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Posts Tagged ‘approach’

21 Jan 2010

While few of us are bold enough to lay claim to Nostradamus-like powers of prophecy, it’s still interesting to read industry predictions. ReadWriteWeb recently released a list of tech predictions for 2010 and as of a yesterday, Senior VP Steve Rubel and the folks at Edelman PR agency uploaded their predictions entitled Digital Visions: 10 Ideas for the New Decade.

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Writes Rubel, “The bigger opportunity for clients, we believe, is to identify the global, societal and technological trends that are reshaping how we think, act and buy – and to pivot into them early. Trends today tend to develop more slowly and are harder to see, allowing clients to take a more thoughtful, thorough and systematic approach.”

The PR company’s report certainly contains some insights; nevertheless, Edelman is likely to have come to these conclusions after suffering a number of social media-related setbacks. In the last decade Edelman employees have been featured on Wired Magazine editor Chris Anderson’s PR blacklist, lambasted by environmental bloggers and protesters for contributing to greenwashing and caught creating puppet blogs for Walmart without disclosing their affiliation.

As the new decade begins, Edelman draws on four key themes for the future including the pervasiveness of digital technologies, the move to mobile, budgeting for digital outreach and finally, social media ROI. While the essays are well-written, they’re also extremely biased and self-serving.

When I say “biased” I refer to the fact that PR agencies and tech bloggers such as myself have a special interest in making others believe their claims about social media. Ideas like social media “becoming a business driver”, knowledge of disruptive technologies being the key to survival and the “start-and-stop campaign approach” giving way to an approach “that’s on all the time” are great arguments for keeping us employed. The more you as a startup founder believe that you need to stay constantly connected to your customer, the more likely you are to read our industry blogs and hire long-term social media marketers.

However, in this soup of social media sentiment, there is some truth. Successful companies like Best Buy and Zappos are baking community engagement and social media into their operations, and services like Foursquare are giving rise to better loyalty programs. Whether or not your company has the bandwidth and budget to spend on location-based services and a full time social media strategy is up to you. Let us know your thoughts on the report in the comments below.

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Tags: approach, chris anderson, decade, digital visions, Edelman, edelman pr, industry, industry predictions, new decade, ROI, Senior VP Steve Rubel, steve rubel, tech

SlideScreen for Android Borders On Information Overload (In A Good Way)

In: web resources

20 Jan 2010

slide

Let me start off by saying this: I really rather like the default Android homescreen. It’s simple, it’s functional, and above all, it’s endlessly customizable. Thanks to Google’s “do anything” approach to handling app development, end users have countless tools to trick out their phones anyway they want. That, as anyone who’s ever used MySpace knows, is a double-edged sword: the end results are usually range from the rare and wonderful to the terribly tacky.

The guys over at Larva Labs have taken a different, almost Facebookian approach. Instead of allowing users to directly get their hands dirty, they completely stripped down the Android into a sparse, information-oriented design they call SlideScreen, which looks something like a mashup between WinMo 6.5 today screen and HTC’s minimalist TouchFLO style. I was given the chance to play with a nearly final build of the app, which is slated for general release within the next few days, and for you info junkies out there, this may be exactly what you’ve been looking for.

Read the rest of this post at MobileCrunch >>

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Tags: Android, app, approach, countless tools, default, double edged sword, end, google, homescreen, Mashup, Read

Want to Make Money on Twitter? Take a Look at How Dell Does It

In: web resources

15 Jan 2010

dollar image This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.

Dell is a shining example of a brand that has managed to turn their Twitter presence into both a customer service and sales outlet. Dell may be a big corporation, but the story behind the $6.5 million they’ve raised from their Twitter presence is one that shines a light on a road to success that any company, regardless of size, can learn from and emulate.

I asked Dell’s Senior Manager for Corporate Affairs, Richard Binhammer — otherwise known as RichardatDell — to elaborate on Dell’s Twitter success. The following are principles extracted from that email interview.

1. The Right Motivation is Key

dell tweet

If you’re simply motivated to make money from Twitter, your heart is in the wrong place. Dell’s strategy is to turn Twitter into an opportunity to build better relationships with customers, which ultimately leads to stronger sales.

According to Binhammer, Dell didn’t initially approach Twitter with dollar signs in their minds, but instead as a listening outpost. “Dell first heard about Twitter at SXSW a few years back and got excited about the listening aspect of Twitter,” he said.

The businesses side of listening was an unintended but welcome bonus to their effective presence on Twitter.

“Dell’s goal has always been to be an online leader and connect with customers wherever they are. It starts with listening and connecting with customers across the Web. This has proven to be invaluable to our business through the years. We see social media connections as a means to further strengthen those direct customer relationships. The added revenue has been a welcome addition to being where our customers are and connecting with them.”

2. Approach Twitter With a Multifaceted Strategy

dell tweet

Dell’s Twitter presence isn’t limited to a single account or purpose. Instead Dell takes a multifaceted approach to Twitter and attempts to serve niche customer communities and interests all over the world.

If you’re just looking for deals, they’ve got an account for that (@DellOutlet), if you just want breaking news there’s an account for that too (@Direct2Dell), and the list goes on.

In Binhammer’s own words, this is how Dell approaches Twitter:

- Direct connections between Dell and customers – listen, learn and engage in direct connections with customers (There are ~ 100 Dell employees using Twitter to connect with customers).

- Subscribe to Dell info – customers can subscribe and get Dell news from our blogs/Ideastorm Twitter.

- Dell offers from businesses – some of our businesses, notably Dell Outlet, publish their latest offers on Twitter.

- More about Dell businesses on Twitter: http://www.dell.com/twitter Here you will see various Dell business accounts such as: Small Business, Dell Canada, UK, Korea, Brazil, Mexico, Dell Home Sales, Australia, Japan, China, New Zealand, DellOutletIreland and UK and more

If anything, Dell’s all-hands-on-deck approach to Twitter, demonstrates that you need to serve your customers how they want to be served.

For small businesses in particular, Binhammer recommends that you “Make it easy for your customer to talk to you. Do simple things to thank your customers for their business. Ask them for suggestions. Go where your customers congregate, whether it be Facebook or Twitter or elsewhere, and participate in those conversations. Also, listen to your customers in the blogosphere. What they have to say is vitally important to your business.”

3. Don’t Be a Spammer

no spam image This may seem obvious, but you’d be surprised by how many small and big businesses alike use Twitter as a one-way marketing channel with overly promotional tweets.

Spamming your customers on Twitter is a surefire way to get unfollowed and immediately ignored. Of course promoting sales and products is encouraged, but do so in a way that your customers can be receptive to. If you need help defining what that looks like, just ask your followers on Twitter for input.

Dell’s approach, as iterated above, is to serve customers’ interests. The dedicated Twitter account for deals means that they can promote Dell deals to only those customers who have opted in to the purely promotional tweets.

Binhammer advises, “Be yourself and avoid spamming. Making genuine, direct connections with your customers in meaningful ways can only help you deliver what customers want at the end of the day.”

More business resources from Mashable:

- The 10 Stages of Social Media Business Integration
– 5 Tips for Creating a Successful Social Media Contest
– HOW TO: Measure Social Media ROI
– HOW TO: Use Social Media to Connect with Other Entrepreneurs
– HOW TO: Implement a Social Media Business Strategy
– HOW TO: Use a Start Page to Stay Organized
– HOW TO: Choose a News Reader for Keeping Tabs on Your Industry

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, NoDerog

Reviews: Australia, Facebook, Twitter, iStockphoto

Tags: business, dell, List, Lists, MARKETING, money, small business, social media, strategy, twitter