Social Commentary: Social Media, Online Marketing, Podcasting, and Your Business
Social Media, Online Marketing, and You
Wanted to mention very quickly that I am speaking tomorrow morning at 11am at the very kind invitation of Mark Iljal.. I will be sharing the stage with Beverly Cornell, the 2008 Connectech blogger of the year, talking about how podcasting and blogging is the cornerstone of your online and social media strategy.
Podcamp is free (great price!) and will be located at the Embassy Suites Hotel, 28100 Franklin Road, in Southfield, MI and runs from 9a-4p.
Editor’s Note: I’m going to stay away from the politics of this issue, but aim to talk more about the method.
What happened Tuesday was due to a lot of different factors, but undeniably, online and social media had a cornerstone role play in the election of Barack Obama.
Barack’s team almost flawlessly (note: one of the key players was involved in Facebook, should give you a clue) executed a social media and online strategy that raised hundreds of millions of dollars and mobilized thousands of people. I’m willing to bet the person who’s going to make the most money next cycle is a set of smart, conservative online strategists because I’m sure the Republicans are taking notes.
Seeing the power of their website (really, presence) – and now, with their transition site – it’s very obvious Barack “gets” online media. But what are the lessons to take home to your business or organization? Here are four I came up with.
1) Small payments work. Companies like 37signals blazed the path for this, but online can be a powerful way to raise small amounts of money from large amounts of people. I’m glad to see Motor City Connect, a social media business site here in the Detroit area, adopt this low-cost, high-value model and I hope it works for them.
2) It’s about touchpoints. Every post-analysis and my own experience showed that this was a “high touch” campaign. He/They did a masterful job of taking you “along for the ride,” engaging you in the story, all the way down to the thank you text message after victory. It was like a great TV show or movie, you were part of the action, you were involved.
3) They’ve created long term political capital they can draw on. To be sure, I expect emails on policy at some point. Not as much as during the campaign, but that database of 3 million or so names and emails is sheer gold for moving forward agendas. This has a business application in that you need to remember that all of your campaigns can build upon eachother, even if you switch firms or agencies (always get/keep your data!).
4) The power of cohesive, emotionally-connecting branding works. The Obama campaign, even in counties they lost, due to the money they raised and the presence they were able to project, were able to gain six to ten points over John Kerry’s performance, even in areas they knew they were going to lose. That made the core urban areas put them over the top in tough races. They opened their message/branding of “Change” to many more people than before. I can’t tell you how many republicans I know voted for Obama, because in part, it was a cohesive message, and John McCain appeared erratic because of such consistency.
Of course, there were a multitude of factors to his victory. But I’m sure that without the social and online media components, he wouldn’t of made it out of the primaries.
The Professional Sector of the Michigan Minority Business Development Council (MMBDC) hosted “Take 2” of their initiative to leverage relationships with the local film industry. It was hosted at the Heather’s Golf Club in Bloomfield Hills on October 24th.
The theme of this meeting was “The Film Industry, Myths or Truths”. Jacquie Munson-Gaines, of JMG HR Consulting, hosted the meeting that featured panelists from the industry. The panel included State Representative Andy Meisner, Jeff Spilman of S2 Entertainment Group LLC, Rola Nashef of Gas After Hours, LLC, Dennis Cowan with Plunkett & Cooney, and James Ralph of the James Ralph Agency.
The moderator asked the panelist to give their view of the local film industry, where the industry is, where it’s going and why many production companies are seeking to produce more movies here. Then there was a Q & A session, which in my opinion, was the most valuable part of the meeting when the audience had the opportunity to ask pointed questions and gain valuable feedback.
The opportunities and the challenges facing the industry and those aspiring to do work in this industry were highlighted. Such as the need to be very flexible and having to turn on the dime when your services are required. As the saying goes “time is money”. The nature of the industry often dictates that they move quickly in terms of securing accommodations, establishing a secure environment, staging, production, filming, transporting equipment, setting up wireless networks, marketing, etc.
Being a native of Richmond, VA and living in this area for about 7 years, I was surprised to learn the fact that there has been an established film industry in Detroit for decades. The infrastructure for the film industry was laid by the “commercial” industry. Commercials for the Big 3 automakers were vital to the auto industry in terms of not only selling cars and new features, but also to portray America’s love affair with the automobile. This makes perfect sense when you think about it.
I am sure the resurgence of interest on the part of ‘Hollywood” to come to the Midwest to cultivate what has been low-key for a while has something to do with economics and tax breaks. It’s ironic given the plight of the major decline of the domestic auto companies. But regardless of the motivation, we should be happy that there is some light/hope for our region.
Listen to the Conversate Podcast where every week we talk actionable strategy, tactics, tips and occasionally Glee or Justin Bieber.You're only a click away from kickstarting your digital efforts!
Tel: 888.858.1953
Email: getstarted@portagemedia.com Or Use Our Contact FormCopyright © 2012 Portage Digital Media · All Rights Reserved
