The MoPR Blog

Not only are there social media positions in the career world, but there is a day dedicated to social media!  The second annual social media day is upon us, so how are you celebrating? Be on the lookout for Flash Mobs, great Foursquare deals, Mashable Meetups, and other awesome events!

With events like these it’s hard to ignore social media:

• United Breaks Guitars (We all remember this “oldie but goodie.”)
• In a century where the president has a Twitter account
• Obama leveraged social media to gain trust with the citizens of the U.S., and this ultimately was a factor in his election.
• In the week that Google introduced Google + it is now social media week
• When Justin Timberlake becomes an entrepreneur on the social media scene
• Being a Facebook user means being 43 percent more likely to trust people.

People everywhere have discovered the transition of power from the company to consumer with social media. Social media can be one of the more powerful tools in a person’s/company’s arsenal when leveraged properly. Social media can also be a fun way of learning new things and interacting, albeit virtually, with others.

Social media isn’t going away. People like using it, and if you are a company and your customers are on social media platforms talking – you are missing out. Social media is so popular even Major League Baseball wants a swing at the action. But seriously, baseball is celebrating Social Media Day 2011!

What are some cool new social media sites or services you’ve found?  Hop on your Smartphone, Tweetdeck, or whatever media you use to keep updated in the world of social media.

The race for the most fans between Lady Gaga and President Obama was a hot topic earlier this summer, as they ended June neck and neck with more than 9 million fans each. Lady Gaga has since surpassed Obama, with more than 16.5 million fans to her credit (Barack weighing in at 12.8 million).

The race for fans is not limited to celebrities and politicians however; from the corner bakery to Walmart, companies are capitalizing on the power Facebook as well. With more than 500 million active users it is a community that cannot be ignored. But, you already know that, so I won’t bore you with how to create a page or the basic importance of having a presence and growing your brand on Facebook.

That said, have you checked to see how many fans your company or product has on Facebook? Fans are those members of the Facebook community that have either sought out your page and pressed the “become a fan” button or have seen their friends become fans and have done so as well. Fans are consumers, prospective customers, friends of your customers, or people who just like what you have to offer – so much so that they are willing to tell their social network that they are a fan of yours.

What is really interesting is to ask yourself how much is a “Facebook fan” worth to your brand? A report released in June of this year by Syncapse has an answer to that very question.

“The average fan value is $136.38, but it can swing to $270.77 in the best case or go down to $0 in the worst. This is due to the fact that no two fans are alike.”*

While their sample size of only a few thousand might not paint an accurate enough portrait of the 500 million users of Facebook to be able to nail down a dollar figure to communicate worth, I think the Syncapse report highlights some key points that are often overlooked.

One, no two fans are the same; some provide more value than others.

Some fans are more active than others, and are therefore more valuable. The most “valuable” fans are usually the ones that have a more frequent interaction with the company and brand outside of Facebook, who are very loyal, referring often. Do you fan a page only to never give it a second thought? Are there pages you more actively participate on?

It’s a good exercise to think about the pages you like the most and consider what it is about them that is so engaging and keeps you coming back. Once you have identified those features that are most attractive to you, you can begin to brainstorm on how these features can be leveraged by your brand to make your page just as appealing and engaging. There is no shame in taking a good idea (gleaned from another brand’s page) and making it work for your brand.

Not only is it good practice to attract and network to gain more fans but it is important to engage the fans you already have and get them interested in interacting with your page and brand on a regular basis.

Part of a successful marketing and public relations campaign includes paying special attention to the social media conversations taking place with your customers and fans. By strategically planning Facebook wall comments around product launches, events, addressing any positive or negative buzz regarding your product or engaging your fans and asking questions you can gain more insight into what drives people to or from your product. You are starting and joining two-way discussions.

It’s more than just posting, it is connecting brands to their customers, prospective customers, and internal audiences (like employees and investors), creating active relationships and engaging customers in conversation .

Two, Facebook fans are more likely to give recommendations than non-fans, and these recommendations influence product sales.

“On average, Facebook fans were 41% more likely to recommend a product then their non-fan counterparts.”*

This word of mouth communication is important and the Facebook network is a simple way to fan the flame, so to speak, around these word of mouth referrals.

Three, fans report spending more than non-fans.

According to Syncapse’s study, fans reported spending, on average, $71.84 per year more than their non-fan counterparts on the 20 brands observed.

This is just further proof that the relationship you have with your fans is key to maintain as they are directly influencing others on your behalf. Rather than taking an impassive approach to Facebook management, it is of extreme importance to actively begin and participate in the discussions customers are interested in, paying considerable attention to what your fans and others are saying and the tone used.

Your own excitement can help grow your fan base. You show excitement about your brand, which translates to your fans becoming more excited, which their friends will see and want to get in on it too. This growing fan base will recommend to others and so forth and what you will see is increasing brand loyalty which can drive an increase in sales.

“On average, Facebook fans are 28% more likely to continue using a brand than are non-fan consumers.”

With minimal effort and cost-per-person you can easily harness the power of Facebook to your company’s advantage. So get out there and build up your fan base… there are friends to be made!

Look for part two on this topic: The Nitty Gritty of that Facebook Analytics Page.

*Source: Syncapse’s report on THE VALUE OF A FACEBOOK FAN: AN EMPIRICAL REVIEW

Verizon, meet Google. According to the Wall Street Journal (don’t look for a link, the WSJ still refuses to offer most their content online for non-subscribers) Verizon Communications is close to an agreement that would make Google the default search provider on Verizon devices. According to the article:

“Telecom companies are finally conceding that their homegrown search services have stalled.

Today, users have to go to different places to look up services such as ringtones, restaurants and Web pages. Verizon wants to create a new search platform that would be a one-stop shop.”

Revenue, says the piece, will be split and come from ads that appear in keyword searches.

Network World also has coverage of the pending deal.

Presidential race: The year of the text message? You’ve no doubt heard about Barack Obama’s plan to announce his VP running mate via text messaging (and if you are reading this after August 22, you know who he has picked). And for all the flack that John McCain has received on his tech skills, [e.g., “what’s an Internet?”] the GOP is also utilizing SMS to get its message out, mobilize supporters and reach newer voters. In Austin, Texas, the Statesman reports that local campaigns are ramping up their outreach with the help of text messaging.

Text messaging has been used in both parties, according to the article. One example given was engaging volunteers who they hope will then spread the message. A specific example was the use of text messaging to volunteers to call in to a radio show that featured an opposing view.

An interesting quote from the article:

“Fifteen years ago, it was the fax machine. Five years ago, the e-mail. Right now, the text message is it.”

Did you sign up to get election news via text? How has it worked for you? One person here in the office subscribed to the Obama Mobile text stream only to be completely left out on the big day. That’s right… even after subscribing, confirming her zip code and receiving the confirmation text from team Obama, she never received the expected text (or any other text message from the candidate’s party) around the announcement. Bummer. And, what was the purpose of sending the text at 2 am in the morning?

American teens not that into the Summer Olympics. For all the talk about the 2008 Summer Olympics being the first to really utilize online and mobile technologies, a new study from Harris Interactive Youth Center of Excellence, suggests that the 13-18 year old market expressed only moderate interest in the Olympics and weren’t exactly glued to their mobiles.

According to the report, just under half (46%) of 13-18-year-olds in the US expressed an interest in the Olympics, including just 27% who are extremely or very interested, according to a Harris Interactive Youth Center of Excellence study conducted before the Games began.

“Marketers and advertisers may think that teens are a natural constituency for the Games, since many of the Olympic competitors are the same age. Our findings, however, indicate that the Olympics have not yet captured the majority of hearts and minds of today’s teens in the US,” said Dana Markow, PhD, VP senior consultant, Harris Interactive Youth Center of Excellence.

A far smaller number of teens are interested in reading about (22%) or watching (14%) Olympic sporting events online. Similar to an overall interest in the Olympics, plans to follow the Games online increases significantly with age – consistent with the trend for youth to spend an increasing amount of time online as they get older.

Mobile data cards gaining with consumers. Wireless data cards—hardware that allows laptop and PC users to connect to the Internet over a wireless carrier’s cellular network—are fast becoming a popular means of home Internet access. According to a new report from Nielsen Mobile, there were more than 13 million wireless data card users in the US as of Q2 2008.

Recent adoption has been strong, with more than half (55 percent) of these devices acquired in the past 12 months. In fact, 43 percent of mobile data card users report they most often use their data card at home, while 15 percent say they typically use the card at work. Additionally, one in five (21 percent) data card subscribers take advantage of ubiquitous access by heading outdoors and 9 percent use their card while commuting [and hopefully not “driving”].