The Socialization of Ads: How Twitter and Facebook Are Focusing on Marketers

Sir Martin Sorrell, WPP Group CEO, says Twitter is a "PR medium," not an advertising one (and neither is Facebook). His comments follow Twitter's launch of its advertising API touted as a booster for marketers to manage campaigns. 

"If you look at the Olympics in London, the big winner was Twitter. It wasn't Facebook. It wasn't even Google. We did analyses of the Twitter feeds every day, and it's very, very potent. But I think because it's limited in terms of number of characters, it reduces communication to superficialities and lacks depth." 

Undaunted, Twitter is forging ahead and fashioning itself as an ad platform. Its API launch partners include Adobe, HootSuite, Salesforce, SHIFT and TBG Digital. Aside from creating a larger revenue base for Twitter, the API could lead to more ads on the site and apps which is worrisome to users. 

"Launching an ad based API does not mean we've changed our philosophy or that a user will see more ads in their experience," said April Underwood, product manager, revenue at Twitter. "From a user standpoint it doesn't mean we're becoming more aggressive in terms of ads or altering the user experience at all. This is all about giving marketers more choice as well as a broader set of tools in their arsenal that they can use in how they want to work with us." 

With this latest change, businesses will be able to work with Twitter's partner companies to create more in-depth and targeted ad campaigns to run on Twitter, as well as integrate Twitter advertising into broader marketing strategies across a variety of sites and platforms. 

"Slowly, but in plain sight, Twitter has opened a marketing window that didn't exist before, a window that allows marketers -- or anyone -- to exploit, in real time, moments both expected and completely unplanned," notes AdAge. Twitter Revenue Chief Adam Bain added, "Marketing has evolved to a series of 'now moments,' and we are the platform that can deliver that moment." 

In another move to promote simplicity and ease, Twitter has introduced the mobile video app, Vine. According to creative director Rus Yusupov, "An interface should get out of the way." Vine doesn't even have a play button. The interface is slick, perfect for quick-hit responses or campaigns in terms of advertisers. "At the very least, it offers a fresh way to share a promotion or a response, give people a look behind the scenes or an imaginative expression of what the brand believes in. This is advertising, just not as we know it." Vine simply adds another dimension to Twitter's advertising arsenal and certainly gives marketers using the platform a leg up on the competition. 

Speaking of competition, Facebook began testing its own advertising API in 2009, allowing marketers to create automated campaigns integrating multiple ad products as well as tools for measuring the impact of the ads, the best time to run them and which groups to target. 

Facebook is testing "different sizes based on connectedness," notes AllFacebook.com. "News feed ads coming from brands that users or their friends have liked will still show up large, but ads coming from pages that neither users nor their friends have liked will show up smaller." This adjustment is a welcome one, as users of the social site are oft to complain about the increasing amount of ads and promotions showing up smack in the middle of their friends' status updates, no longer restricted to the right sidebar. 

On the mobile front, Facebook is tweaking sponsored stories and application install ads in the mobile news feed including a new like icon and for iOS users, the header, "Suggested App." 

Sorrell, however, is not convinced. "Facebook to my mind is not an advertising medium. It is a branding medium. So if I can get you to say something nice about WPP or me or one of our companies on Facebook to your wife, your friends, or whoever, that's good." 

A "number one ranking on Google seems more important than a Facebook 'like.' This doesn't deny the potency of Facebook. But it has to be seen in the context of a long continuum of brand building."

(Source: BrandChannel, 02/26/13) 

Economic forecast: More jobs, faster growth

The first half of 2013 is expected to be sluggish as government spending cuts dampen growth and a payroll tax increase crimps consumer spending.

The nation's economy and job-creating engine will start to purr later this year as business activity picks up — more than offsetting federal government cutbacks, predict economists surveyed by USA TODAY.

After starting the year slowly, the economy will shift into a higher gear this summer and then grow for the next nine months at the fastest pace in three years, according to the median estimates of 46 economists.

"I think we're really on the verge of this becoming a self-sustaining recovery," says Richard Moody, chief economist at Regions Bank.

The economists expect average monthly job gains of 171,000, with the pace quickening late this year. They expect unemployment to fall from 7.9% to 7.5% by year's end. In October, economists surveyed predicted average monthly gains of 155,000.

Several said they raised their forecasts in part after the government this month revised up its estimate of average monthly job growth from 153,000 each of the past two years to 175,000 in 2011 and 181,000 in 2012.

The revisions reflect a job market that's expanding more rapidly than previously believed, Moody says.

After gaining an average 157,000 jobs a month in the first quarter, the economy will gradually gather force and add 184,000 a month by the fourth quarter, the economists say.

The first half of 2013 is expected to be sluggish as government spending cuts dampen growth and a payroll tax increase crimps consumer spending. Those surveyed expect the economy to grow at less than a 2% annual rate the first six months of 2013.

But Congress and the White House averted a worse fate by agreeing in January to keep income taxes stable for households earning less than $450,000 a year. Thirty-seven percent of the economists are more optimistic about this year's outlook than they were three months ago.

What's more, the economists expect the effects of the federal cuts to fade by the fourth quarter, with growth picking up to a 2.7% pace. They say the housing market is rebounding, a rising stock market is boosting consumer wealth, the European financial crisis is easing and Corporate America is cash-rich.

Allen Sinai of Decision Economics, says the most positive development is that households have worked off much of the debt that hampered their spending in recent years.

Some remain cautious. ITG chief economist Steve Blitz say it's unlikely consumers will return to their free-spending ways.


Paul Davidson and Barbara Hansen, USA TODAY - February 10, 2013

Marking TV’s “Cuban” Influence

Talk is cheap. Television networks are not. Mark Cuban, billionaire, is one of the rare few that can afford both. And he’s proven his affinity for each by recently speaking at NATPE, about many topics, among them his AXS TV network and his belief in the power of television in our society.

At first blush, television isn’t thought of as “Social Media.” Social Media is typically thought of as reserved for status updates, hashtags and an oversaturation of baby pictures. Therefore, “Social” is a viral space that needs word of mouth and a busy personal network to have its impact.

The example that Mr. Cuban used was the billion or so online views for “Gangnam Style”. No one will dispute that YouTube is squarely a “social medium,” but all of those combined views of “Gangnam” didn’t match the social experience of watching the Super Bowl, voting for your favorite Idol or Voice or Dancing Star, or seeing the ball drop on New Year’s Eve.

And that’s the social aspect that Mr. Cuban was focusing upon. That TV is a place to share in an experience, not one to share your experiences. He called it “zero latency,” in that we all experience it at the same time. Despite this being the Era of Time Shifting, television is truly the Mass Medium. “Gangnam” was a meme, and as he said, “who talked about it when they watched it?” Those billion hits on YouTube don’t translate on the same cultural consciousness level as television because we don’t have the same connective experience with it.

Moreover, the latest Nielsen Cross-Platform report confirms the ongoing dominance of television in the face of the Online Spring – 97% of all video is watched on television. Online accounts for 2% of all video viewing. Mobile, 1%.

Let’s face it, no one’s going to pass on a chance to do TV because they want to stay on YouTube.

Social Media without television would be a very different place. It’s no coincidence that Mr. Cuban is talking about this - he’s invested in a broadcast television network. And it’s for exactly that reason – “to tap into the immediacy of TV and its dominance as a social media conversation starter.” Mr. Cuban believes that he will be providing a network that is of particular interest to the “Cable Nevers” and cord cutters. He hopes to give them a “unique experience” of immediate, live content that delivers the scale of broadcast television.

TV is really the only medium that begets content on another medium. We talk about TV on social media. Especially those live events that people share on TV. All it takes is a look at something like the Grammys. It’s a broadcast event, but will have the most social media mentions for the week. The fact is, television drives a large percentage of social media conversations in some way. Typically it’s about what we’re watching — or telling others they should be watching — but often it’s passing along information that they’ve learned by watching television.

Mr. Cuban concurs. “Television has become the medium to start a social conversation. We have become so Internet centric over the past 20 years that everyone assumes the solution for social media will be on the Internet. It’s TV.” He added that “We’re using television as an instigator (for posting to social media). The reality is that when you are watching TV, it’s a unique experience that you cannot get online.”

So why should we pay so much attention to what the billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks has to say about TV? Well, he made his fortune in the dot-com boom, selling his Internet radio business to Yahoo!. So perhaps this Internet radio guy might have learned some valuable lessons about long-term success and taking his business to the next level—by investing in broadcast television.

2013 Auto Sales Will Be Strong, Firm Predicts

A healthier economy and more new model introductions should push U.S. auto sales above the 15 million mark this year, predicts an auto industry research firm. 

The Polk research firm says auto sales should continue to lead the country's economic recovery, rising nearly 7 percent over 2012 to 15.3 million new vehicle registrations.

Automakers will release December and full-year sales for 2012 today. Analysts think sales reached 14.5 million last year, the strongest performance since 2007 -- just before Americans felt the impact of the recession. Sales of more than 15 million are considered a sign of health for the auto industry and the economy, many analysts say.

Polk does not expect pre-recession sales levels of 17 million for several more years, Anthony Pratt, Polk's forecasting director for the Americas, said Wednesday.

Polk expects 43 new models to be introduced this year, up 50 percent from last year. New models usually boost sales. The company also predicts a rebound in sales of large pickups and midsize cars.

But Polk's optimistic forecast firm hinges on Washington reaching an agreement on spending cuts, which could happen later in the year. On New Year's Day, congress approved a compromise to avoid the so-called "fiscal cliff." The deal raises taxes for incomes exceeding $400,000 for individuals and $450,000 for couples. But it delayed action on dramatic federal spending cuts and debt, setting up another showdown in a divided Congress.

Those first showdowns will come over the next three months, when the government's legal ability to borrow money will expire and temporary financing for federal agency budgets will expire.

Polk predicted a handful of other trends for 2013. Sales will grow for big pickups, which are very profitable for automakers. Demand has been depressed for five years due to the weak economy, but should get a lift in 2013 thanks to redesigned trucks from GM, Toyota and Ford.

Polk also said the midsize sedan segment will continue to lead the industry. It's now at 18.5 percent of the market, 2 percentage points larger than any other type of segment.

"Recent redesigns of nearly every vehicle in the midsize segment are forcing more competition and continued growth," said Tom Libby, Polk's lead North American analyst.

Polk joins many other analysts in predicting 2013 sales at or above 15 million. The consulting firm LMC Automotive, for instance, expects 2013 sales of around 15 million, up from 14.5 million in 2012.

Auto sales peaked at about 17 million in 2005, but dropped to 10.4 million in 2009, the lowest level in more than three decades.

(Source: The Detroit News, 01/02/13) 

The 3 Worst Ways Companies Waste Money in Social Media

They say you learn something new every day... 

And one of the things I recently learned was a new oxymoron: a social media budget. Because in most companies, it simply doesn't exist. They expect Fans, Followers, Likes and Pins to fall from the sky. 

But that's not the worst part... 

No, the worst part is when you see how companies actually spend a social media budget if they have it. 

Because most of the time it's wasted on vanity metrics and hot trends. 

And the problem typically resides with the HIPPOs (highest paid person's opinion), because the highest paid person is also (usually) the least knowledgeable and furthest away from the front lines. 

Here are three of the worst ways that companies waste money in social media. 

Money Waster #1: Squandering Your Offline Resources

One of the best ways to grow a social network is to funnel people from existing sources. That could mean your existing website traffic or email database. Or it could simply mean your foot-traffic and other offline sources. 

This is the best source of visibility and awareness most companies have. But by overlooking a few key principles, they're wasting time, energy, effort and money. 

For example, the typical offline, social media call-to-action (CTA) usually looks like stickers in a store window saying "People Love Us On Yelp." 

In this case, all you're doing is promoting Yelp (and cluttering up your window). There's no CTA, and no customer benefit. 

And this problem isn't isolated to small mom-and-pop shops either. 

Large corporations and big ad agencies do this all the time on commercials. Next time you're interrupted during your favorite television show, count how many commercials show a Facebook icon, and...nothing else. 

No Facebook page URL, no direct call-to-action, and no reason or incentive to actually get-off-the-couch and take action. 

Again, all they're doing is promoting Facebook. And promoting Facebook is a terrible long-term strategy (which we'll discuss in Money Waster #3 below -- and why you should use email marketing instead). 

Now compare this to a good example from a paper receipt that reads "Want 20% off? Go to Yelp and write a review. Bring it in with this coupon and receive a 20% discount." It has an extremely clear call-to-action, and a compelling reason to take action. 

Now think about how powerful this is... 

Customers are MUCH more likely to leave a negative review on Yelp than a positive one. But if you can incentivize people after a good experience, than you start to really harness the potential of customer-generated marketing. 

Money Waster #2: Community Management Free-For-All

"The average, large company in the U.S. has 178 corporate-owned social media accounts," according to Marketing Pilgrim. 

Contrary to popular belief, social media isn't free. So exactly who in your organization is responsible for managing 178 different social media accounts? Who's going to create new content for each, and respond to customers in a timely fashion? 

The tiny, underfunded, understaffed Social Media department? 

The cost associated with proper community management is significant. And for 178 different accounts, it's astronomical. 

But that's not even the worst part... 

You're also completely confusing your customers. Which accounts are they supposed to follow or interact with? Who do they respond to with general questions, product support, or service follow-up? 

Countless psychological studies have shown that when people are presented with too many options, they freeze up and don't make a decision. 

So they give-up completely, and are left with a bad taste in their mouth. Or instead of working through their customer support issues, they go trash your business on Yelp. 

Money Waster #3: Facebook Double Taxation

It's been said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly but expecting different results. 

Keep that in mind as you read the next few lines... 

In the early 1990s, America Online (AOL) spent over $300 million in mailing CDs to everyone's mailbox. According to then-CMO Jan Brandt: 

"At one point, 50% of the CDs produced worldwide had an AOL logo on it. We were logging in new subscribers at the rate of one every six seconds." 

In a decade, AOL rose to over 25 million users -- an unbelievable number at the time. They were the hottest company in the world. And they began opening up new opportunities for brands to reach consumers. 

Companies raced to build up their AOL brand pages, and you would see "AOL" all over the commercials. 

But eventually it fell out of favor (like every social network to date), and lost users in droves. Those huge marketing investments companies made into AOL were wasted -- because it was a "closed system." All the data and user information belonged to AOL, not the companies who worked so hard to build it in the first place. 

Today, we have the same exact thing going on with Facebook. 

Companies love talking about "Likes" and promoting their pages wherever they can. But here's the problem... 

Facebook is starting to double-tax you to reach your own fans. According to The New York Observer, "Facebook acknowledged it as recently as last week: messages now reach, on average, just 15 percent of an account's fans. In a wonderful coincidence, Facebook has rolled out a solution for this problem: Pay them for better access." As their advertising head, Gokul Rajaram, explained, if you want to speak to the other 80 to 85 percent of people who signed up to hear from you, "sponsoring posts is important." 

So if you want to reach more of your own fans -- the ones you already spent time, money and energy acquiring in the first place -- you have to PAY AGAIN with advertising. That doesn't seem very logical, does it? 

Getting referral traffic from Facebook is great. And using it to reach new people, while also increasing engagement and retaining customers is good, too. 

But don't throw a lot of money down the drain by investing in a closed system that you don't own or control. 

If you're looking for awareness, then track visits, not "Likes." If you're looking for sales from repeat visitors, then use email marketing, not Facebook. 

Because social media has changed the medium -- not the principles. And timeless marketing strategies still apply.

(Source: Brad Smith, Digital Marketing Consultant and Founder FixCourse, published in Social Media Today, 11/19/12) 

Tablets Capturing Newspaper Viewers

According to a recent comScore study, from its TabLens service, nearly 2 in 5 U.S. tablet owners read newspapers and/or magazines on their device in August, with 1 in 10 reading publications almost daily. 

Analysis of readership activities across platforms revealed that Kindle Fire users displayed the strongest propensity for reading newspapers and magazines on their device. 

Mark Donovan, comScore SVP of Mobile, says "...tablets are...redefining how people consume news and information...with the format more conducive to reading longer form content...in the case of online newspapers, tablets are now driving 7% of total newspaper page views...impressive...considering the relative infancy of the tablet space..." 

In the three-month average period ending August 2012, 37.1% of tablet owners read a newspaper on their device at least once during the month, with 11.5% of tablet owners reading newspapers almost every day. 

Kindle Fire users demonstrated the greatest tendency to read newspapers, with 39.2% doing so in August, slightly edging out iPad at 38.3%. NOOK Tablet owners boasted the greatest percentage of high-frequency newspaper readers with 13.4% doing so on a near-daily basis. 

Magazines/periodicals showed even higher readership rates than newspapers with 39.6% of tablet owners reading magazines on their device during the month. Kindle Fire owners once again showed the highest readership rate at 43.9%, followed by iPad users at 40.3%.

Newspaper and magazine tablet audiences closely resembled one another in gender, age and household income distribution, says the report. Newspaper audiences were 17% more likely to be male compared to an average tablet owner (index of 117), while magazine audiences were 11% more likely to be male (index of 111). 

People between the ages of 25-34 represented the highest share of readers, accounting for 27.4% of newspaper consumers, and 28.2% of magazine/periodical consumers. People age 35-44 accounted for 1 in 5 readers in both categories. More than half of readers had a household income of $75k or greater, while those in the highest income segment of $100k or greater skewed most heavily toward readership.

(Source: The Center for Media Research, 11/16/12) 

Small Business Saturday is a Big Hit

There was nothing small this year about Small Business Saturday sales. 

Small Business Saturday, when consumers are encouraged to support their local small businesses two days after Thanksgiving, gets bigger every year, says Small Business Administrator Karen Mills.

"We see tremendous momentum out there," says Mills. "This Small Business Saturday has really gone viral."

Small businesses can't usually compete with big-box stores' big sales on Black Friday, so many hope to use Small Business Saturday to get a piece of the action during the biggest shopping weekend of the year.

Small Business Saturday is the most important shopping day of the season for 36% of independent retailers, according to the National Federation of Independent Businesses. Only 24% say that day is Black Friday.

Leah Daniels, owner of Hill's Kitchen, says this Small Business Saturday was probably twice as big as last year's, and the store was packed all day.

"Color me a happy person," says Daniels. "Let's hope this means there's going to be a big holiday season."

Ross Steinman, psychology professor at Widener University, says the popularity of Small Business Saturday is a revolt against big-box stores from consumers who are willing to pay extra and see the money go to their communities.

"There's so much negative attention in recent years on Black Friday and the rampant consumerism that's associated with it," he says. "Small Business Saturday is a response to that."

Laura Smith, 52, says she's a big fan of Small Business Saturday. She spent the day shopping at all her favorite stores in Terrytown, Va., and was sure to have lunch at Can Can, a locally owned French restaurant.

"It was really pleasant. It was fun and kind of like back in the old days where people would just walk up and down the street visiting the local stores," says Smith.

Jim Brownell, VP of retail solutions for GT Nexus, says that Small Business Saturday is a great opportunity for retailers because there are "a lot of feet on the street," but it doesn't work unless they get the word out about promotions.

"It's unfortunately going to require some sort of service promotion or product promotion to draw people into the stores," Brownell says. "You can't sit back and hope that the SBA with all their advertising is really going to be the ones that will bring everybody in."

Alan Au, co-owner of Jimmy Au's For Men 5'8" and Under, a fancy clothing store for shorter men, had a big Small Business Saturday sale on pretty much everything, but refused to advertise the sale beyond individual invitations to customers.

"The more full the store is, the harder it is to help anybody," says Au. "I function a lot better with a steady stream of customers."

Nevertheless, the store was busy the whole day, and Au says it's a good indication December sales will be up as well.

When Au's store was in the Glendale, Calif., shopping mall, his Black Friday sales drew customers who were already in the mall to make other purchases. However, once the store moved to a street location in Beverly Hills, he found he was trying to compete with the big retailers at the mall, whose Black Friday crowds he previously relied on for customers.

"We tried to compete against that with some really killer deals, but we can't beat something like that," says Au. Now he holds the sale on Saturday.

(Source: USA Today, 11/26/12)