Fascinating Finds and Observations
Your Choice. Your Voice.
One thing we have a lot of these days is choice.
Want olive oil? There are a hundred to choose from.
Want to host your website on a reliable server? There are many, many options at your fingertips.
Choice is great.. until there’s so much choice you feel overwhelmed. My brother had a great line in one of his films from a few years back, which was “Why is it there are hundreds of cheeses to pick from, yet only 3 political parties?”. The political parties seem to be catching up with the cheese these days.. but I digress.
I’m sure many an article has been written about choice paralysis… not being able to make a decision due to too many options. This is what makes personal endorsements so powerful. If someone I know and trust recommends something – I am considerably more likely to get it. A friend’s endorsement offers needed guidance in a world stuffed with multiple choice.
This is why the latest evolution in Facebook Ads is so brilliant. This month Facebook started experimenting with friend’s ratings of ads.
This means people in one’s personal network can like an ad, rate it (out of five stars) and leave a comment. This allows friends to see what each other has liked – personalizing the advertising and making it more relevant to the target audience. Products or services endorsed by a friend you respect and like, are more likely to get your attention and your business.
You can read more about that here.
Google Places has enabled reviews of ads for some time – but this too is evolving. Now, business owners can respond to the reviews people write and post on Google Places. Additionally, business owners can now post real-time updates to their Google Places listings – to offer customers timely specials or deals, or even coupons compatible with mobile phones.
Yelp is another directory all about customer reviews. (Interestingly, Yelp was almost acquired by Google in 2009 when the deal fell through.)
It helps too when businesses respond to reviews. It’s only fair and I, personally, appreciate hearing the other side of a story. However, some people need to be reminded of just how publicly permanent their written words are. This particular Yelp response to a review is one that should be a lesson to us all. The business owner blasted the reviewer and accused him/her of being the competition in disguise.
Well, at least such a vitriolic response helps to eliminate that business from your basket of choices…proving any voice can shape your choice.
Tags: ads, customer reviews, facebook ads, Google Places, marketing, yelp
An Experience at F5 Expo in Vancouver
On April 7th, some members of the Magnify Digital team attended the F5 Expo at the Vancouver Convention Centre. Different people had varying opinions about the conference, panels and trade show. All in all, it was an experience.
The morning started with a surprise for attendees and organizers alike. I was greeted by a room full of people waiting in line at the entrance of the Convention Centre – technical difficulties. After an hour wait, I was finally able to check-in.
The day went well. I visited some booths at the trade show and attended some of the panel discussions. Here are a couple interesting points I heard from the panel discussions:
- If a search engine user sees a company’s results in both paid and organic listings, they are 25% more likely to click through on either listing
- 60% of Canadians use more than 1 search engine
- “Viral is an outcome, not a plan”
- YouTube has made videos eternal – watch what you say
Overall, the conference sessions were okay, but the opportunity to connect with other people at the conference was the highlight of my day.
Here’s what other people are also saying about their experience at the conference:
- Do a quick search on Twitter for #F5Expo.
- Read a student’s F5 Expo journey.
- Or a person’s personal insights and inspirations attending F5 Expo.
- How about, F5 Expo as experienced through Twitter, 140 characters at a time.
So, what was your experience at F5 Expo?
Victor Chan
eMarketing Strategist
Tags: experience, F5 Expo, insights, magnify digital, vancouver convention centre
A Vancouver Marketing Strategist’s Day in 20XX?
Photo Credit: skippyjon
7:00am
I woke up to my alarm clock, yawned and wondered what day it was today. Realizing it’s Tuesday, I brushed my teeth, took a shower and got dressed for work.
7:30am
I sat down at the kitchen table to eat my favourite cereal, Honey Nut Cheerios. As I poured out the cereal, a small holographic sticker fell out of the box. Picking it up, I thought, “They still make these?” and had a good chuckle at myself. Stretching out, I reached for my iPad across the table and opened up the Vancouver Sun. The Headline News was “Google Bought Another Country”…go figure. Right beside the headline I saw the Flash video playing an ad for our client. Yes, it was Flash!
8:00am
My iPad suddenly spoke, “It’s now eight o’clock”. I took a quick glance at the clock, hoping my iPad was somehow lying. I jumped off my chair, grabbed my MacBook Pro and darted for my car, knowing how bad the traffic would be in the morning.
8:30am
I slipped into my car, where the fun begins every morning. My Google Android equipped car powered up and gave me a report on any traffic accidents on my route. After that I told Jessie (Yes, I named my car, Jessie) to login to Twitter and read the latest tweets from my Twitter List. Hands-free of course, it’s great how voice-recognition technology has come along.
As always it’s cloudy and raining in Vancouver. Pulling up to a red traffic light I started daydreaming about what it was like back then, driving without a HUD windshield. The windshield is great especially while driving at night or in the rain when visibility isn’t that great…
“The traffic light has turned green”, Jessie spoke.
…or for drivers who are often preoccupied.
I drove past Cambie & Broadway and Jessie prompted me, “Moyra checked in at this Starbucks 15 minutes ago. She recommends the Chai Latte”. Jessie’s hooked up to Foursquare, of course, and all my other social media accounts. Location-based social media marketing at its finest wouldn’t you say? I was tempted to stop by, but I was going to be late for work.
9:00am
I arrived at work. (To be continued…)
Victor Chan
eMarketing Strategist
Tags: foursquare, google android, hud windshield, ipad, marketing, Social Media, starbucks, strategist, technology, Twitter, Vancouver
Browser Business: I’ll Get the Tab
Stop.
What tabs are open on your browser right now?
You are not allowed to close or omit any.
Be honest. I want to know where you’ve been, or where you will go when you get time.
Any time I’m working on my computer (which is everyday – all day), I find articles, posts or websites that I want to explore further. I create a fresh tab for each find, and then they sit there until the end of a day, or a weekend sometimes, when I have time to check them out.
So, in an intentional effort to navel gaze, I thought I would dedicate this post to reveal what’s in my tab collection today. Think of it as taking an overstuffed drawer, dumping everything out, and looking to see if there is anything interesting worth keeping.
Tab #1 – BBC: SuperPower Channel. Exploring the power of the web. http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specialreports/superpower.shtml
Tab #2 – NYTimes article on bumping phones to exchange money: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/15/owe-someone-money-just-bump-your-phones/?ref=technology
Tab #3 – A post on SEO blunders by 3 huge companies: Reebok, TJ Maxx, and Prada. http://searchslingshot.com/2010/03/big-brands-seo-errors/
Tab #4 – A blog post review about an underground restaurant in Vancouver. A place I plan to go very soon. http://www.foodandtell.com/2008/08/24/12b-vancouvers-underground-restaurant/
Tab #5 – A very popular post by Bit Rebels on how not to get burned out on Twitter. http://www.bitrebels.com/geek/how-to-be-active-on-twitter-without-getting-burned-out/
Tab #6 – Another blog post recommended offering stock options to employees to up their commitment to a company. http://www.ianbell.com/2010/03/05/on-stock-options/
Tab #7 – My Gmail account.
Tab #8 – My Twitter account.
Tab #9 – LinkedIn profile of the president of a company I’m very unhappy with.
Tab #10 – An article on the truth about cookies (the computer kind). http://lifehacker.com/5461114/
Tab #11 – Another underground supper club I thought sounded pretty awesome. http://swallowtailsupperclub.blogspot.com/
Tab #12 – Dictionary.com for doubts about my spelling.
Tab #13 – An article about Toyota’s crisis management strategy.
http://www.thebigmoney.com/articles/judgments/2010/02/17/did-twitter-topple-toyota?page=0,0
So, your turn. What tabs have you got?
Tags: browser, content discovery, tab
Technology convergence, what’s next?
7 years ago, I had an iPod to listen to my music, a Nokia to call my friends and a GPS for my car. Then smart phones like the Iphone arrived and changed my habits and created big concerns for companies like Garmin, Sony, etc. Today, I can already tell there is another merge on the way and a big battle is brewing.
In my opinion, the next everyday object to be replaced (and on a massive scale!) will be: the book! Just like music and movies, the whole distribution model will have to evolve, creating a crisis for certain companies and opportunities for others. We may have to wait 10 years for a device that will completely replace my beloved books, but one day, it will come. As most of you probably know, we already have contenders: Kindle, Nook and even the Ipad!
We can buy physical books right now, read them, resell them but it is extremely difficult to reproduce them. The cost of a “real” book is no doubt more expensive than the digital version because of the manufacturing and distribution costs. The eBook, if it follows the same path of most digital mediums, will not be sold like a traditional book.
Most likely, you will be able to “buy a license” rather than own it. The book will be linked to your account or device and won’t be transferable. In other words, you will lose a lot of rights. To convince you to switch, eBooks will have additional features and carry a lower price tag. If the store ever closes, you will most likely lose access to the books you bought legally but the hacker who cracked the system will be safe. You will be able to store thousand of books in a slim device but it will never look as beautiful as a room filled with books (just like my favourite library: the Austrian National Library in Vienna).
What will the device feel like? Look at the upcoming iPad, merge it with a screen as good as the Kindle but in color, vivid as the new oled screens (just like the Nexus One).
Will companies be able to adapt or will they fight against an evolving world by trying to impose their obsolete models? What about schools? Will the students just pirate the most expensive books? What will change for an Internet strategist like me? Will I be able to buy publicity in ebooks that could be targeted to specific readers according to their personal profile? Publicity that will change depending on the time of day and location? That would be amazing! Who could provide such a framework? Could it be you?
There are a lot of great opportunities everywhere. The ebook market will be one of them. So what is your plan to take advantage of it? Now is an excellent time to prepare yourself for the next big revolution!
Taotao
eMarketing Strategist
Tags: apple, ebook, ipad, technology convergence
