The True Genius Behind Pepsi’s Superbowl Social Media Decision

I spend about one to two hours each day reading, researching and tweeting about social media and social media marketing. Since the announcement Pepsi made late last year, that it will not be having ads in the Super Bowl, I am still seeing posts, tweets and articles coming into my inbox via my Google Alerts. This is no small announcement as this will be the first time in 23 years they will not have a Super Bowl presence.

Monday this week, I was continuing my daily routine of research and reading and to my surprise I continue to see posts, articles and buzz surrounding this announcement. I decided to take some additional time to evaluate this significant decision deeper to uncover what lies beyond the obvious.

I started with what we already know… Yes, social media has come into its own and is being recognized by the likes of Pepsi, Starbucks and hundreds of major brands. Yes, this decision moves millions of dollars out of major media and into other more meaningful things. And yes, utilizing social media marketing instead of the black hole of Super Bowl advertising expenses is a far more cost effective endeavor that better engages WITH consumers. But the question remained, what outside of these things was the genius to Pepsi’s decision.

Then it hit me. This decision was masterfully timed. It took into consideration two of the most talked about subjects today, the Super Bowl and Social Media. The resulting buzz created through the major television, radio and print media, not to mention Internet blogs, social media and word of mouth reached well beyond any sum of money Pepsi could have spent this entire year.

The true genus behind Pepsi’s announcement was made from a PR and Marketing perspective and not based on financial considerations as it may have appeared on the surface. The executive team at Pepsi that authorized the major culture shift within their organization should be congratulated, but not more than their PR and Marketing teams that clearly had to push for this decision.

It will be very interesting to see whether Pepsi figures out how leverage this ground-breaking move and continues its commitment to social media, breaking away from its competitors. Will they go back to looking at social media as just something new and interesting, or will they recognized the revolutionary shift they have created and deliver value to fans and followers through continuing to innovate the space?

By Robert M. Caruso
CEO fondalo, Inc.
www.facebook.com/robertcaruso

Fans and Followers Want Deals – Social Media Marketing Should Respond and Measure ROI

The latest survey by MarketingSherpa indicates Facebook fanpage and Twitter followers expect something from the brands they are following. As a matter of fact the study reveals that a solid 64% of average fans that “friend” a brand in order to get the inside track on specials, sales and deals. For the most part, major brands have recognized this trend, however this astounding percentage can’t be overlooked by small and medium sized businesses either.

Though the study identified two user “friending” categories of Max connectors, those with more than 500 connections and Daily users that were described as average users; I am going to focus on the Daily user in this article. The Daily user is your typical customer or prospect and the one that is likely to not have their feeds overflowing with thousands of posts everyday that go unseen.

In an earlier article I wrote this year, I explained that 2010 will see a change in how social media is used and that delivering value will continually trend higher as fans expect more. This latest survey places an extreme exclamation point on my statement and warns brands that though many parts of social media marketing has no cost, i.e fanpage and Twitter account creation, a mind set of paying fans through special deals needs to take hold.

We know the social media Value trend is upon us now, so building and executing a strategy is a next step, however there are several other extremely important elements to consider.

1) How do you intend on deploying your deals to your customers?
2) How are you going to be able to track views of your offers?
3) Do you have the infrastructure to measure offer acceptance rates?
4) Can you easily measure the return on investment of your fan offers?
5) Can your offers automatically be made viral and encourage your fans friends to accept the deal also?

Until yesterday, measuring fanpage traffic and analytics was impossible. However, Facebook announced that they are instituting a new analytics system for fanpages. But only for those pages with 10,000+ fans. Great for major brands, not so helpful for local and medium companies. More importantly, is the fact that there will still be nothing in a fanpage to deploy, measure and track views and acceptance rates of the special deals being offered to your fans and followers.

As you move forward with your social media marketing strategy on Facebook and Twitter, large and small brands alike need to be sure their Value proposition is inline with followers expectations AND create a plan to deal with the other important ROI elements required to make it profitable.

By Robert M. Caruso
CEO fondalo, Inc.
www.facebook.com/robertcaruso

**fondalo - one solution to consider**

The fondalo platform forever changes the ROI landscape for business social media marketing and delivers a platform both within an outside of Facebook. The fondalo website AND integrated facebook application gives business a tool to deploy and track special deals to fans and followers, that automatically posts views and acceptance of your offers to a users feed, suggesting their friends accept your offer as well. At the same time, the fondalo system manages the number of views, offer accepts and can deploy your deals via controlled online coupon, direct web link or even through a special telephone number.

Call fondalo for additional information on how we can help your company strategize and execute your social media marketing campaigns with a quick return on investment. 503-764-1444

Socializing your retail business - The facts of why Social Media is a must!

If you are a retail business considering getting into Social Media Marketing –or- you are currently utilizing social media but are trying to figure out the what’s and more importantly the why’s, this is a must read.

According to Razorfish’s 2009 Digital Brand Experience Study, as reported by eMarketer, over 40% of US Facebook and MySpace users have “friended” a brand or company. Couple this data with the chart put out by The Business Insider, showing the average Facebook user views 662 pages a month and the data begins to become almost surreal. These numbers beckon retailers, whether kicking and screaming or with positive enthusiasm to engage in the medium.

Meeting with several prospective clients of fondalo recently, I’ve heard many excuses or reasons why a company has decided not engage the medium for their retail business. Two of the top reasons have been 1) “our customers are not on the internet/Facebook” and 2) “we don’t have the knowledge, time or bandwidth to do it”.

Let’s address these individually:

1) Our customers are not online or on Facebook: Excuse me, but I beg to differ! With almost 100 million social network users in the US alone, your customers are not only on Facebook, they are finding your competitors and NOT you.

Further data in the Razorfish study shows that 64% of consumers said they made their first purchase from a brand because of a digital experience—be it a Website, microsite, mobile coupon or e-mail. More importantly “friending” or becoming a fan took raising awareness to consideration, purchase and recommendations to friends. What other medium you have used has these results?

2) We don’t have the bandwidth: What company now days are blessed with additional human and/or expertise bandwidth to throw at a new requirement? The answer, none! So making decisions, setting priorities and even seeking outside professional help is a must.

fondalo helps many clients to build a sustainable social marketing strategy and use social media marketing to achieve ROI immediately, while escalating the results of branding and viral customer sharing of your offers.

So lets review… Step one: realize that the reasoning you have used for not creating a social media presence is flawed and modify your decisions to engage your customers. Step two: find and hire a social media professional, consultant or company that can help you build a strategy. Use these outsourced resources to help you execute the strategy and learn the necessary skills and information you need to make it successful.

By Robert M. Caruso

www.facebook.com/robertcaruso

CEO fondalo, Inc.

Social Media Value changes – change your strategy

Yesterday I wrote about the shift that’s happening in Social Media and how Value is going to be the significant driver this year. Today I am going to continue with my thoughts on what this change should look like for you and your social media marketing strategy.

I am continually coming across Twitter accounts and Facebook fanpages of corporations that consist of unrelenting rants about themselves, their product or service. Now if indeed you are an interested fan/follower of that company this starts out great. However just like with your ex-wife or husband, NOBODY likes being talked AT all the time.

You know, the friend you have coffee with now only once a year because when you get together they continually talk about themselves? You feel exhausted and overwhelmed and can’t handle another minute with them until maybe next year. Social marketing must be careful not to become that friend to its fans.

Here are some changes to your social media strategy that you need to consider this year.

1) Know your market. Who are you talking to and why are they interested in your brand/product.


2) Focus your messaging to instill “social value” by understanding your customers concerns, needs and desires. Post messages and information that is helpful, interesting and not solely focused on you or your brand.


3) Enlist communication and feedback that not only engages your fans, but because of the value you are providing they share it with others.


4) Create a formal strategy with clear targets and goals for what you hope to achieve and more importantly how you plan to achieve it.


5) Follow the plan and be consistent with your communication.

This year social media will bombard followers and fans in your networks with overwhelming data, information and posts. Those companies that heed this warning and emphasize value in their strategy will thrive, those that implement old marketing tactics in their social marketing will have a much more difficult time.

By Robert M. Caruso
CEO fondalo, Inc.

Social Media Marketing in 2010 will be about Value

Yes, we all know that 2009 gave rise to social media marketing and corporate acceptance as it plunged into the mainstream. But what now? How is small business through the major corporations going to turn these millions of eyeballs, followers and fans into revenue? That is the million-dollar question that needs to be answered this year.

Twitter accounts and Fanpages have done a lot to extend the reach of the business environment into the social world for some. As a matter of fact it was recently reported by Razorfish over 40% of internet users have “friended” a brand on Facebook or MySpace. Here’s the thing. Social marketing could easily be running fast and hard into a wall. All the gains made with corporate America beginning to tentatively embrace the medium will all be for not, without a drastic change.

“Social marketing is less about what you want consumers to do for you, but more about what value you are giving them so they will respond, purchase, share with their network and stay engaged”. In 2010 you will see a shift begin to occur where consumers will start pulling back their “friending” and following of businesses that don’t realize this, in an effort to cut out the flood of useless information and posts being made with selfish corporate motives.

My suggestions that you need to consider for your 2010 social media strategy coming next…

Robert M. Caruso

CEO fondalo, Inc.