Monthly Archives: July 2011

The Realm of Social Media

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The release of Google+ has brought all sorts of tumult to the world of social media, and it got me thinking about what our online experience has really become. These days new websites are forged and destroyed with every passing week, and our allegiances to our favorite online domains are constantly tested by the guile tactics of ambitious competitors. What is Google+ but a way for the search giant to combat its greatest foe, Facebook, on the only ground it has never conquered….the fabled world of social media. In this social media realm, people flock from every corner of the Earth to bask in the glory. It is a land where families with great lineages sit in quiet nobility, where friendships are formed, where romantic tales of love blossom, and of course where gold is pilled high enough to reach the sun. We might not realize it, but the peace of this realm is all but certain, as the lords and kings who rule over it constantly battle for its dominion.

My idea for this post is largely inspired by the hit new HBO series Game of Thrones, which is also an excellent book series. It tells of the epic tale of love, adventure, honor, and betrayal, and I feel I see much of the same drama unfolding every week in the social media world. Therefore, I will now present to you my take on the realm of social media, and the great houses that rule over it.

Google

“Never stop searching”

The current King of the Internet and all of its lands. Yet for all its massive power and knowledge, Google has still been unable to marshal the social realm under its banner. One of the oldest houses of the Internet, it provides its loyal subjects with, seemingly, all they could desire. It brings them the finest items for trade both near and far, carries letters from one end of the realm to the other, and its impressive grasp of technology renders new feats of science at an astounding pace. Yet, despite the fact that Google is the largest of all the houses, it has still been unable to plant itself in the social realm. This is not to say it has lacked ambition, as many of its conquests have sallied forth from its gates only to be found broken and shattered on the field. The greatest enemy to the King is Facebook, and the young house has had little trouble thwarting Google’s past conquests. Though the King is not without hope, as a new champion has arisen to conquer the social realm. Whether or not Google+ can finally make progress in the social realm remains to be seen, but to be certain, this new champion is not lacking in fortitude, reputation, or in valor.

 

Facebook

“Defend the Wall”

The most powerful lord in all the lands and sworn enemy to Google the current King, Facebook may be one of the youngest houses, but it more than makes up for its youth with ruthless ambition. Indeed, the aspirations of this young house are so great that it seems to be unwilling to accept anything other than being anointed King. Of course there are those who say that the Facebook house is more fit to be named King then Google, since it is Facebook who now firmly holds the social realm in its iron grip. The social media frontrunner has already accumulated enormous riches from the social realm, and certainly has the ability to reap even greater wealth from a kingdom whose true worth is not yet fully known. More and more, people swell the ranks of Facebook with every day, and it seems certain that the powers of Facebook and Google will soon clash again. Though Facebook is not without faults, as would be expected for a house with such ambition. The social realm is not as safe a place as many would like to believe, and tricksters, thieves, and brigands roam the roads of Facebook freely. It also seems that Facebook has little regard for the rights of its people, and it oft seems that the young house would sell the privacy of its followers to the highest bidder. The Facebook wall may be guarded by millions and protect immense wealth within its keep, but the wall is not without cracks, and those cracks are beginning to show.

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Welcome to the July 27th edition of “What We’re Reading”, a weekly series where we report on stories that are totally Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and every other social network-worthy. This week we have prepared for you the most fastidious assortment of robust and intellectually invigorating periodicals that ever did grace the Web. If you are sitting there wondering how on earth those two sentences could possibly follow one another, don’t worry; we are just as flabbergasted as you. Onward!

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HuffPo Outdoes Esquire, Microsoft in Shameless Use of Winehouse Death

We all experience different reactions when faced with death and tragedy, and for the most part people’s attitudes convey grief and remembrance for the loss of the loved one. However, it is becoming increasingly apparent that not all enterprises adhere to the notion of respecting the dead. Numerous reports have surfaced since the untimely death of British singer Amy Winehouse of companies utilizing the pop star’s death as a marketing ploy (surprise!). Microsoft wasted no time reminding their Twitter followers to honor the dead singer by buying her album, and unfortunately they are not the only company masquerading their shameless profit-driven messages as sincere acts of respect. Not to be out done, PR ‘pros’ are took to the Huffington Post and used Winehouse’s death as a lesson to small business owners. Thankfully social media is around to catch them in the act and reveal their disgusting acts to the world. AdAge covered the use of social media for good in the wake of social media for bad. Read the full story here.

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Scoring Your Dream Job Through Social Media

This Philippine’s based writer must have known that the U.S. would soon be removing Galileo, Thomas Hobbes, Calculus, and Rhetoric from the syllabus and replacing them with how to manage your privacy on Facebook, ways to make your Flicker account edgy and cool, and of course, the best way to redeem your public standing through your Twitter. In this article he talks about ways you can use social media to help you land your dream job. Offering some very creative tips for helping you with the interview process, such as advice on how to find a prominent contacts email, and learning more about your future employer through their twitter postings, it’s a must read. What this post really shows is that it always pays to be ahead of the curve when looking for a job, and (just as we suspected) that social media can help you get there. Read on here.

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The History of Advertising on YouTube

Another social network is figuring out how to turn your avid fandom into millions of dollars worth of revenue. Shocked? Neither were we.  As much as we love using social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and in this case YouTube, we need to remember that in the end these free services are businesses, and it is interesting to see how a free service can generate so much cash. This infographic covers the evolution of advertising on YouTube since its creation, but also includes all the other cool services the video sharing site has garnered along the way, as well as other stats. This infographic gets huge points for including the first instance of a Rickroll, because let’s face it “I’m never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down, never gonna run around and desert you” is just hilarious. See the full infographic here.

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Study: Checking Social Media Addiction on Par with Smoking, Drinking

As odd as it might seem to some and as obvious as it probably seem to others, a recent study has found that social media can be just as addicting to people as smoking cigarettes or hitting the bottle. Some of the quotes by participants in this study are actually quite disturbing, as one of the participants equated having social media taken away from him to his hand being cut off. The parameters of the study are not given in this article, so it is unclear if they followed the scientific method, though the test size and demographics are given. Most likely someone would learn to cope with life without Facebook or Foursquare after a couple of days or weeks without them, but then again maybe a future epidemic is on the rise. Perhaps it is only a matter of time before we start seeing people holding signs with “Will work for Facebook”, or have to listen to your friends tell you not to lend that guy money because he will just go and spend it on Twitter. Hey, it could happen. Read more here.

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Local Broadcast Station Leverages Dukky Platform to Harness the Power of Social Sharing in Cross-Channel Advertising

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WJW – FOX 8 in Cleveland used marketing technology company Dukky’s SaaS Platform to launch multiple cross-channel campaigns that doubled response and ROI for their advertisers.

 

 

New Orleans, LA (PRWEB) July 21, 2011

As social media integration continues to become important for great marketing, local television stations are looking to give their advertisers the ability to reach and engage a more targeted audience and leverage those customers to become brand evangelizers. Many stations have recognized that offering their advertisers new ways to generate qualified leads through social sharing, in addition to traditional digital and broadcast advertising, is helping elevate their game in providing true returns for local businesses.

One television station is at the forefront of this evolutionary movement. WJW – FOX 8 in Cleveland, Ohio has recently begun using Dukky marketing technology which provides the ability to target and share clients’ promotional advertisements virally through customized microsites. These microsites, developed on the Dukky SaaS Platform, send customers through an interactive sales “funnel” capturing quantifiable data on their customers through contest registrations. With the integration of social sharing and incentives, each campaign can reach new customers, potentially ones that have never been exposed to the station or the client’s brand before. The Dukky Analytics Dashboard visually manages those incoming leads in real-time, showing engagement at each level of the funnel.

Using Dukky campaigns, FOX 8’s advertisers have enjoyed an astounding increase in response rates and ROI, in some cases nearly doubling the returns from previous, more traditional digital ad campaigns. Equipping their campaigns with incentives for sharing through Dukky’s Viral Peer Sharing, local clients have seen 70% to 85% increases in their response rates to their campaigns.

A major national furniture client of FOX 8’s recently launched a multi-platform campaign using Dukky and had great success. Over 18,000 people visit their Dukky-powered microsite; forty-two percent of those visitors shared their information and were added to the local furniture store’s customer database. Of those who gave their information nearly 60% shared the company’s offer on their social networks and through email, bringing in over 6,300 new customers to their microsite. Other FOX 8 clients enjoyed similar results to their campaigns, gaining new customer lists with 1,000 to 7,000 new customers each. All enjoyed share rates of 15% or higher as well.

By integrating Dukky technology onto its existing marketing strategies FOX 8 has been able to take its marketing reach and revenues to new heights.

Jennifer Guerrieri, Vice President of Interactive for Local TV LLC, FOX 8’s parent company, says, “Dukky has been a great addition to our marketing platform for local clients. With the wide net that we cast — television promotion, focused interactive marketing on our websites, and a mechanism for data collection and social sharing– Dukky has rounded out an offering for us that has driven tens of thousands of dollars in direct marketing revenue.”

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An Idiot’s Guide to Public Relations

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One of Team Dukky’s own was quoted in a recent article on Talent Zoo’s PR Professionals blog, Flack Me. Read on for some insightful (and retweetable) tips for better public relations in Brian Wagner’s final installment of the Idiot’s Guide to Public Relations series. Wagner is the PR Managing Director of Brown Lloyd James Public Relation’s DC office. You can follow him on Twitter @BrianBWagner

In a perfect world, tomorrow’s headlines would read, “Idiocy in public relations extinguished,” followed by an account of how the nation’s PR pros had woken up that morning equipped with all the knowledge, experience, and common sense necessary to excel in their jobs. But such flights of fancy are not meant to be, and PR pros will continue to have to learn their jobs in a piecemeal manner.

For the last six articles, this series has helpfully and whimsically provided common sense dos and don’ts for PR pros looking to learn the ropes or improve their performance. Today’s article has been turned over to a handful of well-respected public relations pros who will share their expert insights in order to wrap this series up with a bang.

A round of applause for the judges …

* Gini Dietrich, Founder and CEO, Arment Dietrich, Inc. (@Ginidietrich)
* Dominique Ellis, VP of Product Development, Dukky (@Dominiqueellis)
* Lauren Fernandez, Account Executive, Fleishman Hillard (@cubanalaf)
* Len Kendall, Account Group Supervisor – Digital, Golin Harris (@Lenkendall)
* Heather Whaling, Founder, Geben Communications (@PRtini)

Doing Your Job: Once you start working in public relations, you are always on the go. There often is not the luxury to stop, take a deep breath, and think. So refer to these insights in advance to help you understand how to do your job, each and every day, a little bit better.

  • The best PR pros are simply great hosts. If you’re not consistently introducing new and innovative folks to the mix, you’re not doing your job. (Dominique)
  • Remember that other types of agencies are organically becoming very good at what PR has done for a century. You must learn faster than them. (Len)
  • Each lost minute can be damaging. Type thoughtfully and cautiously, but focus your energy on brevity and quick (when appropriate) reaction. (Len)
  • Measurable objectives are key in every project — if you can’t tie it back, it isn’t the right strategy or tactic. (Lauren)
  • Got a difficult client? Don’t underestimate what we know from birth in the South — a smile and a “sure, honey” or “yes, sir” can do wonders. (Dominique)

Growing as a PR Pro: Doing your job better is a good start, but its also important to think about how you can improve how you do your job in the aggregate, not just on a day-to-day basis. Continue reading →

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Welcome to the July 13th edition of “What We’re Reading”, a weekly series where we award prizes to our readers ranging from ground breaking industry news to useful tips that will blow your mind. If you haven’t played “What We’re Reading” before don’t worry the rules are straightforward, simply read the summaries presented below and click on a story that interests you. Upon finishing the article, you will be awarded with a plethora of knowledge that you can use to help your blog, your business, or even your weekend forays as a vigilante crime fighter (at least, that’s what we do on the weekends).

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Google+ About to Hit 10 Million Users

It’s starting to look like all of those articles that postulated that Facebook should be very concerned about the looming threat of Google+ may have some merit.  According to some research presented by Mashable, which rightly described the report as unofficial, claims that Google+ may have already garnered more than 10 million members. Normally, we’d like to include a quirky jest or attempt a clever metaphor here, but shall refrain from humor for this news and instead differ to awe. If these estimates turn out to be true, and they are based off of a methodology that is questionable at best, than it is possible Google+ will have had a user growth rate faster than any social network in history (pause for the awe here).

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Tesco Opens A Subway Virtual Store

When the 2nd most popular super market in South Korea wanted to break into the number one spot, they concocted a plan that was part marketing, part social, and part genius. Placing wall-sized images of isles of their super market in a subway, commuters only had to go to the produce they wanted to buy, and scan the QR code provided for the specific item. When they were done they paid on the smart phone, and their groceries were delivered to their homes. Unfortunately, the grocery isle posters did not come with a flavored sample, so that we could discover once and for all if the snozberries did indeed taste like snozberries. Click here to see the video.

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5 Tips for QR Code Campaigns

Since the previous YouTube video was a clear illustration of the power of QR codes, and how the tiny little piece of smartphone-friendly genius can change the world, we’ve decided to provide you with some tips on how to use them.  These five tips come from Forbes, and not only are they awesome because they provide some great information, but also because it includes a lovely tongue wagging image of Gene Simmons. Watch the YouTube video for inspiration, read this article for advice.

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Social Media Playing a Bigger Role in Crimes, Investigations

In what seems to be an immediate response to the Huffington Post’s article about cyber criminals, the Washington Examiner has put forth an article about cyber crime fighting. The tactics of online law enforcement are only just formulating, however. Their current strategies range from friending likely victims in order to deter predators, playing big brother and collecting data from known suspects’ Facebook pages, and of course the tried-and-true tactic of tweeting the bad boys’ mom. So all of you online criminals out there, let this be your first and last warning, for soon you will be issued your right to remain silent and yes, that includes updating your relationship status on Facebook from single to cell buddies with one-eyed Steve. To read more about the tactics see the article here.

 

 

Surfs up! Harnessing the Power of the Crowd

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As a music junkie, a few weeks ago I attended the Hangout Fest in Gulf Shores Alabama (which every music lover should go to) and it really got me thinking about crowd surfing. Since I always have marketing on the brain, watching the surfers got me to thinking about crowdsourcing. Here at Team Dukky we’re encouraged to look for innovative ideas everywhere. As I watched the surfers get passed up and down the masses I was reminded of the power of “the crowd”. How can we harness that power to help in spreading our message? Crowdsourcing is the answer. But while jumping into a sweaty crowd of screaming fans is (as you may know) a righteous experience, crowdsourcing is actually more suited for the musician’s agent than it is for, say, the Black Keys themselves.

Crowdsourcing is a hot topic these days, especially in the marketing industry. It allows companies to harnesses the intellect and creativity of the masses, and it is this focus on the “crowd” instead of the individual that gives the term its name. True, it is a form of outsourcing, but not in the way we’ve come to define that term. Through crowdsourcing businesses present a problem to a large group of their engaged followers and/or customers and ask them to solve it. The benefits are two fold – the company gets the valuable insight of what their target audience wants (or in some cases, don’t want) and the customers get to feel like their voice is being heard. If their ideas and concerns are taken to heart, and they see their ideas implemented, they are then encouraged in their relationship and remain devoted fans. It’s a win-win situation.

The rise of the Internet has seen this tactic take a stage dive the likes of which has never been seen. People are gathering at the request of businesses or creating websites of their own and offering their services at prices most could never dream of. Wired Magazine ran an excellent article on the practice right about the time that crowdsourcing started getting noticed in 2006. Among the groups mentioned were amateur photographers offering professional grade photos for fractions of what the pros charge, and the rise of TV shows that featured fan created videos. However, the crowdsourcing practice that really caught my eye was the group InnoCentive, which provides a platform for major corporations to offer rewards to those who can solve their most complicated R & D problems. The starting amount for reward money is $10,000 and some eclipse the $100,000 mark. Bear in mind however, that these problems are incredibly complex. One of the people interviewed in the Wired article explained how it is often the people with no experience in the respective field, who have the best chance of solving the problem.

You might ask yourself what any of this has to do with social media or marketing, and the answer is much more than you might realize. Crowdsourcing, at its core, is the practice of utilizing the untapped resource of the crowd. Facebook is the largest crowd on the Internet these days (though Google+ is hoping to bring an end to that). At 600 million strong, it is still growing daily. Like Facebook, Dukky realizes that the ability of the everyday person to be a brand evangelist is exponentially greater than most businesses give them credit for. If the crowd can help solve the most complicated experiments in the fields of science, than surely they can also help with advertising.

The trick to making the world a better place is allowing the world to help. This holds true in the marketing world as well. Dukky’s unique marketing platform allows you to leverage your customers to reach new ones across a multitude of crowds  – through email, Facebook, Twitter and 0ver 340 other social media networks – and track the outreach and its response in real time on the Analytics Dashboard. Harnessing the power of the crowd has never been easier.

So, we ask you, whose up for some crowdsourcing? Take the plunge today!

This blog post was written by Brice Sanderford who has been helping the sales team at Dukky. He also got to go to Hangout Fest, which we are all still highly jealous of him for. You can find him on LinkedIn here.

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Welcome to the July 6th edition of “What We’re Reading”, our weekly series where we dig up the most current and fascinating industry news. We’ve decided to include some patriotic comedy in honor of July 4th, as well go across the globe and into the Web in our search for the hottest topics.

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iPads Generate 1% of the World’s Web Traffic

The social media enthusiasts over at Mashable have released some fascinating information concerning the iPad and all signs point toward the powerful tablets soon conquering the human race and harnessing our species for energy. Ok, maybe not. While a robot takeover isn’t exactly looming, research has shown that Apple’s tablets are responsible for 1% of all the web traffic on Earth. That number might not initially seem like much, but when you factor in the brief amount of time that the product has been on the market, and that it is going up against every PC, desktop, and smart phone on the market, the statistic becomes much more impressive. The article speculates that this could mean the end of the desktop as we know it, but we would like to know if you think it’s time for the desktop to tell Dave it’s scared? Read more here.

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The History of America Today, As Told by Facebook

America just hosted an event and everyone was invited – Time: Freedom O’clock, Place: Home of the Brave, Occasion: 4th of July. This is the way the world would look if it existed in America’s fictional Facebook profile, but after reading this funny comic, that fiction should be made into reality. The good folks at the New York Times decided to chronicle America’s history in the fashion of a Facebook page, and it couldn’t have been more hilarious. Just think that only 235 years ago, America was only a run-a-way from England, with grand dreams and a youthful resistance to perfumed wigs and overpriced tea. See the profile here.

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Google + Launched: What Are The Top 10 Social Networks?

We’ve been reporting on the highly popular story of the release of Google+ for a few weeks now, and we finally have found an article that does a great job of describing some of the features that the new social platform will provide. It may just seem like even more made up social lingo to remember at first, with terms like Circles, Sparks, and Hangouts, but once you read about them you will see just how cool and innovative they are. It will be interesting to see how things go from here, and if Google’s attempts to combat Facebook in the social world will finally workout. Read more about the story here, or I suppose you could Google it, you rebel you.

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China Wants to Buy Facebook

It looks like China may have grown tired of its own Great Wall and wants to buy a new one, the great Facebook Wall of China. Rumors are running wild that China has been approaching former Facebook employees with the intent to buy their stock in the social media giant, and it is also said that China has partnered with Citibank in an attempt to buy over $1.2 billion worth of stock. Some experts say that there is no need to worry about China’s heavy interest in the company, and that it currently isn’t pursuing stocks that include a voting stake in the company. However, others warn that Mark Zuckerburg would be crazy to allow the Chinese to gain to much control of the company, because control is all they are looking for. Do you think that these are just economically sound investments on the behalf of the Chinese, or that we will soon witness a massive takeover leading to endless censorship? Decide for yourself here.

 

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The Hectic Life of The Social Media Manager

As a company whose existence it tied heavily to social media we know all too well what it takes to successfully run that kind of online presence. It’s one part workaholic, one part innovator, one part technology nerd and 80 parts caffeine and smart phone addiction. Don’t believe us? Check out this infographic to get a glimpse into a day in the life of a Social Media Manager. Then, we recommend you go buy yours a cup of jo. Trust us, they need it.

 

 

Dukky Direct Mail Campaign Featured in Deliver Magazine

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Recently, Dukky campaigns have been generating a lot of buzz and we couldn’t be happier! From our slam-dunk live presentation at the Sir Speedy, PIP and Signal Graphics Annual International Convention last week in Las Vegas where we built-out and launched a campaign for Designer Social  (click here to enter yourself) to our microsites being featured in clients’ broadcast commercials, we’re popping up all over the place.

Our most recent coverage, and perhaps greatest of late, was a feature in the current edition of the USPS Deliver Magazine which covered the successful direct mail campaign of a local fast food franchise in the Greater New Orleans Area. Click the image below to read the full article.