Original article: The Science of Social Timing

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Every brand is valued in 2 ways: 1) by the tangible brand value it holds in the form of revenue (Coke Classic revenue vs. Diet Coke revenue vs. Coke Zero revenue etc.) and 2) the intangible brand value it holds in the mind of the consumer, also known as brand equity.  A brands equity depends on 2 things: 1) how aware the consumer is of the brand and 2) how positive the consumer is about what they know about the brand as perceived by its image.  The consumer’s level of awareness of the brand is evident by 1) how well the brand is recognized by the consumer and 2) how well the brand is recalled when the consumer needs what it does.   A consumer’s perception about the brands image is reflected in 1) the attitude they hold toward the brand and 2) how well the consumer perceives the brand to fulfill the purpose it intends to fulfill plus any other perceptions that can be scaled positive or negative.  These metrics indicate a brands equity can be high, low or anywhere in between.  It depends on the consumer.

A brands level of equity is what drives purchase, repurchase, brand loyalty etc.  A brand with high equity will have a high number of purchases, repurchases, loyalty etc.  Social networks such as Facebook and Twitter are what help drive much of a brands equity these days in what marketers call “many to many” marketing.  Many people talking about brands to their many friends through social media.  The infographic below shows how Facebook and Twitter stack up against each other, which is helpful in deciphering how each can be used to build brand equity.

Source: AYTM Market Research

Based on the infographic, Facebook is the better platform for building a brands equity.  Seventy-four percent of Facebook’s 845 million active users use the site daily where only 35% of Twitter’s 100 million active users do.  Fifty-eight percent of Facebook’s users have “liked” a brand where only 29% of Twitter users are “following” a brand (for those who don’t know, “liking” and “following” are synonymous).  And though Facebook and Twitter are close in their number of users who mention brands in their posts (42% of Facebook users and 39% of Twitter users respectively), Facebook users are more likely to share someone else’s post about a brand than Twitter users are (41% vs. 29% respectively).

How does all this relate to building brand equity?  Facebook has more users who use the site more often, are posting more messages about the brands they like and recirculating messages about the brands their friends like more often.  Because of this, Facebook users are exposed more often to a brands messages, logos, positive press, customer success stories, promotions, discounts, events and of course what one’s friends feel about the brand which all influence the consumers knowledge of and perception of the brand.  This frequency and depth of brand engagement compounded with the persuasiveness of one’s social contacts is what creates brand recognition, stimulates brand recall, promotes a positive brand attitude and a positive perception of how the brand is fulfilling on its promises.

As a side note, according to the infographic, the majority of posts about brands on both Facebook and Twitter are positive rather than negative and positive information spread by friends is remembered better than negative information.  The sheer number of users Facebook has and their level of activity on the site mean that those positive posts cover more ground, making Facebook an essential tool for building brand equity.

If your company doesn’t have a Facebook account, consider getting one.

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This Clickable.com article speaks about the importance of having a Facebook page as a business owner. Some key thoughts from the article:

“People are on Facebook, and they’re going to talk about you. By owning and claiming your presence, you have the ability to start participating in the conversation.”

“In most cases, it’s easier to get Facebook users to interact with your page than it is to get them to interact with your website.”

“The increasingly digital world we live in has forced B2B and B2C brands to think beyond their traditional marketing – where a few people decide the brand messages their audiences receive – to programs and campaigns that originate with and revolve around the audience’s digital life. Facebook is one of the important aggregators of these audiences.”

PTNZ7DNGECDE

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Apple is an enigma.  They basically do the opposite of what other successful tech companies do and thrive – they shroud their new products in mystery rather than giving sneak-peeks of what’s to come; they don’t use focus groups for product research; they typically release their products in “generations” over  releasing brand new products; they don’t use their Facebook page; they barely use Twitter (a single account for the iBookstore app); they don’t advertise in digital media and they don’t blog.

I wanted to talk about Apple and blogs today, so here goes.  A blog can be very beneficial to a corporation yet corporations only account for 8% of the blogosphere as of 2011.  Between 2009 and 2010, the percentage of Fortune 500 companies that had corporate blogs only rose by 1% from 22% to 23%.  Based on these stats, Apple isn’t too odd for not having a blog.  Overall, blogs are an underused resource that can help a company in numerous ways:

• Blogs increase a company’s exposure on search engines.
• They help promote feedback from customers.
• They give a company a human quality in an online world.
• They increase the dissemination of controlled communication to maintain the brands message.
• They enhance media and investor relations by giving them easier access to concise company news and information.
• They help drive traffic to the company’s website.

Many of Apple’s direct competitors including Nokia, Motorola, Dell, Sony and HP have blogs.  But, does that mean Apple should have a blog?  Does Apple need help in the areas mentioned above?  Truthfully, no and no.

Sometimes a corporation doesn’t need a blog because they’re coving their bases just fine.  Apple doesn’t need extra exposure on search engines for example because 1) they receive a good amount of traffic from search engines already (15.8% of their visitors came from search engines) and 2) they receive even more traffic from the 750,000+ inbound links from other sites such as Google, YouTube, Yahoo, Amazon, Wikipedia, eBay, LinkedIn, Twitter and Craigslist, all of which are high traffic sites which is a benefit for Apple.

Apple doesn’t need to seek feedback from its customers.  Steve Jobs always felt that the consumer needed to be told what they wanted and that if you did in fact ask them what they wanted and made it for them, they would want something else as soon as they got it anyways.  Even though Apple doesn’t seek customer feedback as a way to improve products, they still succeed in building and selling some of the most sought after electronics in the world.

The Apple subculture alone can “humanize” the Apple brand without the company even getting involved.  There are dozens of Apple fan sites and blogs out there that enable followers to be involved in the conversation about what Apple is and what it means to them, which is exactly what Apple would want them to do.  Apple is a lifestyle brand which means its values and meaning are manifest in everything an Apple fan, thinks, does and says.  With so many people living and evangelizing the Apple lifestyle, there is no need for a blog to help humanize the brand.  The brand is already human; it created its own lifestyle.

Apple doesn’t need a blog to disseminate a controlled message or to enhance media and investor relations.  Their keynote addresses are famous for doing that and are awaited for and watched by hundreds of thousands of fans, media agencies and investors alike.  The keynote addresses are announced in advance and can be watched live.  They then are accessible for later viewing from Apples YouTube channel along with their current and past TV commercials which also act to disseminate the Apple message.

Regarding driving traffic to their website, Apple wouldn’t need a blog to help with that.  Apple.com is ranked as the 30^th most visited site on the internet globally.  Nokia.com is ranked, 596^th, Motorola.com is ranked 2,316^th, Dell.com is ranked 261^st, Sony.com is ranked 1,005^th and HP.com is ranked 242^nd.

A blog is a great way to help a corporation gain more web traffic, improve customer relations etc. but Apple has those things covered.  That doesn’t mean Apple fans wouldn’t follow their blog if they had one though.  Maybe Apple should have one just to appease the masses?

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The problem with every web page offering a checklist that supposedly results in a viral video is that the video maker isn’t the one who chooses to have the video go viral; virulence is in the eye of the beholder.

Research shows that a video goes viral because of the deep emotions that are triggered from watching it.  Deep emotions such as awe, fear, anger, lust, relief, embarrassment, etc. are ones that are universal among humans; we’ve all felt them.  Humans tend to connect through emotions far more than they do through facts and other information.  When was the last time you fell in love because someone knew all the state capitols?  Unless you’re a geography buff – never.   Research has shown that humans share emotions with each other as a means to create a connection with someone.  This innate desire to connect through emotions is what makes us want to share videos that trigger them.  This social sharing is what makes a video “go viral” as more and more people continue to spread the video that elicited such deep emotions in them with the hope that those they send it to will feel the same.

Don’t be fooled though.  Just because research shows that eliciting deep emotion will cause a video to go viral doesn’t mean that you’ve found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.  Setting out to trigger deep emotion is not the lost line item on the “how to” checklist.  How do you know the scare tactic you now plan to use will generate fear in enough viewers to make the video go viral?  How do you know that you will be producing lust or awe in enough viewers to cause virulence?  You don’t.  Once again, virulence is in the eye of the beholder.  Only the viewer will decide what is scary or funny or sexy.

The many websites touting checklists towards virulence are only offering ways to make a well structured video.  The video will go viral if its viewer’s decide it will.

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In the future I see a marriage of social networking and mobile commerce through something I call “Instant social m-commerce apps.”  The “m” in m-commerce for those that don’t know stands for “mobile.”

I’ve noticed that many retailers have shopping apps for the consumers’ smartphone where the consumer can browse products, search for products, buy products and even send an email about  products they like to others or themselves.  I found a shopping app for Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic and many others.  These apps are fine and dandy but lack a functionality to harness the power that influences 85% of purchase decisions today – word-of-mouth.

The instant social m-commerce app will still allow the consumer to browse, search, buy and email products they like, but will also allow them to draw on the opinions of their closest friends and family in real time to help them make an m-commerce purchase decision.

These improved shopping apps will let the consumer put the items they’re interested in into a “shopping cart” of sorts where they can then look to see which of their friends are currently on Facebook and send them a message that will include all the items they like.  This way the consumer can ask friends opinions on the items of interest in real time.  The benefit of having a feedback system of this nature is based on providing the consumer instant feedback from a trusted source that can then translate into instant gratification and instant sales.  We all know the consumer has to be convinced to buy in the shortest amount of time or risk them backing down from their purchase decision.  What better moment to seal the deal than during the impulse buy moment.  That being said, this obviously won’t work for items that have a higher involvement level, requiring more thinking on the consumers part such as luxury items.

I know what you’re saying, why not just take a picture of the item in question, add some text and send it to a friend as a picture message.  Why integrate with Facebook?  The main reason is just because a person has a mobile phone with them wherever they go doesn’t mean they’re available.  The only way to know if they are available is if you text or call them and they answer quickly.  Facebook will be integrated into shopping apps much more in the future because of how it makes people far more reachable at any one point in time.  Seventy-seven percent of people use Facebook at work.  Facebook currently has over 800 million users with over 350 million of them accessing the site from their mobile device or over 43% and rising.  Believing that most mobile commerce will occur through smartphones in the future, I feel it’s also important to point out that 49% of smartphone owners specifically use their phone for social networking.  Don’t forget the number of people accessing Facebook from home and school during the day and even the number of people accessing it from devices other than smartphones (i.e. iPod Touch).

Integrating a mobile commerce app with Facebook in this way will increase the chance of getting in touch with someone for an immediate opinion because of how many locations and devices Facebook is accessed from.  I argue that Facebook is one of the best methods for achieving constant contact and thus perfect for attempting to add a more social aspect to mobile commerce thus increasing sales.

What do you think the future of mobile and wireless technology will bring as far as advertising and e-commerce are concerned?

The video below shows how we are already halfway to accomplishing this technology.

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Widgets

A widget is a piece of downloadable software that can be used on a browser, desktop, social networking page, home page or mobile phone.  Widgets can as well be a bit of embeddable code that can be integrated into ones website at will.  The widget is a stand-alone application that engages the user and acts as a portal to content on a particular branded website.  A widget is not only meant to act as a utility that serves a purpose for the user that downloads or embeds it, but as an advertisement also.

One example of an effective widget is the DING! widget offered by Southwest Airlines.  Once downloaded the widget can be customized to notify the user when low fares to their common destinations are available through Southwest, eliminating the need to go to Southwest’s website and perform a search – the utility.  The commonly recognizable tail fin of the Southwest airliner sits in the user’s taskbar and the DING! sound it makes constantly reminds the user of Southwest – the advertisement.  When the user wants to book one of the low fare flights found through the DING! widget, the user is taken to the Southwest Airlines website.

Widgets can be incredibly beneficial for marketers because they are cheap to distribute; can have a high return on investment (ROI); can help acquire new customers; can help increase brand loyalty; are able to cut through ad clutter and can track user behavior and preferences.

Distribution of a widget can be cheap because of word-of mouth and social sharing.  The widget only needs to be made available for download in a few locations and word-of-mouth and social sharing will normally direct people to where the widget can be acquired.  Word-of-mouth and social sharing will also direct people to where the widget embed code can be found.  This virulence allows the marketer to save money by not having to place the widget in as many locations as would be required if placing a traditional banner or space ad online.  And because some widgets remain useful for a long while (think DING!), they keep advertising for as long as the user has it installed.

It is this social distribution of widgets that at times will make them so profitable for brands.  One study showed that the ROI from widgets will increase almost proportionately with the rate at which it spreads.  This sort of return depends on how shareable the widget is.  Ones that are made to be downloaded and used daily such as a weather widget or a stock quote widget are typically not as sharable because they aren’t as novel or interesting.

A widget can facilitate new customer acquisition by providing a medium for a first encounter.  If the widget is useful enough, even non customers may download it and the more they use it the more they are influenced by the brands message found on it which will increase the chance they will click through to the brands website and make a purchase.

Widgets can increase or create brand loyalty by giving the consumer another way to interact with and experience the brand.  The usefulness of the widget may have the consumer using it often and its usefulness will endear the consumer to the brand even further.  The DING! widget saves so much time and money, what would loyal Southwest customers do without it?  Can you imagine if Southwest got rid of it?

Widgets can cut through the ad clutter found online these days because of their semi to full permanence.  As was mentioned, some widgets will run their course quickly and be discarded such as games and entertainment widgets, but some will remain useful (again, think DING!).  Either way, if the widget is made correctly they will not only serve a purpose but be branded as well, conveying the brands message longer than a fleeting banner ad or space ad seen (or unseen) on the many websites surfed by the user.  In other words, the widget increases the frequency of exposure to the brand message without competition.

Lastly, widgets are useful to marketers because every download, every click through and every subsequent page viewed through the widget can be tracked.  This information can be used by marketers in numerous ways.

Apps

An app is a piece of downloadable software (not embeddable at will by website owners) that is used in 2 ways only; on a mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet or online by means of a browser such as Google Chrome.  The term “app” is short for “application” and “application” is short for “software application.”

An app is different from a widget in that an app has more interactive features and at times can function as a full website contained in a small package with streamlined features.  Some apps include e-commerce and customer service capabilities as well.  A widget usually revolves around a single interactive function (think DING! again) and is meant to lead the user to a separate branded website where they will interact with the brand.  As a result widgets don’t usually include e-commerce or customer service capabilities.  An app, like a widget is not only a utility that serves a purpose for the user that downloads it, but is an advertisement also.

There are some similarities and differences in how apps and widgets can benefit marketers.  Because each have different strengths, both an app and a widget may be useful in a marketing plan.

Apps are similar to widgets in that they too are cheap to distribute.  Apps, like widgets are distributed from a limited number of locations (app stores) thus the marketer doesn’t have to pay for ad space as they would with a traditional space ad and because of word-of-mouth and social sharing about the apps, friends and family are willing seek them out and download them with little prodding.

Apps can also have a high ROI.  A mobile app made to run on iPhone, Android and BlackBerry will run about $90,000 and reach around 600 users per dollar spent which equals around 54 million people.

Apps, like widgets can also help acquire new customers for the same reasons a widget can.  If the app is useful enough, even a non-customer may find it worthy of downloading and their use of the app may influence them to buy the brands products.  The customer acquisition process can be quickened by incorporating an e-commerce function into the app which makes the app even more useful.

Apps can cut through ad clutter just as well as widgets or better.  Apps are usually even more permanent than widgets and like a widget, hold the consumers attention captive while in use.  The permanence of the app increases the frequency of exposure to the brand message without competition, just like a widget.

Just like widgets, apps can increase or create brand loyalty.  Once again, the usefulness of the app may have the consumer using it often and its usefulness will endear the consumer to the brand even further.  What’s more useful than a simplified version of your favorite website complete with e-commerce in the palm of your hand?  Or a simplified version of a service you use now in the palm of your hand (think of the DirecTV app where you can tap into your DirecTV subscription and watch TV in the palm of your hand and control your TV remotely.)

E-commerce was mentioned as one thing that an app can provide that a widget can’t.  On a similar note, the app provides an additional revenue stream as the consumer is used to paying for many of the apps available to them.  The way widgets are distributed (outside of an “App Store” or “Market”) and because the consumer isn’t used to paying for them, it wouldn’t be feasible to charge for a widget.  Thus, widgets are still typically free and not a viable revenue stream.  The marketer relies on using the widget as an advertisement hoping they will lead to click through’s and conversions.

Another way that apps are different than widgets is that apps tend to carry an integrated social function.  Many app makers incorporate a way to share a high score on Facebook or Twitter or a way to collaborate with those in your social circles.  Nike’s Nike + GPS app for example, allows you to share how far you have run with friends who can check up on your activity through Facebook while you run.  Friends can show their support by “Liking” your running status which produces an audible cheer in the headphones of the runner.

The last thing that is different between widgets and apps is that some apps can’t track user behaviors and preferences.  Only if the user allows the app to collect such data will the brand learn anything from them and this is only when the app is built with this capability.  Many apps such as branded games and entertainment are just that, games and entertainment, not a portal through which the user can eventually chose to click and go purchase something from the sponsoring brand.  These sorts of apps act more like widgets in that they hope the user connects with the brands message and seek their product out through their webpage or store.

Overall, widgets are not apps and vice versa as you can see here.  They do share many of the same benefits but their differences make them useful for different purposes.

To view the rest of the “What are Web Widgets?” series, click here.

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“Luke…I am your father.  Come to the dark side; we have higher sales figures.”  Okay, Darth Vader didn’t say that, but in the advertising world there will always be a good side and a bad side.  When it comes to web design for advertising purposes the bad side has a specific name – the “dark patterns” side.

Dark patterns are those aspects of a user interface on a website (the part of the website that the user interacts with by being able to manipulate it) that use deceptive text or functionality to get the user to do what the company wants but still within legal bounds.  This practice usually fails to provide the clear and upfront information a consumer would need in order to make a completely informed purchase decision.  Dark patterns manifest in the form of hidden recurring charges or miscellaneous fees; buried terms and conditions that affect how the user will be charged etc.

Below you will find a description of the current varieties of dark patterns.  It is crucial for a web designer to know the dark side so as to avoid joining it by mistake or to simply be called out on a practice they thought was ok.  As one author states “If you want consumers to pay attention, you had better be truthful.”  These days, transparency is a must if a company wants to be respected by its consumers.  Dishonest practices in any form will at some point in time result in a reduction of credibility, loyalty, equity, sales and any other success that has been realized by the company.

Bait and Switch

The user intends to do one thing but the website changes things up on them, resulting in an undesirable and unintended result.  The most common dark pattern.  Nearly all other dark patterns use this trick in one form or another.

Disguised Ads

These are advertisements that are disguised to look like other content of the site or navigation features in order to trick you into clicking on them.

Faraway Bill

Today, we can receive our bills online or offline (snail mail).  Those bills received by regular mail provide a complete breakdown of charges.  Online bills regularly lack the detailed breakdown.  Many companies who provide online bills in this form say the lack of breakdown is for security reasons.  The customer would need to log in if they want to see the breakdown.  Many people don’t want to take the time to log in and are thus unaware of any additional charges they are incurring.

Forced Continuity

The user signs up for a free trial offer and are required to enter their credit card information.  When the free trial ends, the customer is automatically billed and doesn’t receive any sort of reminder that their trial is ending so they can decide if they want to continue and authorize the recurring charge.

Forced Disclosure

In return for a free for near free offer, the consumer is required to disclose personal information or those of their friends which is often unnecessary.

Friend Spam

A website asks for access to your Twitter, Facebook or email account and ends up sending spam advertisements to your friends as if you had sent it.

Hidden Costs

Undisclosed charges that are found on the last step of the checkout process online.

Misdirection

This tactic makes it seem as if the consumer cannot accomplish what they want until they do what the company wants of them where what the company wants from them is not truly required to proceed (registration, payment, disclosure etc.).

Price Comparison Prevention

Hiding or otherwise making it hard to find pricing in order to keep the consumer from comparing prices.

Privacy Zuckering

Using confusing jargon and site features in order to deliberately cause users to share more information about themselves than they would normally want to.

Roach Motel

The practice of making it easy to get into something like an online subscription but difficult to get out of it.  Often by hiding the functionality to get out.

Road Block

The act of purposefully impeding the user’s ability to perform an action such as placing a pop-up ad over a search feature.

Sneak into Basket

The system sneaks an additional item into the consumers shopping cart by using an “opt-out” button on a previous page that the consumer didn’t know they had to click.

Trick Questions

The consumer is required to answer a cleverly crafted question that when read quickly says one thing but upon reading more carefully asks something different.

Yes, none of these practices are illegal, yet they will assuredly confuse, discourage or anger potentially loyal customers.  Come to the good side, we have what you’re looking for, but we got it honestly.

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For future marketing efforts to be as successful as possible marketers will be required to use a more differentiated marketing strategy.  Two separate, and specific, campaigns will need to be created for both the Hispanic youth and their families.  The marketer “cannot simply transfer directly to the U.S. Latino market the conceptualizations or marketing strategies that work with more traditional, general market consumers.”  With regards to influencing less acculturated Hispanics such as many Millennials’ parents and grandparents, there are actually many culture specific characteristics beyond a common language that affect how marketing efforts are perceived by them.  These include their country of origin, the language they prefer to use in the home, their place of residence with its size of Hispanic population, and their strong family values.  Not only will the marketing message need to be re-thought because of these cultural characteristics but, the marketer will also need to take into account that Hispanics and their youth tend to give heed to different marketing strategies than those that work for the general market.

Marketing strategies that have proven to work with Hispanics in general are television, radio and direct marketing although they have to be used together to get the best result.  Regarding television, “49% of U.S. Hispanics who watch television during prime-time hours, watch Spanish language programming” and “30% of English-dominant Hispanics regularly watch Spanish programming.”  A marketer would have to specifically create television advertising to be aired in Spanish on Spanish language channels.

Radio advertising is key in that “the entire family may listen to one station and tune in, on average, 26 – 30 hours per week.  This ranks more than 13% above the general population.”

Direct marketing is highly effective as well in that 72% of Hispanics claim to always read their mail including direct marketing materials.  The process of acculturation leaves Hispanics welcoming what we would call junk mail as it helps inform them better of U.S. based products.

Hispanic Millennials are different in that they are attuned to technology based marketing as they frequently use text messaging, mobile media, and social networking sites.  Hispanic Millennials “are 211% more likely to download content from the Internet than the general population,” and “over 60% of Hispanic Millennials are online.”

A company wishing to successfully address Hispanic youth will need to create 2 separate marketing campaigns: 1 aimed at the youth themselves and the other for their families.  As well as take into account the individual cultural characteristics that influence perceptions when creating the marketing message.

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Consider the following in relation to the importance of these minority consumers:

• 88% of Hispanics use the internet to search for products.  Higher than the rest of the population.
• 90% of Hispanics use the internet to compare prices.  Higher than the rest of the population.
• 79% of Hispanics use the internet to aid them in making a final purchase decision.  Once again, higher than the rest of the population.
• 67% of African Americans will visit a brands website.
• 72% of African Americans perform a web search daily and 47% of them visit a brands website after finding it.
• One study reports that 89% of Asian Americans say they went online “yesterday,” with 87% of respondents saying they go online daily, compared to 77% and 74% respectively for whites who come in at second place in both instances.

This data proves that the corporate website is an important sales tool for addressing minority markets.  But many of the top 100 companies in the U.S. don’t seem to be taking note of this.  Out of the top 10 Fortune 100 companies, only 2 (#9 Bank of America and #10 Ford) catered to minority groups and even those site didn’t cater to African Americans and Asian Americans; only Hispanics.  The rest of the top 10 included the likes of #1 Wal-Mart, #2 Exxon Mobile, #3 Chevron, #4 ConocoPhillips, #5 Fannie Mae, #6 General Electric, #7 Berkshire Hathaway and #8 General Motors.  Sure, the consumer can only make an actual purchase from the Wal-Mart site out of all those listed but who says all 3 minorities aren’t interested in corporate information to help them choose a brand or to just be informed.

It’s crucial to reach out to the consumer through every means possible to get them interested in your brand; this requires contacting them through the media they are interested in.  It is obvious that each consumer group is interested in going online and using the internet for researching products of interest and making purchases.  Does the information provided on a corporate website not influence the purchase decisions and brand loyalty of the consumer?  This is what Integrated Marketing Communications is all about; having a unifying message across all channels in order to ensure a consistent message is made.  All consumer groups need to know what that message is and the message needs to be made available where they are looking.  According to the data above, that includes websites.

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