborative? You bet. At least that’s what I gleaned from reading the Twitter account. That’s pretty powerful.

Jump in the pool
Here’s the deal: Very few people intuitively “get” the draw or potential impact of Twitter when they first sign on. Naysayers often argue, “It’s too macro – I don’t need to follow someone’s daily and boring tasks,” or wonder “Who would follow me?” or “Why should I follow people?” These are all valid points. Is someone you follow boring you to death with minutiae? Stop following them. That’s one of the advantages of Twitter: your connections and the information you receive from them are totally up to you. Follow and Un-Follow at will, there are no hard, fast rules on who you can be friends with.

My experience with Twitter has taught me a few ways to communicate better. Here are a few. Remember: experiences may vary.

Be your own news agency. What are you up to in the market? What trade shows are you attending? Are you launching a new version of your product? Twitter lets you easily broadcast important information to your customers.

Be transparent and be followed. Sure, your competition will probably follow you, but then again, you wouldn’t share sensitive trade secrets on Twitter or any other public forum. You know who else might follow you? Reporters and writers. It’s a good space to befriend media and in the least, keep them casually informed without clobbering them over the head with your constant updates.

Build a community and join one (or more). There are no communities to “join” or build per se, but many happen by default. An example? I tend to follow local Portland tech people [add twitter links] to see what they are up to. I’ve discovered ad hoc meetings, events and have had questions answered. I’ve even chipped in and answered a few questions. That’s a community.

Develop relationships. By answering questions, asking them and being a resource for information [for example, posting a helpful link] over time, Twitter lets you develop relationships with influencers in your industry. Imagine blindly emailing a stranger with a useful link or question. Awkward. But, when using Twitter, conversing is the norm and is expected.

Build a personal brand. Whether you are on Twitter as an individual or as an extension of your company, Twitter can let you strengthen your brand by using Twitter as another avenue to join the conversation. I’ve seen many CEOs post on Twitter from tradeshows, airports and their offices on what’s happening in their own world. It makes them more approachable, human and less like some big shot behind an iron curtain. In other words, more engagable.

It goes without saying that having a Twitter account shouldn’t be your only social media strategy, but rather piece to make the puzzle more complete and inclusive. Jump in the pool. Join Twitter. Follow me and let me know you found me from reading this post – which I will shortly Tweet about.

If you still aren’t interested in giving Twitter a try or have tried it and walked away, I’d be interested in hearing why.

I’m a big fan of new video service, Animoto (http://animoto.com) – an online video application that lets users create their own professionally produced videos using photos and music, masterfully combined by Animoto to produce a unique piece of art. Leveraging Animoto’s own patent-pending technology and high-end motion design, each video is a fully customized orchestration of user-selected images and music. Produced in a widescreen format, Animoto videos have the visual energy of a music video and the emotional impact of a movie trailer. And because they are completely personalized, the impact is even more inspiring.

Upload photos – select music – out comes your own music video!

Animoto Productions was formed by a group of techies and film/tv producers - including veterans of the entertainment industry that have produced shows for MTV, Comedy Central and ABC.

At the heart of Animoto is its “Cinematic Artificial Intelligence” technology that “thinks like an actual director and editor.” It basically analyzes and combines user-selected images and music with the same sophisticated post-production skills & techniques that are used in television and film. And while I fancy myself a creative photographer – this service blows away my abilities when it comes to compiling the photos and organizing them to music. Not to mention – it’s totally automated (in other words – there is very little room for user error).

I tried out the service earlier this year by creating a video short using some photos of my oldest son’s 9th birthday party. His party had a Hollywood theme, complete with red carpet and the party guests dressed to the nines, so the photos were perfect for a slick video slideshow. I uploaded a dozen pictures, selected a rockin’ tune from the Animoto library, and BAM! — Animoto’s video engine analyzed the photos, set them to music, and spit out a professional looking video featuring my photos. My son thought I was a technology genius when I showed him the finished result. His exact quote was, “Dude. That rocks. I’m a movie star.” You can check out that video sample here: http://animoto.com/play/c6eb0f8f69ecf2974f2816cb938efee5

This week I revisited the service to create this video from some of the photos of the MoPR mini-offsite at the Spa at Caesars’ Palace in Las Vegas during CTIA 2008. Check it out here: http://animoto.com/play/E4CuI0xBOvJYW560oRIcWw

Part of what’s fun with Animoto is seeing how it produces fully-customized videos depending on what music you choose. They give you the choice of pulling songs from your personal music library or using one of the songs from their library – so the options are unlimited. Try a mellow song. Then remix your video using a more upbeat song. You’ll get two very different productions. In my personal tests of the service I did find that I preferred the use of horizontal photos to vertically-oriented photos. Given the widescreen format, the horizontal pictures just look better.

If creating the professional looking video with so little user effort isn’t impressive enough on its own, Animoto takes it a step further, allowing users to post the videos to a number of social networking sites, YouTube or even their own blogs or websites using the provided code and simple instructions.

Posting your new video to Facebook from the Animoto site is literally two clicks. And speaking of Facebook, Animoto has a neat Facebook application you can download from the link at the bottom of their homepage: www.Animoto.com, or from inside Facebook in the video application section. With the Animoto Facebook app you can automatically create videos from the photos you have saved in your Facebook albums. The Facebook application has all of the same functionality that you have from the Animoto site, so for those of you who are managing your photos and sharing them using Facebook, this is a great solution for you.

I noticed this week that Animoto is presenting at one of MoPR’s favorite conferences – Under the Radar. Animoto will be participating in Under the Radar’s Social Media and Entertainment themed event June 3rd in Mountain View, CA. I’m going to stick my neck out with a prediction that Animoto wins one of the coveted judges’ choice or audience choice awards at the event (perhaps even both). I know if I was in the voting audience, they would have a very strong chance of getting my vote. The other companies in their category best bring their A-Game!

I think there is a natural progression for the Animoto application to move to the mobile platform; especially with the prevalence of mobile phones with high-quality cameras. I would love to see the company work with Apple to add the app to the iPhone platform. Imagine taking pictures with the iPhone camera, then having the option in the ‘save as’ list to tag the photos for Animoto video creation. Then from the iPhone screen you could open Animoto, select which pictures you wanted included in your new video, pick a song from your iTunes library on your phone, name it, and hit “create my video.” Your videos could be stored on the iPhone, sent automatically to your blog and/or social networking profile pages, or emailed to friends to share.

With the popularity of user generated content sites soaring, Animoto should look to partner with some of the video sites and popular events to showcase user created videos made up of user photos from a particular event. For example, conferences could offer a page showing all of the videos created by users with conference photos. High schools and colleges could add pages to their websites with videos created by students, and sports teams could show off their talents by showcasing collections of videos made up of action shots of athletes in motion promoting the team.

Animoto’s software works flawlessly, is ultra simple to use, and provides real value. The free service is perfect for the casual user and the professional service – which lets you create unlimited full-length videos that you can download and save to your own computer – is a bargain and worth every cent of the $30 annual fee.

BONUS: If you are ready to give the service a try for yourself, here is a special reader discount code that will save you $5 off of the annual service fee: klyrtgvh

My partner Melissa is fond of telling clients that “nothing succeeds like success.” The stories of success that a company can tell do a far better job communicating relevance, value and, yes, leadership than can any self-made proclamation. Melissa is also fond of telling clients that “the marketplace is full of leading leaders.”

No one pays attention to any company’s claim that they are the market leader anyway. And let’s face it, in most cases, if you’re a company selling to enterprises worldwide and you don’t have more than 10,000 customers, you aren’t the market leader.

Leaders are typically recognized as such without having to explain their position within their respective markets. Does anyone doubt that IBM, Ford or Proctor & Gamble are market leaders even if they don’t explicitly say so in their press releases?

Increasingly, more and more companies clamor for leadership positions in markets that are increasingly defined as smaller segments of bigger markets in which there is no hope for domination. In this context, is success really predicated on leadership? My opinion is that relevance and value are more important business qualities to possess. A company’s product or service must be desirable for the company to be both relevant and valuable. The best way to tell this story is through the use of customer case studies.

What better asset does a B2B company possess other than the public opinions of its happy customers? Yet rare, it would seem, is the company that understands the business mechanics involved in customer participation in its marketing efforts.

One of the largest components in any company budget is marketing. Marketing money is spent making a company relevant and valuable to prospective customers. It’s a cost center, not a profit center. Therefore dollars spent on marketing a product or service are part of the cost in providing that product or service to customers.

Time and again it is shown that using existing customers in marketing activities builds interest in and confidence for a company’s product or service among prospective customers. To achieve the same impact without the use of a company’s customers is more challenging, more time consuming and more expensive. Put another way, using customers in marketing increases the margin on products and services. Not using customers decreases the margin.

A concept that seems more commonly held, however, is that asking a customer to participate in marketing programs is an imposition or a favor for which many in sales are reluctant to ask. Businesses that win the perception race are the ones that make good use of their customers. If your company is to win the perception race, achieve relevance and value in the market, and do so without decreasing your margins, then here is some advice that I’ve seen work:

• Ensure marketing programs are covered in the contract agreement with customers. Specifically state that the customer consents to:
  • the use of its name in public lists of customers,
  • the use of its logo in groups of customers on your website and PowerPoint presentations,
  • the announcement of the customer relationship by press release,
  • the ability to use the customer as a success story at a later date, and
  • the customer serving as a reference to other customers, press and industry analysts.
• Concessions to the above typically are footnotes that indicate listing a company as a customer does not mean the company necessarily endorses the product and that the customer has the right to review and approve drafts. Read the note below about “approvals will not be unreasonably withheld” contract language.
• Give the customer incentives to leave the marketing language in the contract. A key incentive is price. When pricing is set, consideration is given to the cost. If the default position when determining price is that a customer participates in marketing, then should that customer decline to participate it adds to the cost to the product, and therefore the price should go up. Most companies won’t tell a customer that it’s raising the negotiated price, so try offering a discount to customers that leave the marketing language intact.
• Change the corporate understanding of how to use customers in marketing. Salespeople should understand it’s their obligation to find customers that will participate in marketing. Some companies give their salespeople extra commission or bonuses for getting customers to agree to press releases or case studies. While that works, a more fundamental understanding of why customers should be used in marketing should be taught. After all, it’s in the customers’ best interest that their vendor is successful. Asking for a press release isn’t asking for a favor, it’s conducting business.
• Make sure that customers who participate in your marketing programs are acknowledged and rewarded. In fact, there are awards for which vendors can nominate their customers and make them look like heroes to their colleagues and managers (and their future colleagues and managers; what better way to enhance a resume than showing off an industry award).

Now, the note about contract language: There is a clause often inserted into contracts that innocuously states “approvals will not be unreasonably withheld.” This clause is a pendulum that swings both ways. It is designed to protect companies that make agreements but where portions of that agreement may be outside company policy. A company may have legitimate reasons to refuse allowing its name to be used in conjunction with the services of a particular vendor. Perhaps stating the relationship gives the customer’s competition information that will allow it to compete better, for instance. To avoid complications for situations like these, companies have taken the step to create a blanket prohibition for participating with vendors’ marketing efforts. In such a situation, the company can fully agree to a marketing section in a contract yet still avoid complying with its various conditions. In such a case, the withholding of an approval is not unreasonable. However (PR practitioners take note), if that same customer allows one vendor to issue a press release, its withholding of an approval for another vendor’s release may then be considered “unreasonable.”

The bottom line on using customers in your marketing is the actual bottom line, particularly when one adds up the costs associated with creating effective marketing. No one can tell a company’s story more believably than happy customers. Every B2B marketing team needs to make customer involvement a top priority.