Think beyond Facebook

For a lot of organizations, the leap into social media begins (and often ends) with this sentence: “We need a Facebook page!” If you hear that said by a colleague—and especially if you say it yourself—take a step back and carefully consider your options. While Facebook’s 300 million members might make you think you have to be there, it’s by no means your only choice. And it may be a waste of time.

Your main consideration should be your audience. Are they on Facebook? If so, can your content compete with all the other content they engage with on Facebook? For some organizations, the answer is yes. But as Facebook grows larger, it will be a good fit for fewer and fewer organizations. While Facebook can be a great business development tool, its members use the site primarily for personal use, so you need to be pretty compelling to get noticed. Just because you build it, there’s no guarantee they will come.

Even if your company says no to Facebook, however, you don’t need to say no to social media as a whole. You could start a blog. You could launch a YouTube channel. You could put a discussion board on your website. And maybe best of all, you could use a tool such as Ning to start your own social network. There’s no one tool that’s right for everyone and no shortage of options. Saying no to Facebook may make it a little harder to get started, but thinking beyond the most popular social media site may be exactly the right way to begin.

--Anthony J.

The Show within the Show

During last Sunday’s episode of “Desperate Housewives,” viewers were teased with a Sprint commercial titled “Another Desperate Housewife.”

This spot was created by the writers of “Desperate Housewives” and was given the same general feel as the program, with a similar setting, tone and narration. It was like a mini spin-off masquerading as a commercial and featured a couple in the throes of suspicion, betrayal and mystery a la Wisteria Lane. There will be seven more of these shorts throughout the season, and the couple from the commercial will casually appear in a real “Desperate Housewives” episode, further blurring the line between the program and the commercial.

“You want to be able to relate to viewers within the property they know and love and that they have a passion for,” said Stephanie Kelly, Sprint’s entertainment media manager.

By incorporating elements of this highly rated program into their spot, Sprint is hoping to pique the interest of viewers and reduce the dreaded fast-forwarding of their commercial.

This is an innovative way of increasing commercial viewership. It makes sense. People who enjoy the campy salaciousness of “Desperate Housewives” will be intrigued and entertained by “Another Desperate Housewife.”

It is safe to predict that this ad will most likely be watched more frequently than a traditional ad and will be better remembered. But will it sell more Sprint phones?

--Tessa G.

Credit if you read it

One of the greatest challenges to buying advertising online is the lack of “ratings”; the data that tells agencies and their clients how effective an ad buy might be.

Search ads—those that pop up alongside your Google search for, say, coffee shops and tell you to get your fix at Café Joe’s in your neighborhood—are more popular, because they are measured by click-throughs. Though that might not be an entirely accurate measurement—some will see the ad but not click, and others will click on it by accident—it at least offers some hard number with which to gauge. And media buyers are really awesome with numbers.

But Facebook just announced today it will be polling users about display ads and sending the data to Nielsen for analysis. Display ads are typically banner ads, across the top or middle of the page, or ads down the side of the page, in the rail. Facebook will begin testing new formats for display ads and asking users whether they noticed the content.

Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg credited the company's revenue growth, which is expected to rise more than 70 percent this year, to Facebook’s increasing number of users and the introduction of new ad products. Considering Facebook is expected to generate more than $500 million in revenue in 2009, this could be a big deal.

It will be exciting to see whether this makes Facebook ads more useful and valid in traditional media buys. And just out of curiosity, my own poll: Did you see and link to this blog from Asher’s Facebook page?

--Julianne W.

What Media Buyers Want

I’ve recently been doing some web research for one of our clients, trying to find websites targeting women aged 18-54 who have young children and who live in Indiana. I happen to be a person who fits this demographic, so I can personally recommend a few sites I frequent; but honestly, I may not be your average bear. Ask people who know me.

Another option: to pick the strong newspaper or television websites of major metro markets in the state, which consistently get high traffic because of their local news and weather content. This option will reach a large population and may be cost effective CPM-wise. But it also will expose my message to a bunch of people who may not care, because they are not my core demo.

In a media-buying dream world, here is what I really want:

· A (free) website that ranks other websites based on basic demographic information:
o Geography
o Sex
o Age
· It could go a step further and allow us to target based on other factors such as:
o Education
o Marital status
o Income
o Children in the household
o Whether they ate at Subway in the past month
o Etc

I can see it now. You log in to awesomewebsiterankingbydemo.com, check all the targeting information you need, and up pops a comprehensive list of the top sites, ranked by total number of unique visitors who meet the demo criteria.

Is there such a thing out there? Compete.com is a good start for basic website comparisons, but you have to pay for the really good data. The stuff we really want. And need.


--Tessa G.

Sing-a-long math

The power of a jingle is never more evident to me than when I’m with my 12-year-old daughter.
She hums, she taps, she whistles, she sings. She sings Fall Out Boy, Taylor Swift, Pink and Katy Perry. She also sings the Luna Flooring telephone number we heard so often in Chicago: 773-202-LUNA.

This is a child who might not come up with the result of 7x8 if her life depended on it. But she could get you new wood laminate floors in a jiffy.

Every time I hear her sing some ditty or jingle off a radio or TV spot, I am reminded that setting things to music can be a very effective tool to help consumers remember important information. Especially if it’s used consistently and frequently, as those ever-lovin’ Luna spots were.

I’m writing tunes right now for things such as her morning routine, remembering to close closet doors and turn off lights, and how to pack a nutritionally balanced lunch. I might need a full opera for the multiplication tables.

There’s sound research to support the success of jingles. Professors Graham Hitch and Alan Baddeley at Cambridge University have published extensively on music in the working memory, and language and music as cognitive systems.

There also are some fun lists of the best-worst jingles and songs, the earworms that chew incessantly at your brain, online at How Stuff Works. Do you remember “you deserve a break today” from McDonald’s? What about the baby-back ribs jingle from Chili’s? Yeah, they’re stuck now, aren’t they? Sorry about that.

What’s your favorite? Or your love-to-hate? Share the pain. And let me know if you need some new vinyl tile.

--Julianne W.

Fox Introduces the “Tweet-Peat”

Fox is teaming up with Twitter to give viewers a unique reason to watch repeats of “Glee” and “Fringe” this week. Cast and crew members of the shows will tweet commentary, offer behind-the-scenes information and answer fan questions via Twitter. These tweets will scroll at the bottom of the screen during the repeat episodes of “Fringe” at 9 p.m. Thursday and “Glee” at 9 p.m. Friday.

I am a fan of social media. Both Twitter and Facebook are viable venues for my egocentric need to express myself and my voyeuristic desire to steal a glimpse into other people’s lives. But if I wanted to get insight into a television show, I would do it online.

We have to deal with so much sensory overload on cable news networks with the scrolling news and split screens. We put up with the scrolling commentary on last season’s repeat episodes of “Lost” because, frankly, “Lost” became so convoluted with its constant twisting of time and space that without the commentary, most of us couldn’t remember what happened before the commercial break, much less determine whether what happened was in the future, past or present.

Will fans take the time to go online and tweet their questions? Will these “Tweet-peats” increase viewership, or will the tweets merely annoy viewers? I expect that true fans of these shows will enjoy the inside information coming directly from the cast, but will they care about what the executive producers have to tweet?

To join in on this Twitter/TV experience, follow the two events at: twitter.com/FRINGEonFOX and twitter.com/GLEEonFOX.

--Tessa G.

All the news that's fit to post

Be still my heart—credible, vetted, properly sourced journalism still is valued. And not just by old-school former newspaper writers/editors such as me.

An editorial by former newspaper writer/editor (and now venture-capital firm senior adviser) Larry Kramer describes plans by Yahoo and AOL to not only aggregate content, but to publish original news.

As a former new-media freelance writer, I’m curious to know whether these mega-companies will pay a fair wage vs. the $10-per-500-word-story norm that seemed to be the going rate on many, many freelance writing clearinghouses.

I also wonder how that news will be edited. Newsroom standards are strict—we called every phone number before it was published. Looked up every address. Did the math when something was reportedly 20 percent higher this year. Editing is more than dotting I’s and crossing T’s.

Nonetheless, I have hope. That passion for truth and an open, informed society that motivated so many of my now-jobless reporter/editor colleagues seems alive and well.

“The moves to original content from the former kings of aggregation is an encouraging sign that some companies may come up with the business model that can support serious journalism,” writes Kramer.

That model may differ from site to site, he explains, depending on the type of content. Some may be supported by advertising. Some may charge for access. Regardless, there is a blessed awareness that the content must be credible to build a following.

Newspapers in major metropolitan areas might take heed. Bogged down with print infrastructure costs, many have cut reporters, writers, photographers and editors—content creators—to save money. I am eager to see what happens with those who choose the reverse, who shed physical costs to invest in product.

It might save that essence of newspapers about which I’m truly passionate: the accuracy, the credibility, the thoroughness, the accountability, the quality so essential to our society.

--Julianne W.