Monthly Archive for September, 2009

Digital + Tactile

Published
by
Matt
on Sep 30, 2009
in technology
. Comments

Here’s something interesting that I’ve noticed lately.

There’s this continual push to have everything digital. Digital TV, mp3’s, e-books, movies on your iPod, etc. It seems as if the goal is to move from physical copies of things to only having them “exist” digitally. That being said, I don’t think actual books are going to disappear anytime soon… but still.

The interesting thing is that even as we’re digitizing everything, we still want to interact with it in the “traditional” sense. We want to be able to touch, pull, push, drag, and draw. Would the iPhone be as successful without the multi-touch functionality? Maybe, but it would certainly be very different. Look at Microsoft’s Courier. Purely digital content, but interacted with in the same way as a traditional journal.

Where are we heading with this? Minority Report anyone?

BFG & MattJMcD Living In Perfect Harmony

Published
by
Matt
on Sep 29, 2009
in ANM and etc.
. Comments

I don’t usually do things like this.

I just don’t like tooting my own horn for a few reasons: primarily because my mom taught me never to brag, but also because “tooting your own horn” sounds kind of wrong.

But there are always exceptions to the rules, especially when a great opportunity comes up. An opportunity like the Assistant Content Manager position at BFG Communications. For this opening, BFG has asked that to apply we use social media, and use it I will.

At the risk of flagrant horn-tooting, I believe I would be a great fit for this position. I eat, sleep, and breathe marketing (yes, I know I’m a nerd), I have a pretty rich history in social media (blogging since 4/07, on Facebook since 10/04, on Twitter since 10/07), and I have solid experience in the interactive space (I’ve worked with great companies/agencies as a freelance digital marketing consultant and account manger on everything from social strategy to SEO, and A New Marketing is listed in the Social Media section of Alltop.com). Also, I’m a snappy dresser, and that’s got to count for something.

If you’d like a better idea of my thinking/ideas, I’ve lined up some posts below. We’ll call it my Greatest Hits, just without the awkward album cover photo.
- A Definitive Explanation of Social Media
- Simple Social Media Truths
- We Are Our Own Worst Enemy
- A Brand Purpose Model
- Your Brands Checklist For Twitter
- Elements of Digital Trust
- The 4 C’s - The New Marketing Mix
- What Community Looks Like

And you can find my resume here.

So…

If you’re not with BFG… Help me out by tweeting the following “Hey @BFGCom I think @MattJMcD is the right man for your ACM position!” or leave some love in the comments below.

If you’re with BFG… I’d love to talk to you more about this position. Feel free to get in touch with me any time. Let’s do it!

The Grass Is Not TruGreener On The Other Side

Published
by
Matt
on Sep 22, 2009
in Bad Marketing
. Comments

Before I start, in reference to the title: Zing!

So, @ashlebo and I got one of these in the mail yesterday. And I’m sure it wasn’t just us. It was probably us and everyone else in our area.
trugreen2

Here’s the problem: We live in a condo. And so does everyone else in our neighborhood.

No one has lawns. For some people, that was probably a big reason FOR buying a condo. But TruGreen doesn’t know that, or they don’t care. I’m sure they got a list of homeowners in the Charleston area and then fired off thousands of these (pretty nicely done, otherwise) high-gloss tri-fold direct mail pieces, regardless of any other information. It doesn’t take a lot of research to look at all the names in your database and cancel out all the ones without LAWNS! and in this part of Charleston, that’s a lot.

Little things make the big differences, especially now.

We Are Our Own Worst Enemy

Published
by
Matt
on Sep 18, 2009
in Marketers and social media
. Comments

After seeing a few really good posts in the past couple of days, one from Verdino, one from Marc Meyer, and one from Armano, I’ve come to a truth about Social Media Marketers:

We are, absolutely, our own worst enemy.

Yes, us. Not the measurement issue. Not the lack of client knowledge. Not the ever-shifting landscape or the fight to be taken seriously. Us.

It happens every time we agree to ghost write a blog and pretend that we’re someone who really cares about a business. Every time we blindly recommend the full development of a blog when we’re pretty sure the client won’t be able to follow through with it anyway. We promote Twitter and Facebook fan pages when we know (and yes we do really know) that follower and fan count don’t mean that much. But hey, they’re a number we can bring back to the client!

Maybe all of this is just a reaction to the fact that “social media” as a marketing practice is coming of age in an economic downturn, and people are going to do whatever they can just to get the business. I’m not trying to take the moral high ground here either, I completely understand that situation, but where does it end? We can we stand up to the client and tell them we won’t spam tweets, or when will we stop pitching borderline strategy just so clients can say they’re “doing the social media stuff”?

Needless to say, there are always going to be smart people out there, people who push the thinking, have the client’s best interests at heart, and generally just fight the good fight. In my opinion, it seems like we could use a few more of those kind of people.

Determining The Best Social Medium For Your Message

Published
by
Matt
on Sep 16, 2009
in Web Sites and social media
. Comments

Blogging (Wordpress, Blogger, etc.)

Good For: Long-form content. Deep, detailed, insightful writing. Extensive discussion.

Not So Good For: Spur of the moment and mobile posting.

Verdict: A blog is at it’s best when it can showcase a clear, well defined thought, however it’s also the most versatile of the tools and can be used for just about anything.

Tumblr/Posterus

Good For: Shorter posts. Photo blogging. Spontaneous and mobile content.

Not So Good For: Robust feature sets. Design possibilities (Posterus).

Verdict: Great for shorter, more spontaneous posting with good “on-the-go” options. Think of it as Blogging-Minor

Twitter

Good For: Real-time interaction. Quick thoughts. Content sharing (links, photos, videos, etc.). Making connections.

Not So Good For: Well thought out posts/content. Comprehensive arguments.

Verdict: Great for interaction, not so much for content.

Video Platforms (Youtube, Vimeo, etc.)

Good For: Dynamic content. Showcasing personality. Conveying energy and spreading a message.

Not So Good For: Discussion. Scannable content.

Verdict: The most dynamic of all mediums, but limited in that it’s not scannable or as easily digestible as others.

Social Networks (Facebook, Ning, etc.)

Good For: Making connections. Maintaining a community. Organizing an effort.

Not So Good For: Posting content. Thought leadership.

Verdict: The best at connecting and organizing, but limited in a content publishing dimension.

The First 4 Steps In Your Social Media Effort

Published
by
Matt
on Sep 14, 2009
in social media
. Comments

1) Determine if Social Media is the right idea.

This seems to be the tough one for a lot of people. I know there’s a push for marketers and business owners to jump into social, but it’s not always the best idea. Just because “everyone else is doing it” (which they really aren’t) doesn’t mean you should commit time or resources to a social effort. You need to not only understand where your customers are, but where they can/want to interact with you. Sure it makes sense for Mr. Monty and Ford to get going, but your local concrete stamping business? I’m not so sure.

2) Establish your goals.

I agree with the typical rallying cry of “Strategy before Tactics”, but more importantly I believe in Goals before Strategy. Right up front you have to decide what you are aiming for with your initiative. Are you just going for page views? Do you want customer interaction and response? Are you trying to build a viable online community? All these things require different approaches and this needs to be hashed out in advance of the next step.

3) Think strategy first.

“Let’s use Twitter!” is not strategy. This ends up being a hurdle because while many people are familiar with the tools, not many people are used to putting a plan together to use them in a cohesive way. You need to look at your goals and then determine the best way to use the tools available to reach those goals.

4) Determine your tactical approach.

This is the “boots on the ground” part of the effort. In this step you’re going to be determining the practical elements of executing your plan. Things you’ll tackle here are likely going to be similar to “Who is going to handle the Twitter account?”, “How many blog posts per month do we want?”, and “Who in our industry do we need to reach out to?”. Again, all the tactics are based on your overall strategy, which is based on your goals. While it’s easy to say that goals and strategy are the most important, great strategy without execution won’t get you very far.

Six Pixels Of Separation Book Review

Published
by
Matt
on Sep 8, 2009
in Books
. Comments

sposreview2

I could have written a long review, but I think this gets the point across. Pick up Six Pixels of Separation by Mitch Joel here.