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Chatroulette viral by Condomerie.com

May 25, 2010 By Matthew Gain Leave a Comment

Condomerie.com, an Amsterdam based specialty store (of course you say), has created a Chatroulette inspired video.

For those who are not aware, Chatroulette, is a video chat service that drops you into conversations with random strangers. Though be warned before you try it out for work, it is well lewd and crude.

Great video and clever way to get an important message about safe sex across. Well done Condomerie.

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Filed Under: Professional Posts, social media, Web stuff Tagged With: Australia, Chatroulette, Condomerie, Digital PR, social media, Sydney, Viral Video, Youtube

Microsoft Kin social media marketing – a case study

May 24, 2010 By Matthew Gain 13 Comments

To build buzz for the launch of its new phone, Kin, Microsoft has been undertaking a fairly large scale new media campaign involving live events, a range of social platforms including, YouTube and Facebook, and a tour of America that explores the concept of a ‘friend’ in today’s society.

The work, which I believe has been created by Exposure, is in my opinion refreshingly good and a welcome departure from previous Microsoft social media marketing attempts like the Windows 7 launch video party series (although ironically the views of these videos far outstrip the Kin ones).

The campaign launched in April and will include 15 webisodes starring Rosa, a likeable personality who is travelling across America to meet in person her friends on Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.

The webisodes in my opinion are good. They are professionally created and engaging. The integration of multiple social media platforms has also been done well and two way engagement is going on across all of the ones I have viewed. The campaign has now launched another phase involving a series of live music events with bands such as The Black Keys.

Below I have embedded a couple of examples of the webisodes and also given a quick overview of the campaign elements and why I think this campaign has been successful.

This is the trailer to the series:

An example webisode:

Campaign elements (all numbers roughly accurate at time of posting):

Facebook – more than 187,000 people have liked the page and there is lively discussion going on via the wall. There are customised tabs for competitions. Videos and live events are also being publicised via the wall.
YouTube – a branded channel has been set up that has 3,130 subscribers (this isn’t huge), but has generated close to 600,000 views.
Twitter – the account has 4,487 followers and is being used to promote gigs and events happening in American cities. It is also being used for conversation and questions are being actively responded to.
MySpace – A highly customised page showcasing the webisodes as the hero content
Live events – live music events are taking place all over America, but to find out the details you have to be following the channels mentioned above to get clues and information
Microsite – this is the online hub for the campaign. Links off to all the social platforms and also provides more detailed information about the product.

What I like about this campaign:

Microsoft is everywhere its audience is. It has recognised that people interact on different platforms for different reasons and that no single platform is the answer. Refreshingly as well, Microsoft is playing on its competitors’ platforms (Youtube in particular) and not trying to confine this to their own platforms. Nice.
The videos are highly produced and engaging. The video quality is good and the talent obviously well thought out. Rosa is excellent natural talent that I found incredibly likeable. The initial trailer was obviously well promoted (165k) views, but subsequent videos were much less so – typically around the 5K mark, which must be somewhat disappointing.
The product mentions are not in your face. The Kin phone is present in each video, but where it is used it is relevant, not obtrusive and natural. Congratulations on this Microsoft.
The campaign involves online and offline elements. The offline elements give people something to engage with and offer situations for the public to generate and share content around the brand.
Microsoft is engaging in a two way dialogue. Across the Twitter and Facebook pages it is clear Microsoft is responding to questions and engaging in the conversation.

It will be interesting to see how Microsoft and its agencies continue to capitalise on the momentum they have generated thus far, but roughly a month in they appear to be off to a good start. I am not entirely sure about the phone, but I am only going on some reviews I have read and the form factor. I guess time will tell on that point.

What do you think?

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Full disclosure, I am a former employee of Microsoft and Microsoft is a client of both Weber Shandwick and my new employer Edelman. However Microsoft or its agencies have had no involvement in this post.

Filed Under: Advertising/Marketing, Digital PR, Microsoft, PR, Professional Posts, social media Tagged With: Australia, black keys, Case study, Digital PR, Facebook, Kin, microsite, Microsoft, myspace, rosa, social media, Sydney, Twitter, Youtube

Tips for improving your LinkedIn SEO

May 24, 2010 By Matthew Gain 36 Comments

This is the third in a series of posts I have published on improving the SEO around your personal brand. In this post I wanted to share some tips on improving the SEO of your LinkedIn Profile.

Before I start, I want to be clear that even if you follow these tips it is unlikely you will be screaming to the top of the Google search results. Having a blog that you update regularly is by far and away a more effective medium for improving your personal search rankings. However, if you are not that way inclined, or are already blogging, these things will not do you any harm and are worth trying out – even if it is just so you will have a completed LinkeIn profile.

Tips for improving the SEO of your LinkedIn Profile:

Complete your LinkedIn profile. Before doing anything else, make sure your LinkedIn profile is complete and up to date. There is absolutely no point in improving your search engine rank if the end destination does not represent you accurately. I wouldn’t go too overboard trying to game the system, but search engines do scan the information in your profile, so make sure you are including the keywords you want associated with your name.
Customise your URL. You can customise the URL associated with your profile to include your name, rather than the random sequence of numbers LinkedIn generates for you. URLs are incredibly important component of SEO, so this is a no brainer. (learn how to do this by watching the video below tip 7).
Pay special attention to your job title and location. Your location and job title are the only personalised pieces of information provided on a generic search for your name on LinkedIn. There is not often a lot of flexibility in job roles, but perhaps think about how you can present your title in the most effective way to include desired keywords.
Search result showing job title
Include your entire job history.People may be looking for you by searching for previous companies you have worked for. If these are not included in your profile then you may not be found. This is particularly important for people with more common names.
The result when you search Matthew Gain Howorth (an old employer)
Specialities. Make sure you fill out all the sections. A particularly good section for including keywords is the Specialities section. Google does index this section, so make good use of it.
Join related groups. There is an enormous value in joining LinkedIn groups beyond SEO. From an SEO perspective they help by associating the name of the group with your search profile. Search for Groups that are aligned with your professional interests. The Group names will typically include relevant keywords for you.
Customise your links. Rather than the generic, blog, company website or Twitter links that LinkedIn generates you can customise your personal URLs to generate more potential Google Juice. This is a little bit involved, so check out this handy video created by Mike Volpe of HubSpot.

Answer questions. I have heard it suggested that you can improve your search rankings by responding to questions on LinkedIn, thus creating link backs to your profile. I would imagine Google is clever enough to ignore this, but perhaps I am wrong? Irrespective, answering questions does raise your profile generally and is a good idea, so I have included.

As I stated above by following these you are unlikely to dramatically shift your search engine rankings, but they won’t hurt. Well worth an hour or so of your time in my opinion.

Are there any suggestions that I have missed? Do you disagree with any of the above? I am no SEO expert, so would love to update this post with additional suggestions or improvements.

This post of a series of posts I am making on SEO tips to improve your personal search brands. Other posts you can view are:

If you enjoyed this post why don’t you subscribe to my blog via RSS or email by following this link. Follow me on Twitter or connect on LinkedIn.

Full disclosure, LinkedIn is a client of my future employer Edelman, but they have had no involvement with this post.

If you enjoyed this post why not subscribe to my blog via RSS or email by following this link. Also whilst you're at it why not follow me on Twitter.

Filed Under: Featured, Personal Brand SEO, Professional Posts, SEO, social media Tagged With: Australia, Digital PR, LinkedIn, Search Engine Optimisation, SEO, Serch Engine Optimization, social media, Sydney

The role for the CMO in Social

May 13, 2010 By Matthew Gain Leave a Comment

Forrester Analyst Mary Beth Kemp, has posted on her blog the graphic below outlining ways CMOs can be leading the integration of social across an entire organisation.

The role for the CMO in social

Following from the graphic I posted earlier in the week, I thought this was an excellent tool to break down the complex area of social into bite size chunks that are understandable and actionable.

It is worth noting that Mary points out in her post that whilst the CMO should be ultimately responsible for driving social, activity should be split across the entire organisation, which I couldn’t agree with more.

The only problem for me with this graphic, as commenters pointed out in my last post, is that this only looks at social from an external marketing point of view. Of course I understand that this has been created with CMOs in mind, but there is enormous benefit for using social from an internal point of view as well. Your employees can be amazing external advocates for your organisation if they are happy and given the right education.

Thus the addition I would make is an internal comms component. I think this would fall in the embrace section and should be in the form of an internal only community for discussion and education. Do you agree?

Filed Under: Advertising/Marketing, PR, Professional Posts, social media Tagged With: Chief Marketing Officer, CMO, forrester, Forrester Resarch, Internal Comms, Mary Beth Kemp, social, social media

Fail Whale artist releases Win Penguins

April 29, 2010 By Matthew Gain Leave a Comment

Win Penguins by Yiying Lu

Yiying Lu, the designer of The Fail Whale, made famous as the image symbolising a Twitter outage, has been commissioned by a San Francisco couple to create the ‘opposite of the fail whale’ to celebrate their marriage, according to Mashable.

The result (above) is titled Win Penguins. Aren’t they lovely? Hopefully these little fellows will see as much success as the Fail Whale.

Hearing Yiying Lu speak at the most recent Social Media Club Sydney event I learned the Fail Whale has quite a back story and was originally known as ‘Lifting Up a Dream’. According to Yiying Lu the design was originally created to symbolise making dreams happen.

For those interested in the back story of The Fail Whale check out this post on ReadWriteWeb.

Filed Under: Art and culture, Professional Posts, social media, Web stuff Tagged With: Fail Whale, Mashable, ReabWriteWeb, Social Media Club Sydney, Twitter, Win Penguin, Yiying Lu

Thoughts on the PR Week/Diffusion Digital Integration Report: The Digital Divide

April 28, 2010 By Matthew Gain 11 Comments

UK PR Week, in conjunction with Diffusion PR, last month released a report on the integration of digital into the PR mix, titled PRWeek/Diffusion Digital Integration Report: The Digital Divide. I missed the report when it came out, but have now reviewed and think the findings are worth sharing.

Having worked in both the UK and Australia I believe the markets are fairly similar in the way organisations approach PR and marketing. Of course the budgets here in Australia are much smaller, but generally the way PR is done in the UK and here is similar, so the report and its findings I believe are also relevant for Australia.

Report methodology:

According to PR Week:

a landmark PRWeek survey of 128 clients, drawn from across in-house comms, marketing and digital departments, reveals exactly how organisations are grappling with the challenge of integrating social media into their existing operations.

Key report findings:

To what extent have you embraced social media and digital PR?

to what extend have you embraced social media Thoughts on the PR Week/Diffusion Digital Integration Report: The Digital Divide

To what extent have you embraced social media and digital PR?

Findings - more than 60% of those surveyed stated that social media and digital PR is being used either as an element of most campaigns or a core part of comms strategy. However, roughly 40% use it on an ad hoc basis or not at all.

My view – this result was not surprising for me based on the work I do with my clients. However, I would argue it is those organisations that have integrated social media and digital PR as a core component of their work that are getting the best results. Like any marketing discipline, social media digital PR works best when it is a continuous program, not something that is turned on and off.

With which external agencies do you work on social media?

which external agencies do you work on with social media Thoughts on the PR Week/Diffusion Digital Integration Report: The Digital Divide

With which external agencies do you work on social media?

Findings - 43% do not use an agency, 39% use a PR agency, 29% a digital agency whilst only 8% use a dedicated social media agency.

My view – I was surprised to see such a high number of practitioners responding that responsibility for social media was managed solely inhouse. Not that I am suggesting those inhouse are not suited to social media, quite the contrary in many respects. To me this highlights an unwillingness by client organisations to adequately invest in external social media expertise.

In the traditional space even the best in-house marketing practitioners utilise the support of agencies to deliver their results, why should it be different for social media? Assuming the agency gets it, I think in-house marketing people should be investing a good portion of their budget to extend activities in the social media space (disclaimer – I lead a team of digital PR people at a PR agency).

Where does ownership of social media sit within your organisation?

Who owns social media in your organisation?

Findings – 36% marketing team, 34% PR and comms team, 17% cross departmental responsibility, 7% yet to be decided, 3% dedicated social media team, 2% IT department

My view – social media is about engaging in a two way conversation with an organisation’s customers and public. Whilst there are multiple departments that talk to an organisation’s target market, there has traditionally only been one that has engaged in a two way dialogue – the communications department. As such, it is my belief that the communications department/PR team is best placed to develop strategy and lead direction for social media.

What do you see as the key barriers preventing social media adoption in your organisation?

barriers to social media adoption Thoughts on the PR Week/Diffusion Digital Integration Report: The Digital Divide

What do you see as the key barriers to social media adoption within your organisation?

Findings – 45% inability to demonstrate clear ROI, 40% lack of digital knowledge and understanding, 38% lack of resources and budgets

My view – it is not surprising to me that the top two barriers are a lack of clear ROI and a lack of digital knowledge. When people don’t understand something they typically won’t find a value in it. Fix the lack of education and the clear ROI barrier will be lowered, as will the barrier of budget and lack of resources.

How satisfied are you with your current lead agency’s social media and digital PR abilities?

how satisfied are you with your lead pr agency Thoughts on the PR Week/Diffusion Digital Integration Report: The Digital Divide

How satisfied are you with your lead PR agency's social media capabilities?

Findings – 19% very satisfied, 32% moderately satisfied, 15% very or moderately dissatisfied, 34% unsure.

My view – these results should be concerning for PR agencies. To me it highlights the fact that there are some, but too few PR practitioners with digital PR skills. Everyone involved in PR should be educating themselves in digital PR and agencies should be investing to ensure everyone has a basic understanding.

I have posted below some more graphics from the report.

What do you think about the report’s findings, are they surprising? Do you agree with my opinions? I would love to hear from you in the comment box.

Filed Under: Advertising/Marketing, PR, Professional Posts, social media Tagged With: digital, Digital PR, marketing, PR, pr week, Public Relations, social media

Tips to improve your personal search engine footprint

April 27, 2010 By Matthew Gain 5 Comments

I wrote the following post for Media Asia.

The ten blue links displayed when you type your company name into a search engine, not your company’s homepage, is where most people first interact with your brand. What they see on that results page, be it positive or negative, will have a lasting impact.

In the same vein, what is displayed when someone types your name into a search engine should be compared with the front page of your CV. If nothing comes up, what does that say about you? Or even worse, if the only things that come up are photos of your drunken exploits from five years ago, then your search engine footprint needs some serious attention.

Below I have outlined seven quick tips to help improve your search persona and ensure your search engine CV presents the right image.

1. Blog. Having a good blog habit is one of the simplest ways to ensure you control your personal online brand, but simply setting up a free account on WordPress.com is not enough. You need to generate content, ideally lots of content. The more posts you write the more content a search engine will have to index, and the more content others will be able to link to; both of which positively impact what appears when your name is searched.

2. Tweet. A step down in effort from blogging is Twitter. The major search engines rank Twitter high in their results and are now including Tweets as part of their real-time results. Aided by the 140 character limit, there is an incredibly low barrier for entry into the world of Twitter, so set up an account and add your Tweets to the 50 million odd tweets that are created each day.

3. Use your name. If you want to be found on the web, make sure you are optimising for how people are most likely to search for you, with your name. If available, purchase the URL for your name. Also, ensure your Twitter handle is your name and customise your Facebook and LinkedIn URLs to include your name. Of course this will be more effective for people with a unique name as opposed to all the Bob Smiths or Li Chens out there.

4. Understand how people search. Use the Google AdWords Keyword tool to understand how people search for your skill set. Put in the word that you think best represents what you want to be known for. For example a search on ‘PR’ shows that ‘communications’ is also a highly searched word. Armed with the knowledge of what people are searching for, use the terms in the content you create for your blog and also use them in your online profiles or bios to help align you with your chosen industry.

5. Be everywhere. When it comes to optimising for search engines, the more online presences you have the better. The popular social networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn, like Twitter, are featured high in searches for peoples’ name. As such, make sure you have a presence in the social networks that are most important in your market and to your industry. Also make sure you have personalised your URL. Learn how to do it for Facebook here and LinkedIn here.

6. Tag your images. Ensure that images you want to be found of you, perhaps the one of you accepting an award at the Cannes PR Lions ceremony, are tagged with your name and industry and uploaded on a photo sharing site like Flickr, so search engines can easily index your picture.

7. Remove the bad stuff. Just as easily as search engines find the good stuff, they will also return the bad stuff. If there are images of you that you wouldn’t want people to see, delete them. Also think very carefully before you post content to the web. Simply think, “Am I happy with this piece of content representing me to potential employers or clients?” and if you aren’t comfortable, don’t post it.

These are but a small sample of tips for improving your personal search rankings. If you have any others, why not add them in the comment box?

This post of a series of posts I am making on SEO tips to improve your personal search brands. Other posts you can view are:

If you enjoyed this post why don’t you subscribe to my blog via RSS or email by following this link. Or alternatively follow me on Twitter.