by adam

From Twitter to Real Life: Making Connections

Over the last several months I’ve experienced a phenomenon that has yet to be named:  Meeting people in person who I had previously only known through Twitter.  It started by meeting folks at social media events in the Boston area (thanks to breakfasts organized by Bryan Person @bryanperson and an evening event sponsored by EMC […]

Nicetomeetyoualfredn2_2Over the last several months I’ve experienced a phenomenon that has yet to be named:  Meeting people in person who I had previously only known through Twitter.  It started by meeting folks at social media events in the Boston area (thanks to breakfasts organized by Bryan Person @bryanperson and an evening event sponsored by EMC and Len Devanna @LenDevanna).  I’ve met numerous folks, all I would describe as "good eggs" – from Ami Chitwood @achitwood, leading internal knowledge management at a large consulting firm to the Twitter gurus of the Mzinga crew including Aaron Strout @astrout and Jim Storer @jstorerj to most recently meeting Amy Worley @worleygirl, Director of Interactive Marketing for H&R Block, at the Forrester Marketing Forum.

Here’s one story that jumps high in the "coolness factor" of that twitter to real life experience. 

Months ago when I started on Twitter, I spotted Phillip Zannini @phillymac, an enthusiastic video blogger, Red Sox/Patriots fan, talented interactive designer and all around good family guy.  This week, we both posted that we would be heading to Cleveland.  On Monday, I found out he has accepted a position working at Brulant, the same company.  <cue shameless plug>  I am a partner in our Consumer Product and Retail vertical, focusing on clients in NJ and Michigan while working to expand our presence in the Northeast.  <end shameless plug> One area I have not been as involved in to date is recruiting and staffing in the interactive marketing side of our practice.  Phillip started on Monday and actually used Twitter to DM me once we started to connect the dots:

DM string:
adamcohen:  What’s up in Cleveland? I’m flying there tomorrow AM for a couple days
phillymac: Start my new gig at 9:00am, flying home Thursday evening.
…later…
phillymac: I just started working for Brulant. Are you the same Adam Cohen that is in their directory?
phillymac: Ha! You are! I just checked your blog again and it’s the same picture. That’s just TOO funny.
adamcohen: Dude, are you serious about Brulant? Y, I’m a partner there but based in Boston. Are you at Park East in Beachwood?

I was able to grab some time to hear about his background and his experience plugging in with our team.  For me this is my best story about moving from Twitter to a building a much more personal connection.  I look forward to having Phillip as a great part of our team and we’re fortunate to have him aboard.  Last thing I expected was to have someone hired by my company who I had met through Twitter – without me knowing.

Have a good twitter connection story to share?

Photo: AlfredN via Flickr.

by adam

Seeing Through the Twitter Clouds

Ten million people have joined.  I was officially number 9,639,352.  Looking back, I am amazed both at the progression of connections made and the topics discussed.  There is a proliferation of tools out there for reviewing your history on Twitter, but two that have been getting a lot of discussion lately are Tweetcloud and Twitterholic.  […]

Tweetcloud_2Ten million people have joined.  I was officially number 9,639,352.  Looking back, I am amazed both at the progression of connections made and the topics discussed.  There is a proliferation of tools out there for reviewing your history on Twitter, but two that have been getting a lot of discussion lately are Tweetcloud and Twitterholic.  Here is my personal tweetcloud – note that tweeting during the Forrester Marketing Forum last week skewed the results a bit.  Thanks to Geoff Livingston for suggesting to generate my own cloud.  What does yours tell you?

Followers_2 I also took a few minutes to generate my statistics at Twitterholic.  Over the past several months I’ve seen about 10-15 new followers a week.  It’s exciting but is it really sustainable?  I see that Twitter has moved beyond the "early adopter" phase (since clearly I am not one), but it has a long way to go before fully being accepted mainstream as another social media tool.  During this early phase where there are more people not using Twitter than using, there is a lot of excitement about new concepts and experiments.  Everything from companies bringing their customer service onto Twitter (H&R Block, Comcast, Dell, Southwest to name a few) to breaking news sources, well known bloggers and more.  But once everyone is on Twitter – will it just be a pile of noise that is unmanageable?  Rumors of grouping functionality will help, otherwise users will have to resort to smaller numbers of connections. 

What do you see for the future of Twitter?

edit: The 10 million number is according to Twitterholic.com.  @hci asked over twitter, and she was #12,628,652 according to that site.  She also properly suggests Twitterholic is measuring number of accounts, not users.  Thanks!

by adam

Forrester Marketing Forum: Tie Customer Engagement to Company Performance

EngagementWhen I was with one of the Big Four consulting firms (rhymes with Indenture – just kidding, I loved my time there), I spent a small amount of time on a task force focusing on making the firm a “Great Place to Work” in our market unit in North America.  This committee was filled with passionate people in the organization who understood clearly that people were our #1 asset.  The committee’s charter was to go beyond happy hours and newsletters to come up with game-changing initiatives to improve engagement.  In 2005 the group began to get a lot of attention from senior executives in the firm due to some studies tying employee engagement to outperforming stock prices.  The studies measure how individuals responded in surveys to the “Three Ss”: Say, Stay and Strive (developed by Hewitt Associates), measuring how effective an employee would talk about the firm, have a desire to stay with the firm for the next couple years, and optimally thrive in their careers while with the firm.  After an annual employee satisfaction survey was done, we received an “Engagement Index” score and were compared to 1500 other companies who had asked their employees the same questions.

The result: While one could debate the “chicken and the egg,” there was a direct correlation between the increase in employee engagement and the increase in stock price across 1500 companies surveyed.  High performing companies had high levels of employee engagement.  This was eye opening and got senior leadership to pay immediate attention and “get in the game” on programs that improved engagement.

After all the talk at Forrester’s Marketing Forum 2008 about customer engagement, I got to thinking.  There were great presentations from Forrester, retailers and software vendors about how we need to measure or quantify customer engagement.  High performing companies like Dell, Nike and FedEx presented on strategies that have helped them increase customer engagement.

What I’d like to see:  A study that ties a measurement of customer engagement to stock price over time.

Take some of the key brands represented.  Jordan Brands, part of Nike, Inc., has seemingly a brand that can do no wrong.  They are undertaking innovative ways to engage customers in the same ethos of Michael Jordan himself – launching a breakfast club to motivate young athletes and track or suggest training programs, launching an exclusive “Flight Club” with premium offers, etc.  What has happened to Nike’s stock price in the last few years, and what are analysts saying now, despite a weak economy looming?

 

Nike_4There are many factors around operating a company that impact the stock price, no doubt, and this is only one example pulled from a list of companies doing great things with customer engagement.  I know this can’t be the only factor, but I am still wondering if any similar correlation can be drawn. Every person must have a reliable source of information before starting to trade in stocks.

One of the breakout sessions I attended at the Forrester Marketing Forum was The Interactive Marketing Maturity Model presented by Shar VanBoskirk, Principal Analyst, Forrester Research.  In her presentation she explained how few companies have interactive marketing efforts that are optimized, and there is a disparity between the high level of belief in interactive marketing and a low level of actual investment or support to execute.  If this correlation plays out to support a positive association, I suspect it would lend credence to the army of interactive marketers who sense or are trying to prove value but have trouble convincing executives to invest in their campaigns.  I also suspect it would open corporate executives to new ways to engage the customer, making a better case for why interactive marketing, social media and engaging customers are imperatives and not optional.

Have you seen any research out there like this?  What do you think would help legitimize interactive marketing and social media campaigns that impact customer engagement?

by adam

Seth Godin on Curiosity

Todd Defren posted this video yesterday of Seth Godin talking about curiosity.  It’s an inspirational video which has some fundamental tenets on social media and the transition from the traditional media channels of old.  There’s something in there that made me feel inspired about continuing down this learning path I am going for interactive marketing in general.  The video resonated with me a lot and I wanted to capture here for posterity.  Thanks Todd.

What inspires you?

by adam

The Future Will Be Televised…With Social Media

Forrester Marketing Forum 2008 How fitting that engagement is the theme.  For my first time at Forrester’s Marketing Forum, I’ve decided to take a different tact on my own personal engagement if nothing else than for the learning experience.  Ever go to a large conference and just sit at the back, taking those 8 second […]

Mf08_webForrester Marketing Forum 2008

How fitting that engagement is the theme.  For my first time at Forrester’s Marketing Forum, I’ve decided to take a different tact on my own personal engagement if nothing else than for the learning experience. 

Ever go to a large conference and just sit at the back, taking those 8 second vacations, checking your email, paying attention only to the most dynamic speakers and humorous presentations?  That was me.  Sometimes I’d wonder why I was even at the conference that was what I was going to get out of it.  Here is a great tip on how to avoid that – use Twitter to take notes.  Jeremiah Owyang, one of Forrester’s well known analysts covering social media, mentioned over Twitter that he would be live blogging during the keynote presentations and offered to have folks sit up front.  Forrester went beyond that with a meebo chat room on the Forrester blog site and ustreaming the keynote with live video.  I decided to take him up on the offer and spent much of the first day of the conference laptop open on Twitter (Twhirl to be precise).  A very interesting thing happened – I paid attention more than I had before, looking for the key points in each speaker’s presentation.  Another side effect happened – I was able to quickly share that knowledge and interact with many who were not at the conference.  To be honest, I was in this to be better engaged, but glad to hear (via twitter responses) a few people got something out of it.

There is a group of folks doing the same here – some experienced social media folks and others relatively new like yours truly.  Here is a list – all talented folks who are deep into marketing in various ways.  I’d recommend following each of them:

@jowyang – Jeremiah Owyang, Senior Analyst for Social Computing
@jspepper – Jeremy Pepper, PR manager for Boingo
@worleygirl – Amy Worley, Director of Digital Marketing for H&R Block
@Rumford – Rodney Rumford, CEO of Gravitational Media and FaceReviews.com
@MichelleBB – Michelle Boockoff-Bajdek, VP of Marketing for Harte-Hanks (also fellow member of Forrester’s Technology Marketing Council)
@weave – Eric Weaver, VP, Edelman Digital

I’m sure there are others out there I haven’t met yet who were doing the same.  I had an enjoyable day today keeping up with the speakers and ‘tweeting’ along the way even through the smaller track sessions.  You can find all of our tweets at http://tweetscan.com/index.php?s=forrmarketing08 …

Sessions I attended and covered on Twitter during the day today:

  • Engagement: A New Approach to Understanding Your Customers – Brian Haven, Sr. Analyst, Forrester Research
  • Tapping Agencies’ Evolving Marketing Capabilities – Casey C. Jones, VP, Global Marketing, Dell
  • Moving Beyond Marketing to Engagement – Gary Skidmore, President, Harte-Hanks
  • Creating Brand Advocates at Nike’s Jordan Brand – Emmanuel Brown, Director of Digital and Content, Nike’s Jordan Brand
  • The Interactive Marketing Maturity Model – Shar VanBoskirk, Principal Analyst, Forrester Research
  • Making Word of Mouth Work – Peter Kim, Senior Analyst, Forrester Research; Janet Eden-Harris, CEO, Umbria; Dave Balter, Founder/CEO, BzzAgent
  • Community: Engaging 130 Million Customers – Cathy Halligan, CMO, Walmart.com
  • The Four Pleasures: A Framework For Customer Engagement – Dr. Patrick Jordan, CEO, Patrick W. Jordan, Ltd.

My day 2 includes conducting a usability test for Forrester’s new website (a project led by a former Accenture colleague), meeting 1:1 with Forrester analysts, following a host of what looks like more great content, and an awful flight home.  Did I miss anything?  I have lots of notes to share back with team Brulant and have some great content for future posts… Thank you Forrester.

by adam

What’s Your One Best Twitter Tip?

This is a great example of having a good twitter network.  This morning I conducted a demo of Twitter for a colleague who is a web analytics guru (and admitted social media metrics interloper) @mpgarlock57.   I asked a question hoping for a few responses, and within minutes was inundated with some great advice.  Here is […]

This is a great example of having a good twitter network. 

This morning I conducted a demo of Twitter for a colleague who is a web analytics guru (and admitted social media metrics interloper) @mpgarlock57.   I asked a question hoping for a few responses, and within minutes was inundated with some great advice.  Here is my question:

adamcohen Showing twitter to work colleagues – in 140 char, what’s the one best tip you’d recommend for a new twitter user?

In reverse chronological order, here is the complete unedited list of responses I received, all great advice.  Thanks so much to everyone who replied – it couldn’t have made for a better demo of the power of questions over Twitter.  Also thanks for @bethkanter for prompting to capture answers and suggesting a way to do it.

georgedearing @adamcohen | build up your twecosystem first..if you try to go solo you’ll crash and burn..there’s a lot of knowledge in the network

pixel8r @adamcohen – I’m still a bit green, but I’d say, try to answer Q’s or provide help when you can. Be a "real" person with a real personality.

jstorerj @adamcohen @zeldman has this advice – http://tinyurl.com/28fxv7

mindofandre @adamcohen view Twitter as a means for human interaction and not for biz only

giggey @adamcohen,find a good appl for Twitter, the right one or combination can save you loads of time.

jstorerj @adamcohen @rcasenhiser says @jstorerj don’t tweet about cat litter, no one really cares

beamcatchers @adamcohen Follow those people whose interests you share and learn

aruni @adamcohen tip for new twitterers: interact with others…don’t just stream your thoughts. Send some @’s

monawea @adamcohen keep your tweets balanced. Best Twitterers are those that offer a little business here and a little personal there.

JasonCarr @adamcohen The more you follow, the more you find.

DougH @adamcohen – Retweeting @oemperor: @DougH Someone (I forget who) said "Twitter is ephemeral." (I agree with this)

mymo @adamcohen Track ‘phrase’. Awesome for breaking news in a specific industry.

ScottMonty @adamcohen Build your network quickly – start following people and make yourself known by @’ing them.

DougH @adamcohen – Retweeting @MariaGarcia: @DougH Tip for new user: watch out it’s very addictive! VERY ADDICTIVE!

jstorerj @adamcohen visit twitterpacks to find more people to follow and add your name where appropriate – http://tinyurl.com/ysmzht

DougH @adamcohen I’ll say what @chrisbrogan told me way back: Think of Twitter as a stream. Dip in to the flow, forget it when you’re out.

jljohansen @adamcohen Start small. Follow people relevant to you and build your list from there. No need to jump in following 1,000 people.

RealtorLefebvre @adamcohen http://snurl.com/23ddr

kolson29 @adamcohen use twhirl – http://twhirl.org

nathanwburke @adamcohen Tip: Just start using twitter. No explanation in the world will convince people that it is useful. Using it is the only way.

WickedGood @adamcohen Don’t try to follow thousands of people at once. Just follow a few people who seem interesting or who you already know to start.

Suki_MHC05 @adamcohen Best Tip: Be yourself, always.

missmeaghan @adamcohen Follow many; ask and answer questions.

Thanks again to all for participating.  Just catching up?  What is your best Twitter tip?

Edit 4/8: Removed pictures; as people changed their twitter icons, the pics became broken links.  Would love to find a better way to do that…

by adam

“Cannonball comin’…”

A couple of college friends spotted my blog recently and asked why.  Some colleagues at work joined Twitter recently and found that I am already on it (in fact, I’m linking to this as my 1000th post), and asked why.  In the last three months both friends and family have seen me spend quality time […]

A couple of college friends spotted my blog recently and asked why.  Some colleagues at work joined Twitter recently and found that I am already on it (in fact, I’m linking to this as my 1000th post), and asked why.  In the last three months both friends and family have seen me spend quality time on Facebook and asked why.  I gave it some thought.  To understand these tools, you have to immerse yourself in it – by diving right in.

As I learn more about interactive marketing – frankly, I know I have a lot to learn – social media is changing our industry.  Old approaches to connect with customers and communities are becoming less effective and less relevant.  What better way to understand how it is changing than to jump right in, drink from the fire hose and be baptized by fire all at once? 

After a few months, I have learned a lot and had fun doing it through Twitter, Facebook, this blog, and other tools:

  • I have met a diverse group of passionate social media enthusiasts who have been welcoming to a new participant, including the Social Media Club in Boston.
  • I found a group of strangers who love dunkin donuts coffee like it’s crack, just like I do. 
  • I have direct access to some of the folks in PR, venture capital and social media around the country that are defining how the industry will change, and there are amazing conversations taking place that I can participate in. 
  • I have reconnected with former clients and colleagues who are marching down the same learning path that I am.
  • I have caught up with old friends from elementary school, high school, college and work.  Not to mention summer camp (former campers who were 12 last time I saw them are now out of college!?).
  • I found a die-hard group of Red Sox fans to share a live game experience as if we were all in the same room.
  • I watched a campaign to raise money for Cancer research unfold due to the openness and honesty of a few core bloggers.
  • I watched a couple of social media companies leverage tools like Twitter to do their own PR about their new firm.
  • I have watched companies and individuals experiment, connect, ask questions and contribute thoughts and opinions.
  • I have found new ways to leverage being online and being connected every day.

Most importantly, I’ve experienced first hand how connecting to communities can add value to the experience – in this case my own – and am grateful for the connections.  I’m looking forward to seeing what’s next.