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Chapter 8

The New Media University 501

Microblogs, Monetization, and Twitter

If there's one thing we're learning in the new world of socialized media, it's that our need for higher, modern education will always exist as technology advances and human behavior adjusts to accommodate the continuing rotation of pervasive applications. It's not only the study of the new tools and networks, and the intelligence that powers them, it's also the ongoing survey of the social sciences that reveal true cultures and behavior.

As our journey advances, we learn the value of aggregation and conversational threading in microblogs and microcommunities.

MICROBLOGS, MICROCOMMUNITIES

When this category was initially conceived, it was an industry sector that went by many names—microblogging, micromedia, micromessaging, and micronetworks, among others.

Of all of the micro services available today, Twitter is by and large the leader. FriendFeed, once embraced by the Web 2.0 elite, was later acquired by Facebook. Google introduced GoogleBuzz, but found it difficult to gain traction.

On average, there's a greater number of people updating their social status on microblogs than actually writing blog posts on a daily basis. More links are shared by micromessages than on any other form of digital media. And services such as Twitter represent a more approachable and usable gateway to social media than any of the networks serving as its predecessors.

Twitter has single-handedly forced businesses to pay attention to online conversations on a mass, and growing, scale. Communications, customer service, and even sales organizations are flocking to Twitter to participate in related conversations as well as attempting to foster communities around their brand and core values.

The magic of microcommunications is the human nature of the dialogue. Successful communities are built upon the fulfillment that consumers experience based on their conversations with real people who listen to and acknowledge their participation. It's driven by reciprocation and value-added updates, connections, and responses. The behavior associated with online engagement in these social networks is evolving. The techniques that captivate them today may no longer prove effective tomorrow. I challenge you to gaze at the horizon and determine what's coming next. Anyone reading this book or reading blogs or following influencers in social networks can design and implement copycat programs, but only you can customize a program that's specific to your business and the unique needs of your customers. Engage and activate a dedicated set of brand advocates.

Now, let's take a look at how to leverage these powerful microcommunities for macro impact, referencing the examples of today that can inspire tomorrow's programs.

TOP 10 MONETIZATION TRENDS FOR SOCIAL MEDIA AND MICROCOMMUNITIES

Let's take a quick look at some of the top ways that businesses are leveraging Twitter.

In the spirit of sharing monetization strategies, Forbes magazine assembled a visual list of Top 21 Twitter Tips1 to help enterprise and small businesses learn how to engage on Twitter through the practices of those already successfully building online communities of customers and advocates. While many of the examples and quotes from company spokespeople remain the same, the article inspired me to modify the list, based on my experiences and observations. The end result is still a list of 21 Twitter Tips, but I believe this version may be more helpful and applicable to your world.

TIPS FOR TWITTER AND SOCIAL MEDIA FOR SOCIALLY SAVVY BUSINESSES

Special Offers

We live in a society that is as distracted as it is informed. People are making decisions on what to read, view, purchase, visit, and sample based on the information that filters through their attention dashboards. At best, even the most qualified information sourced from the most trusted contacts will receive only a cursory overview. The trick is to concisely introduce the value up front. If the offer is compelling and affiliated with their interests, the consumer will make the connection to personal value and benefits and click through to redeem the special or coupon when ready or so inclined.

As Conway predicts, coupons and special offers will inject commerce into the social equation.

For example, @delloutlet uses Twitter and Facebook to send coupons to customers. In just one year, Dell recorded upward of $3 million in sales directly sourced from Twitter.

California Tortilla (@caltort), a chain of 39 casual Mexican restaurants based in Rockville, Maryland, sends coupon passwords through Twitter, which customers must say at checkout to redeem the offer.

Ordering

While the distance between introduction and action is only separated by a link, many businesses are using Twitter to log orders. Coffee Groundz (@coffeegroundz) used the direct message channel on Twitter to receive and prepare orders. Using Twitter as a promotion and marketing channel, Coffee Groundz reports 20 to 30 percent increased sales and market share before management changed its focus.

As an aside, Pizza Hut offers iPhone and Facebook applications that allow hungry patrons to order pizza directly from Facebook and their mobile phone.

Word of Mouth Marketing (There Is No Such Thing as Viral Marketing)

Moonfruit offered 11 Macbook Pros and 10 iPod Touches to celebrate its 10th anniversary. To qualify, contestants had to send a tweet using the hashtag #moonfruit. One month following the completion of the contest, Moonfruit site traffic was up 300 percent and sales also increased by 20 percent—and all because of a meager investment of $15,000. The company also realized SEO benefits, by landing on the first results page on Google for “free website builder.”

Wendy Tan, Moonfruit's CEO, realizes that there's a fine line between effective and destructive #tweetowin campaigns: “Such campaigns must be courteous and fit with a company's brand, lest you draw the ire of the Twittersphere.”

I discuss this challenge in more detail later in this book.

Conversation Marketing

Zappos (@zappos) doesn't necessarily market on Twitter; instead, it unmarkets through conversations and engagement. At current count, 436 Zappos employees use Twitter, including CEO Tony Hsieh. For the record, Tony has more than 1 million followers.

Aaron Magness, director of business development at Zappos, acknowledges that proactively sharing the company culture and values creates a humanizing effect that invites people to be part of the community, and also acts as a sales driver. “It's easier for them to embrace openness,” he said.

Customer Service

Bill Gerth of Comcast (@comcastcares) and Richard Binhammer of Dell (@richardatdell) are paving the way for service-focused organizations on Twitter.

Eliason, whose title at Comcast is director of digital care, uses Twitter to help 200 to 300 subscribers a day. Frank and his 10-person help desk receive direct questions, but also proactively seek out complaints. His key to success lies in his desire to earn relations, not bark advice or chat people up. “If they want assistance, they'll let me know,” he said.

Focus Groups

Wisdom and creativity are widespread in social media. Tuning in to the frequency of conversations related to the brand or marketplace can serve as a real-time focus group for innovation and adaptation.

More than 3 million mentions of Starbucks populated Twitter in May 2009 and, as the company learned, the price for paying attention is less than for the cost of a caramel macchiato, but the value is priceless.

Brad Nelson, who leads @starbucks, recognizes the inherent wisdom and insight in Twitter: “There is a major element of Twitter that's about listening and learning. Twitter is a leading indicator,” he said.

Morgan Johnston, manager of corporate communications at JetBlue, was inspired to change policy because of Twitter. He helped eliminate a $50 fee for carry-on bikes after hearing complaints through Twitter.

Johnston listens to the people who are active on the Social Web to help him improve company processes and customer service. “Think of Twitter as the canary in the coal mine. We watch for customers’ discussions about amenities we have, and what they'd like to see made better.”

Direct Sales

Brian Simpson (@BSIMI) once helped the Roger Smith Hotel in New York monitor dialogue related to hotel stays and travel in order to offer specials in the hopes of attracting new guests. Using Twitter search, he can identify prospects and offer them a 10 percent discount on the lowest-rate rooms. Simpson estimates that Twitter and other forms of social media have netted between $15,000 to $20,000 in additional revenue.

Simpson also professed the necessity of cultivating community in social networks: “It validates us more when other people talk about us than when we talk about ourselves,” he noted.

United Airlines and JetBlue use Twitter to provide customer service, in addition to using the micronetwork to offer followers first dibs on discounted fares and last-minute specials. Dubbed cheeps by JetBlue and twares by United, these tweets provide an already active and extemporaneous network with the ability to pounce on great deals by simply following these airlines and all the other companies that will soon follow suit.

Business Development

Twitter, along with blogs, blog comments, and other social networks, is abundant with conversations that broadcast and echo dissatisfaction with brands and products. One company's crisis is another's opportunity.

Monitoring conversations (social reconnaissance) related to competitors provides the ability to save the day with better service or monetary incentives.

A word of caution on this front, however: Responding in the public timeline can be viewed by your competition. In my experience, following someone and offering to help through direct messaging has proven effective. Empowering your community to publicly respond is also powerful, as they can do so across networks and communities without regard for the ramifications of competitive awareness.

Curation

I've written in the past that Twitter is not necessarily most advantageous when used as a conversation platform. Sometimes you can say more with less. Embracing it as a broadcast channel or a dumb pipe is also beneficial when used strategically.

For example, Google maintains more than 1.2 million followers, but only follows 160. It employs a strategy that I refer to as a curation feed. It compiles links to content and company posts elsewhere and aggregates them into one channel. I recommend that companies use this for information collected from customers and influencers, as well as to truly curate the best, most helpful content from around the Web while building goodwill in the process.

However, Twitter accounts can also create and portray a persona around an inanimate social object. For example Albion's Oven, a bakery in London, notifies followers when fresh croissants are ready.

Information Networks

Unlike a curated network that keeps followers in sync with trends, services, and solutions, information networks can serve up helpful alerts and notices to help followers avert problems, change plans, and also pursue new opportunities.

The Michigan Department of Transportation uses Facebook and Twitter to alert friends and followers of traffic and road closures. Oakland County Parks uses Facebook and Twitter to spread the word about events and news and also conducts polls to improve local programs and services.

In 2009, I established @microjobs along with Christopher Peri (@perivision) to connect employers with job seekers on Twitter.

In business, customers could also benefit from updates and alerts that they might not have otherwise encountered on their own.

JetBlue tweets flight delays.

Comcast tweets updates on service interruptions.

United Linen, a linens and uniform company in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, alerts customers to delays in deliveries when weather becomes a factor.

Dedicated and Branded Channels

Sometimes the pipes in social media become overloaded with general information, making it difficult to truly create and foster communities dedicated to particular topics, interests, or industries. Establishing exclusive channels or subchannels to share specific information increases signal versus noise.

On Twitter, Ford Motor uses distinct accounts for sharing information about specific models and products. For example, @forddrivegreen focuses on sustainability, whereas @fordmustang, well, you guessed it, shares content related to the Mustang.

Scott Monty, head of social media for Ford, recognizes that social media reveals the people who formerly made up the audience: “We give customers a choice as to how they want to consume information.”

Whole Foods maintains independent channels, as well, to better serve customers. For example, the healthy foods retailer channels specific information and updates for wine and beer, cheese, and recipes.

Mobile and Geo Location Marketing

This will prove to be among the most often-discussed examples of social media, and most specifically with Twitter. Local businesses are using social tools to identify customers in the area to attract new business and also extend the online interaction into a full-blown community in the real world. Because I was there when this story was just about to unfold, I will reference my good friend Mike Prasad and the great work he's done for Kogi, a mobile force of Korean BBQ taco trucks.

One night in Hollywood, California, Mike and I were talking about getting a late night snack. He told me about the company he was working with and how if we sent a tweet out requesting their presence, there was a good chance that they'd stop by the neighborhood to serve us dinner. Thirty minutes later, Kogi was indeed outside our hotel and a group of about 25 to 30 people immediately began proclaiming their appreciation for @kogiBBQ on Twitter. The rest is history in the making and will serve as the standard for local businesses building communities IRL.

Prasad echoes this sentiment and is helping to lead the way: “We try to foster a culture by interaction with the people around us. Now, Kogi isn't about getting a taco, it's about having an experience.”

Expect to see this trend continue in mobile social networks dedicated to locale and accessible by mobile phones.

Hosted Conversations that Generate Traffic and Referrers

Social media dashboards are the future of hosted and aggregated conversations. As we're observing, those sites that integrate Twitter chat functionality cannot only thread conversations in one place for easy following, but also send out tweets in the Twitter stream for all followers to see, and hopefully feel compelled or curious to join, as well.

During the 2009 NBA Eastern Conference Finals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Orlando Magic, Turner Broadcasting integrated Twitter into TNT.com with the help of Gigya Socialize. Visitors could log in to the site with their Twitter ID and respond directly in the hosted timeline. As such, their tweets not only appeared on TNT.com but also in Twitter, attracting more fans to the site.

User-Generated Change

As we've seen and will continue to see, in social media tiny online social revolutions can manifest and ultimately ignite change.

Historically, the 2009 Iran election will serve as an inflection point for the rise of user-generated change. While the results of election itself weren't altered, the Iranian government was forced to respond.

Two services mentioned in the Forbes Top Twitter Tips article, Twitition and TinyPetition, are dedicated to organizing people on Twitter to officially call for change.

Vendor Relationship Management

A form of relationship management introduced by Cluetrain Manifesto author Doc Searls, vendor relationships management (VRM) flips the workflow of CRM (customer relationship management) from companies to customers. Social media is a powerful vehicle for forcing or encouraging companies that have yet to embrace the Social Web to engage and participate through listening and evolution.

Whereas people are relegated to faceless customers when emailing or calling in to the service department, social media takes the power once held exclusively by the brand and injects balance.

United Kingdom–based Wiggly Wigglers, a marketer of farming and gardening supplies, was surprised to learn that British Telecom overcharged the company by $10,000. After five months of a stalemate and without any promise or hope of resolution, company owner Heather Gorringe took her story to the Twitterverse. Within 30 minutes, @BTCare responded with help and two days later, the bill was adjusted.

On a smaller scale, inciting responses on social networks is also a form of forcing companies to compete for your business in the public spotlight.

As the saying goes, a happy customer tells a few people, but an unhappy customer tells everyone. Social media serves as an amplifier to those seeking change, reform, and response.

I discuss VRM in a later chapter as part of the bigger discussion around sCRM (social customer relationship management).

Ideation

As we've witnessed with My Starbucks Idea (http://mystarbucksidea .force.com) and Dell's IdeaStorm (www.ideastorm.com), crowdsourcing ideas cannot only be an excellent source for innovation, but also an effective means for establishing goodwill.

IBM uses Twitter to test concepts and solicit feedback and ideas through @ibmresearch.

Employee Recruitment

Twitter is a magnet for people seeking information. It's one of the reasons that Christopher Peri and I created and released @microjobs. We realized that recruiters and hiring managers were turning to Twitter to seek referrals and applicants for open positions. Twitter and social media can spark a social effect that galvanizes community support and action. Not only can companies save a significant amount of money on listing and referral fees using traditional outlets and resources, the company essentially creates a presence through the practice of unmarketing itself through the process of seeking qualified candidates.

Events

As we reviewed in the Social Calendaring section of Social Media 201, organizing and promoting events are natural applications for Twitter. Tweetups transcend online relationships and become real-world connections.

Using Coffee Groundz as an example again, the Houston-based business regularly organizes tweetups to draw hundreds of customers into the store for each event.

Research and Intelligence

The Social Web is a real-time collective and assembly of valuable information that mostly goes unnoticed. A few existing services are dedicated to applying a magnifying lens into the dialogue that leads to insight, direction, creativity, and inventiveness.

For example, brands.peoplebrowsr.com and celebrity.peoplebrowsr.com provide real-time insight into the most actively discussed brands and celebrities on Twitter at any moment in time, while also revealing the sentiment that is most associated with each.

StockTwits provides an open, community-powered idea and information service for investments. Users can listen to traders and investors, or contribute to the conversation. The service leverages Twitter as a content production platform and transforms tweets into financial-related data structured by stock, user, and reputation.

Fund Raising

This is a big opportunity and one that will yield amazing stories on how people are using Twitter and social media to raise money for charitable causes and capital for projects and companies. It's the art of spurring contributions through information and education, not solicitation.

When it comes to social media for social good, we don't have to look much further than anything Beth Kanter touches or spotlights. She's one of the most influential people in using social media for raising awareness and money for her causes. One of the projects that she remains dedicated to is helping orphans in Cambodia and, to date, it has raised more than $200,000. She has also used Twitter, widgets, and other social networks to help many other organizations and causes. In one live demonstration, which still leaves me in awe, she raised more than $2,500 to send a young Cambodian woman to college while she was on stage at Gnomedex in Seattle.

Jeff Pulver, founder of the 140 Characters Conference, and I decided to help prevent a single mother and her daughter from being evicted from their apartment by using an online payment service to collect money to go toward their rent. TipJoy is basically a PayPal for Twitter and was instrumental in tying together tweets, RTs, and contributions.

These examples will only grow in prominence as time passes.

Words of Wisdom

As reiterated throughout these top tips, listening and responding is helpful and efficacious in luring new customers, empowering advocacy, and instilling loyalty.

Serving as a resource for your community or industry positions, proactively responding to online users who are posing questions, and assisting those who are seeking advice and guidance can garner trust, respect, and camaraderie for you and the causes you espouse.

There are measurable and also incalculable benefits to dedicating resources to lead individuals and organizations to resolution.

For example, @homedepot monitors dialogue related to the company, but also those individuals who are tackling home projects and seeking tips and instructions.

BestBuy's @Twelpforce has authorized its entire staff of trained employees to seek out discussions related to consumer electronics, home theaters, gaming, music, appliances, and technology, and to answer questions, whether or not they're directly tied to the BestBuy brand.

The examples are many, and the common thread is a willingness to share and a dedication to offering help.

NOTE

1. Dan Adler, “In Pictures: 21 Top Twitter Tips,” Forbes.com (July 31, 2009), www.forbes.com/2009/07/31/top-twitter-tips-entrepreneurs-technology-twitter_slide_2.html.