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Social Media Week 2012: Hashtags, Infographics and Momentum, Oh My!
Cities from London to New York City to Tokyo participated in “Social Media Week” celebrations this week. The event is one of many that was spawned through social media and that has been kept alive by social media gurus. In fact, some of our very own CMers supported the cause with amazing presentations in the Toronto festivities. A number of interesting trends and themes came out of the week, some shocking and some we all could have predicted. In the “expected” column we heard about, Segmentation within Networks (ie. the Google+ model) and the wildfire growth of Mobile. Participating in social media through mobile devices grew 6 times in 2011… a number that is only expected to rise in 2012. Something that people might not have predicted, is the trending data shows people beginning to become more passive participants as the future of social marches on.
Plenty of really interesting and helpful trends and facts were uncovered this week, but what is really important about Social Media Week is what everyone does after. How will brands begin to incorporate the growing trends into their strategies, and how will individuals actually react compared to these predictions? It’s going to be a massive year for social media, that’s for sure, and events like SMW are just the beginning of it.
Did you participate in any SMW events? What trends or specific presentations most caught your attention?
If you’re interested, CM presented the following topics and you can learn more by checking out those decks on SlideShare.
Scot Wheeler presented Getting to Social ROI
Lindsay Renwick presented Social Storytelling: Creating and Curating Content Strategies that Work
Critical Mass recently played host to the Chicago Web Analytics Association’s first 2012 event, a panel discussion on Social Media Measurement. A nice summary of the event is captured in this post from Christine Mortensen.
A key distinction between this Web Analytics Association (WAA) event and the thousands of other social media panels taking place at any given time (and the reason I was so excited to participate) is that this event brought together the comparatively well-established discipline of web analytics with the still evolving discipline of social media measurement.
A central recognition in this union of disciplines is that in today’s digital ecosystem, no form of digital measurement can stand alone.
The BIO Approach to the Digital Ecosystem
In order to help our clients and partners in the digital measurement space develop integrated digital measurement approaches, Critical Mass Marketing Science has developed the “BIO” approach to the new digital ecosystem.
The BIO approach views digital engagement in three overlapping and stages: (B) BEFORE delivering a digital experience, (I) INSIDE the “owned” aspects of our ecosystem, and (O) OUTSIDE the “owned” aspects of our ecosystem, in paid and earned (search, social) aspects of the ecosystem.
Planned Parenthood, Social Media, and a Win for Women’s Health
In the snafu heard around the world, Susan G. Komen pulled their funding from Planned Parenthood earlier this month. This move outraged Planned Parenthood, women’s rights and even Susan G. Komen supporters, and after a week of taking a beating, Susan G. Komen reversed the decision and restored funding. On the surface, this seems to be a completely PR related issue, but those closer to the situation know that this is really about social media and the power of speaking out through social networks.
Susan G. Komen took a hard beating for this decision. Their Facebook page looked like a war zone, with people expressing their disgust and disapproval, with very little response from the organization. People were upset with the dishonesty of the decision and with the decision itself, and they were not going to be quiet until Komen did something about it. There was, of course, plenty of reporting being done on the situation, statements from other organizations and damage control from Komen. But all of that was drowned out by the reaction of the people through social networks.
Even though Super Bowls can be a bit of a let down, advertisers and brands swarm to get spots for the big game. Case in point, all of the Super Bowl ad spots were sold out before Thanksgiving this year. This is mainly due to brands wanting to get in front of one of the largest audiences to view television programs. It is predicted this year there will have been 100 million people watching (REUTERS) the Super Bowl; and at a price tag of $3.5 million dollars for a 30 second spot, it may seem like a deal. However, I’m not sure that the brands truly recognize the value of the spots or the return they may, or may not get from them.
The Retail Advertising and Marketing Association states that 73% of consumers who watch the Super Bowl ads, watch them for entertainment; entertainment, not for purchase. Only 8.4% of all consumers who watch the ads, say the ads influence their intent to purchase. Now that number is quite scary. Brands invest $3.5 million dollars for 15-30 seconds of the consumers’ attention and only 8.4% see that spot and think, “purchase.” I won’t even go into my concern that the brands aren’t even doing their market research on the audience. How many brands that advertise during the Super Bowl know they are advertising to their target demographic?
Super Bowl Ads Are Social Media Savvy
If you hadn’t already seen, some of the most anticipated Super Bowl ads have been leaked onto social media sites everywhere this week, and it’s looking like it should be a good year for commercial entertainment. However, this is one of the first years that we have seen these ads leaked in such high volume. There is already buzz about which brands have gotten it right, and which completely missed the mark.
So what is with this new phenomenon of leaking ads prior to the most hyped live event in America? It’s simple. Super Bowl spots cost about $3.5 million for a 30 second spot, so advertisers are really just trying to get the most for that money. This article sums it up best when they say, “100 million people are expected to tune into Sunday’s broadcast on NBC. But with well over a billion people on Facebook and Twitter combined, it’s a goldmine for advertisers if a fraction of those people continue to talk about their commercials days after the Big Game.” Many of the ads this year even come complete with their own interactive social media portion, including smartphone apps and hashtags.
I’ve spent the past few weeks using a Samsung Windows 7 phone. As an iPhone user since 2007, I was somewhat skeptical but curious to give Windows’ approach to mobile a try. After a few weeks with the Windows Phone 7, I was genuinely surprised by the great mobile experience Microsoft has created. 
The good
The tile interface. The Android/Apple cold war has lead to a similar UX for the two largest smartphone platforms. On Windows Phone 7, my Facebook, Twitter and other social accounts are all aggregated into my People tile. No need to flip through separate apps for all of my separate social networks. Emails and upcoming meetings are even previewed on tiles so I do not need to dig into an app to review my information- they’re all consolidated into one experience. The concept behind this was to connect you to information as quickly as possible, getting you in and out of your phone in a few gestures so you can go back to your life without missing a beat. Very cool.
Attention to detail. The interface elements, scrolling and subtle animations that guide the interface are intuitive, snappy, and just plain fun. I love how updates flip through to my home screen as they happen. No need to check individual apps as the newest news is pushed to me directly. Even the system fonts tout a polished design that looks crisp onscreen and has a subtle hipness to it. You won’t find Times New Roman here.
The bad
Camera experience. The software is clunky and the Samsung camera is slow, although overall image quality is pretty good. This will disappoint iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S users but could be on par with midrange Android and older iPhones. No doubt your mileage will vary depending on your particular phone, but the laggy response and clunky UI were somewhat disappointing.
Disjointed Syncing Experience. Much to my surprise, nothing happened when I plugged in the WIndows Phone 7 to my Mac. There was no included documentation on connecting my device either. After a Google search, I was directed to a file on Microsoft.com for a Mac-compatible Windows Phone 7 media manager. Unfortunately, the file was a 4kb text document that contained a link to the “real” URL in the Mac App Store. Very lame but easy to fix.
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