Category Archives: Social Media Marketing

The Success behind the Social Media Revolution – Focus #Egypt

Posted on February 11, 2011 | 7 Comments

To write today’s post, I had to look up successful social media campaigns from around the world and try to understand what they have in common. What made them successful? How was this success measured? And much more …

Social Media Examiner featured an article entitled “Top 10 Facebook Pages and Why They’re Successful” written by Amy Porterfield. In her post, Amy examines top brands from around the world and highlights what made their Facebook page stand out from the crowd. These are the tips, I’ve extracted from this great article:

  • Invest in Creativity & Design
  • Highlight Product/Service Uniqueness
  • Engage the audience through Sweepstakes & Competitions
  • Incorporated customer support
  • Create direct purchase opportunities
  • Keep things simple
  • Build a personal connection
  • Create different engagement platforms
  • Start discussion streams

Amy gives clear examples of how brands from around the world have used these techniques to create successful Facebook pages. I was also interested in learning what some of the top brands on Facebook are.

  • YouTube     26.9 Million
  • Coca Cola     22.3 Million
  • Starbucks    19.5 Million
  • Disney        16.8 Million
  • Oreo        16.6 Million
  • Red Bull    15.1 Million
  • Skittles        15.0 Million
  • Converse    12.6 Million

All the success factors, mentioned Amy’s post, are present in these top pages on Facebook. Another factor that plays a huge role in the popularity of these pages is the actual offline fame of the brand itself. Let’s not forget that there’s a lot of money supporting these brands and their social media development.

In my previous post, I showcased the role of social media in the Egyptian Uprise of January 25, 2010. The logical question to follow is WHY?

Was the success of the Egyptian Revolution on Social Media attributed to the common factors present in the top Facebook pages? No!

The social media revolution in Egypt was created by the people for the people. The twitter streams, the YouTube videos shared, and the Facebook pages created all had one thing in common – PASSION! Coca Cola might have 22.3 million Likes; on the other hand, We Are All Khaled Said only has 696 thousand Likes, but each comment posted on their wall has on average 4500 likes and thousands and thousands of comments in reply (one of the comments actually had 14,696 likes and 49,675 comments – WOW!). If the purpose of social media is to engage with your audience, given the figures I just shared with you, which of the two “brands” is more successful? The answer to that is easy!

So how does a multibillion dollar brand come second in terms of engagement? The more appropriate question is what does We Are All Khaled Said have that Coca Cola doesn’t? A: Pure unsolicited Love!

The audience wasn’t lured in by great design & graphics, or coupons, or competitions, or promises, or any of the other reasons that make other pages successful – they were driven by an internal need. The marketing lesson behind all this is that a brand’s success lies in its ability to genuinely cater to that need. This way it guarantees the birth of advocates not just likes.

In developing your social media platforms, the key is understanding your target audience and delivering a platform where they can express their views freely about the brand. So many social media campaigns fail (or only experience a short term success) because they deliver off the shelf solutions. I see hundreds of Facebook pages offering the same thing – no wonder they end up failing. When I’m invited to “Like” someone’s social network, they have to give me a very good reason to do so! I’m not a “Like” collector, nor am I interested in following a million people, I want value for my very limited time. Remember that tip when developing your social media strategy.

Are you just another brand on the social media train, or do you make a difference? Think About It!

PS. In closing, I would like to congratulate the Egyptian population on pursuing their passion and cashing in on it!

BRANDING UPDATE (Feb 13, 2011): I did some further research and I was able to find the technical word behind the success of the Social Media Revolution in Egypt – they had an Emotional Selling Proposition (ESP). The whole branding of the Revolution 2.0 was perceived differently primarily because of emotional attachment. (source: Brand Sense by Martin Lindstorm)


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The Social Media Revolution – Spotlight on Egypt

Posted on February 3, 2011 | 4 Comments

I’m not sure where or how to start this post, but I will suffice by saying “YOU CAN’T SILENCE FREEDOM”. This post might lead to banning me from Egypt or worse, but this is my contribution to a country I love dearly. I dedicate this post to Egypt.

Censorship is not new to Egypt! In fact, people have been silenced, one way or another, for the mere thought of opposing the ruling regime. This post is certainly not intended to be a political one, nor am I fond of the subject; this is simply a showcase of the role of social media in the Uprising in Egypt (January 25, 2011).

The voice of the Egyptian people was never louder – thanks to social media!

On January 25, 2011, the Egyptian people took the streets in protest of the ruling regime. Social Media channels (including Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Flickr, and blogs) were used to organize this revolution and as a platform of voicing the people’s frustration to the world and earn their attention.

A couple of Dedicated Twitter Accounts:

  • @25Egypt – Followers: 3,427 / Tweets: 2,664 / Created: Sun, Jan 23, 2011
  • @Jan25voices – Followers: 6,412 / Tweets: 579 / Created: Fri, Jan 28, 2011

Some Dedicated Facebook Pages:

Needless to say, that these are dedicated channels following up on the Egyptian Revolution. Let’s have a quick look at some random statistics:

WOW – No wonder they were very keen in shutting down all internet communication – the figures are scary, especially if they’re trying to hide something. You can run, but you can’t hide! Think About It!

In reply to the internet blackout, Google launched a service called “Speak2Tweet” Monday, January 27, 2011, giving Egyptians the option to call an international phone number (+97316199855)

and tweet via voicemail. After one day of complete communication blackout (including mobile networks and internet service providers), they reinstated the mobile connection and people of Egypt called in their tweets using this service.

How was social media used in this revolution?

  • Organizing Protests – Social media was used as a megaphone on steroids to spread the word about the demonstrations on January 25
  • Advice & Tips – Demonstrators were guiding others on what routes to avoid, what clothes to wear, what supplies to keep on hand – the international realm was giving tips on how to wash tear gas from their faces, etc …
  • Storytelling – Someone had to tell the real story since the local TV channels didn’t – filtering what’s real and what’s exaggerated was left to the reader, but it wasn’t hard, since the mass amount of videos, pictures, and articles helped paint a very clear picture.
  • Inducing Pressure on International Politics – Egypt is not alone; it doesn’t exist on an isolated planet with no connection to earth. So someone has to answer to all that has and is happening. The cry of the people on social media was too loud to be ignored by the international community. They earned the attention!

In closing, I would like to share with you a picture that was taken by a friend of mine, Beco G., who took part in the protests in Tahrir Square.

You Can't Silence FREEDOM

You Can't Silence FREEDOM - By Beco G.

In my next post, we’ll be looking at the social media lessons learned from the Egyptian Revolution 2011. Till then, I ask you to send your love and prayers to Egypt.

UPDATE – February 13, 2011: Dearest Readers, the different figures showcased in the this post were collected on the 3rd of February – I invite you to click on the different links for more updated figures, see the incredible growth rate to-date.

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Sharing is Caring, but Stealing is Illegal!

Posted on December 18, 2010 | 9 Comments

Internet Copyright Law - John AntoniosMy work has been republished online and offline in all corners of the world by many different people and it always puts a smile on my face to know that someone out there appreciates my work and finds it worth sharing with their network. This in turn grows my network base as well. So I never frown upon sharing of my work as long as the appropriate credit (citation) is given. I think it’s only fair to do so!

A couple of months ago, I was giving a presentation to a group of consultants about the Social Media Hierarchy of Needs and the first comment I got from one of the attendees was “this is brilliant, did you copyright that?”, my reply was “who would it serve if I hog this information all to myself, besides the internet keeps a record of who said what first …”

Recently, I had someone simply copy one of my posts and publish it on their blog without any reference back to me. I was furious. I had every “right” to be though.

So this lead me to google more about internet copyright laws and understand my legal rights and the fine line between sharing and stealing other people’s work. As expected, I got roughly 22 million search results, but the one that caught my eye was by Brad Templeton, entitled 10 Big Myth About Copyright Explained that i strongly recommend reading. Here is a selection of some of the common myths explained in details by Templeton.

  1. “If it doesn’t have a copyright notice, it’s not copyrighted.”
  2. “If I don’t charge for it, it’s not a violation.”
  3. “My posting was just fair use”
  4. “If you don’t defend your copyright, you lose it!”
  5. “If I make up my own stories, but base them on another work, my new work belongs to me.”
  6. “They emailed me a copy, so I can repost it”
  7. “It doesn’t hurt anybody, in fact it’s free advertising”

I’m assuming you do understand that all the above are myths, ie FALSE!

According to Templeton, copyrighting has two main purposes: a) “the protection of the author’s right to obtain commercial benefit from valuable work”, and b) “the protection of the author’s general right to control how a work is used.”

Does this mean you can’t republish or reproduce anything? Not at all! In most cases, all you need to do is just credit the author for his work - acknowledge his/her efforts, it’s always nice to say thank you. Think About It!

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Case Study: Rewarding Champions Using Foursquare

Posted on November 22, 2010 | 5 Comments

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone, I’ll just blog about it, post it on my Facebook and Twitter – oh and yes, I already checked in on Foursquare and sent out a shout out to all my friends!” said the disgruntled customer at the restaurant to the manager. In an earlier post, I talked about how social networks are the new customer comment cards and we should learn to listen more carefully from now on. I won’t be talking about displeased customers in today’s post, in fact, I want to look at the happy loyal ones – ironically, we tend to take those for granted as well.

I’m not a psychologist, and my experience has been limited to and intro class during my bachelors in business – but I clearly remember something called reinforcement.

Reinforcement is a term in operant conditioning and behavior analysis for the process of increasing the rate or probability of a behavior (e.g. pulling a lever more frequently) by the delivery or emergence of a stimulus (e.g. a candy) immediately or shortly after the behavior, called a response, is performed. (as defined by Wikipedia)

Now let’s look at through my favorite goggles – my marketing goggles. Reinforcement seems to be a great way to reward loyalty – I have to pause and stress on that last part – it rewards loyalty, not increases loyalty – these two are very different.

thank you chocolate bar

In this post, I’ll be addressing the subject of rewarding loyalty or what I refer to as brand ambassadors or brand champions. I’m talking about unsolicited loyalty – one that is purely a result of love of the brand, and all it represents! Not only should such loyalty (love) not be taken for granted, but I say it should be rewarded (reinforced).

Due to my frequent travel in my previous job, I have attained the highest level in the loyalty with the Intercontinental Hotel Group – my fortunate loyalty is rewarded by room upgrades, free nights, late check-outs, priority check-in, gifts, and much more … As a customer, I feel privileged and more importantly, I feel appreciated.

OK, some of you might be frowning at the fact that I’m talking about businesses with millions of dollars in budget! But think about it, is rewarding loyalty so expensive. Whoever follows me on Foursquare (or on Twitter for that matter) will notice that I’ve checked into Gloria Jeans Coffee over 16 times (and that’s only because i forgot to check-in every time I went there). Unfortunately, my loyalty has been taken for granted – do you think I’ll have a guilty conscious switching to another coffee place given the opportunity? Not for a second!

In my humble opinion, small businesses have a greater opportunity to reward loyalty, I’d go so far as to say, they have an obligation to do so (if they have any hope of survival).

Case Study: La Ville Cafe & Restaurant – Amman, Jordan

During my visit to Jordan to attend the Media ME Forum that took place on the 7th & 8th of November 2010, I was fortunate enough to meet a great number of like-minded people. One of these people is Zamil Safwan, who among many other things is the community manager of La Ville Cafe & Restaurant. He delighted me with his experience in using social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and Gowalla to engage their customers, and Foursquare to reward them. They’ve been using the latter for the past 6 months, and he shared with me his learnings to share with you.

How did you use Foursquare for La Ville?

Users started to use Foursquare to check in and the owner thought of rewarding them with something when they returned. We contacted Foursquare and after they verified us as the mangers of the La Ville, they added the management tab, which allowed us to add more info to the venue page at Foursquare and allowed us to create specials. After Foursquare approved the specials, we started with get a FREE coffee and dessert every 5th check in. This special showed up to anyone using foursquare in the area.

What were the results of using Foursquare? ( increase frequency? new customers? word-of-mouth? bottom-line?)

We got Foursquare users from all over to come and check La Ville and some came back to get the special. La Ville is the most checked in venue on Foursquare in Jordan because of the special.

How are you measuring your results? Are there any key-success factors you’re keeping a close eye on?

We check the Foursquare stats page from time to time to see when people check in, which day of the week. Very soon we will try different specials at different times of the day.

I noticed that La Ville has had 425 check-ins on Foursquare, a figure which clearly outnumbers the competition – how did you inform customers about La Ville’s Foursquare activity?

The special acted like an advertisement on Foursquare anyone in the city will see the special ad and will notice La Ville. We used Twitter and Facebook to let people know we are on Foursquare. We also hosted many Social Media activities like Young Leader Social Media Cafe and many #JoTweetUps were hosted in La Ville.

What are some of the customers’ feedback regarding this activity? Any negative ones?

Most of the feedback was positive but some BlackBerry users had some issues with not getting the FREE special showing on the device.

What do the internal stakeholders (owners/management, staff/waiters) at La Ville think of the activity? Positive/Negative? Why?

They liked it for the past 6 months and lately they asked to turn the special off because some people started to abuse it by checking in from far away and then when they have 5 check in they come and claim the FREE special. We are working with Foursquare to add some checks to limit the abuse.

What are some of the lessons you can share with us regarding your experience with La Ville & Foursquare?

Being on Foursquare website / app is a FREE publicity and if someone from out of town comes to the city and just checks their Foursquare they will see your venue and might try it. You can customize your special the way you like and you can have many specials approved and ready. You can alternate between them or run them all at the same time – you’re in control!

Zamil was kind enough to share screen shots from La Ville’s Foursquare statistics.

Have a look for yourself, see how easy it is to show your customers you care. Think About It!

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New to Twitter?

Posted on November 19, 2010 | 1 Comment

Twitter NewbieI first joined Twitter on Saturday, Nov 14, 2009 at 14:33. Exactly one year ago, on November 19, 2009, I had a total of 13 tweets out, and 3 replies, and 0 re-tweets. One year later, I have over 5,840 updates, with well over 1,300 people I follow and who follow me!

So why Twitter? Frankly, I just needed to join the big three social network: Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter! The gist of the first two was quite straight forward but I couldn’t get my head around Twitter – not from usability, nor from benefit aspects. I was completely oblivious to the fact that Twitter was about to be my secret weapon to social media success.

This post is dedicated to all Twitter newbies – one year ago, I was as lost as you are right now – but because of Twitter, my work has reached all corners of the globe, it has been translated into so many languages, it has been published in books, and much more …

Here’s a record of the post I’ve written about Twitter that should help you find your way to success through this gold mine.

Twitter & I – The Love Story

It might sound cheesy, but this is where it all began. In this post, I relay my story with Twitter and how I almost gave up on the whole tweeting. But just like any successful relationship, the secret ingredient is listening … and this is what I learned … read on!

Twitter – The 10 Commandments

Everything in life has certain rules, whether they’re elaborated or not is completely irrelevant to that fact that they exist. In this post, I list the 10 rules or what i called “commandments” of Twitter. Follow this simple recipe and I can guarantee a unique and rewarding experience … read on!

A Guide to Following People on Twitter

The more you interact on Twitter, the more follower notifications you’ll be receiving in your email inbox (some even decided to turn off this option – I don’t favor doing that). In this post, I laid our a flowchart that will help you evaluate new follower on Twitter … read on!

Twitter Re-Tweet Etiquette

There’s more to RT (re-tweeting) than meets the eye. In this post, I discuss the values that are attached with this seemingly mundane action, and show the basic equation for proper RT conduct … read on!

I decided to write this post to celebrate my one year anniversary with Twitter … the love story continues …

Think About It!

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