When planning an influence campaign that focuses on bloggers, it’s important to know who they are and what motivates them so you can effectively reach out to them and see if a partnership is possible for your brand or marketing initiative. Here is some information about bloggers that might help you shape up your reach plans.

Who blogs?

According to Technorati’s State of the Blogosphere 2011, bloggers are:

• 3/5 are male
• The majority are in the 25-44 age range
• The majority have a bachelors or graduate degree
• The majority are married
• The average number of blogs is three per week
• Almost 1/3 of bloggers have worked for traditional media
• Nearly 4 out of 10 bloggers report being actively courted by brands to write about or review products
• 9 out of 10 bloggers say its important that advertising on their blogs align with their values
• 70% of bloggers use their blog to share their expertise and experience

What motivates them to blog?

I have identified four different types of bloggers (non-corporate) based on their motivations to blog. These categories are:

1. Hobby: these are bloggers that write about the things and activities that they like the most. They find inspiration on their every day routines. They like to share what’s in their mind. All their content comes from their personal experiences. Examples include people that blog about cooking, surfing, photography, movies, etc.
2. Inspiration/Support: blogs in this category are meant to inspire and encourage readers. Bloggers in this category share new ideas that may help inspire readers. They share their mistakes so people can learn from them. Examples include bloggers hosting periodic weight-loss share your accomplishments tips, how to make a positive change in your life, etc.
3. Money: bloggers in this category focus on Search Engine Optimization, keywords and other tactics to increase visibility in the search engines rather than on the content of their blog. Advertising and money are their main objectives. Examples include blogs that help sell products, market services, etc.
4. Value: the main purpose for writing blogs in this category is to provide valuable information through high quality content. Bloggers in this category care about offering tips, insights and advise. They want their readers to get something actionable out of their posts. Examples include people who make recommendations from professional experience such as financial planners who provide advise on how to budget and plan for retirement, etc.

From these categories, and from a marketing perspective, the first and the last offer the most opportunities for engaging in a successful influence campaign that can help a brand generate awareness while building a community around its products or services.

Can you think of any other type of blogger category that may be considered for an influence campaign?

Videos allow you to grab people’s attention quickly and tell your story in a dynamic and engaging way. If you already decided that videos are going to be a central part of your marketing strategy in 2012, depending on your marketing and business goals, there are different kinds of videos to consider:

- Promotional: these videos provide an overview of your product or service. They help people get familiar with your offering and set preliminary expectations about the benefits or advantages that they can expect.These videos are usually short and to the point – think ‘elevator pitch.’

Example: HubSpot Product Overview

- Demonstrations: these videos show your product or service ‘in action.’ They help viewers understand how the product or service works, its capabilities, and how it is going to solve their needs.

Example: Demonstration video for the NEX-5 ultra compact digital cameras by Sony

- Tutorials: the main purpose of these videos is to educate, to transfer knowledge so that the audience can learn how to use or take advantage of a product. These videos provide step by step instructions and tips that customers can use or apply right away.

Example: Add Dramatic Color to Photographs: Photoshop Tutorial

- Customer testimonials: the power of word of mouth, these videos showcase actual customers talking about their experience with your product or service. These videos are powerful as they show real customers sharing their stories and providing evidence that you offer a good product or service.

Example: Walmart MoneyCard Customer Testimonials

- Behind the scenes: these videos provide a sneak peek behind the curtains. The ‘exclusivity’ aspect of this kind of video helps people get a better understanding of the product or service while adding a personal touch and engaging with the audience in a deeper and lasting way.

Example: Old Spice | Behind the Scenes

- Thought Leadership: these videos are the result of conference speeches, presentations, webinars, etc. They show experts talking about relevant topics in your industry, your products or services, best practices, etc. These videos allow you to build trust and credibility in the marketplace.

Example: PL/SQL Best Practices with Steven Feuerstein

- Viral videos: these are tricky as they require a special talent to get them right. These kind of video tells a story that elicits a strong emotion and motivates the audience to share. Viral videos usually offers stories that are original, unusual, unexpected, funny, etc. and have the potential of generating a tremendous amount of awareness for your brand or situation promoted in the video.

Example: A Day Made of Glass… Made possible by Corning

Edited 02/20/12

After attending some sessions during Social Media Week last week, I learned about a new type of video: the social video. The idea behind it is to offer the viewer an opportunity to actively participate in the development of the film story through social media interactions.

The first film of its kind was called The Inside Experience and was developed for Intel and Toshiba. The story focused around a girl that was trapped in a room and needed help to get out. The girl was given access to the Internet and through clues and tips found in social media channels, people were able to communicate with her and help her get out. Here is a quick preview and description of the video:

To see the full video, you need to subscribe to The Inside Experience channel on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/TheInsideExperience

I never really thought about widgets until last week when I had to do some research about pop ads, banner ads and widgets and how companies are taking advantage of them. As it turns out, widgets are actually cool little tools that provide highly targeted information. Let’s take a look.

What are widgets?

Widgets are stand-alone, task-oriented applications that you can easily download to their desktops or embed in a webpage (no technical expertise is required). The applications provide information that you are interested in, without you having to surf the web. Widgets can be anything from a Facebook message alert to a weather forecast to a game to a voting poll. Widgets are usually visually attractive and can take the form of a picture, graph, summary, numbers, etc.

An additional characteristic of web widgets is that they allow you to pull information from many different online sources (using different widgets) into one page and share it with the world. For instance, if you want to integrate your Twitter feed with your blog, you can do so easily by adding the Twitter widget to the page so when people land on it, they can follow your conversations.

Why are widgets relevant to marketing?

Widgets are becoming so popular that they are supported by tons of services, especially social media applications (e.g. wordpress, typepad, myspace, etc.) There is even a new term – Widget Marketing – that represents the potential of widgets as a marketing tool. Some of the benefits that can be expected from using widgets for marketing purposes include:

1. Brand awareness: widgets offer another way for companies to extend the reach of their brand in a practical way by offering value-added content in the form of user specific information, extra functionality, and even games.
2. Viral distribution: if done correctly, widgets have the potential of going viral tapping into the massive social media audience.
3. Engagement: widgets are interactive in nature ensuring that users spend a lot of time with them. The ability of widgets to push information as it happens ensures that engagement remains high.
4. Personalization: widgets are becoming a tool for expressing identity by enabling people to personalize their web pages through content that is relevant to them.

Widgets are changing the way content is published, shared and promoted. They are also changing the way customers engage with brands. Ensuring that your content is relevant, can be personalized and allows engagement will go a long way as customers share and endorse your brand through their web page, blog or social media profiles.

Here is a quick tutorial with more information about widgets: http://youtu.be/QIn-8s_yYHs

 Ever heard that first impressions matter? Impressions are the first thing that you notice when you receive a sales proposal, look at a magazine, interview someone for a job, check out a new house, land on a homepage, etc. The first impression is that first split-second that will unconsciously pave the way for the kind of experience that you are about to have.

Just as first impressions are important in real life, they are extremely important in the virtual world. A website that is easy to navigate, visually stimulating and leads users to action will provide a positive experience, one that users will enjoy and remember. A website where the colors are off, has the “wrong” images, uses a typography that is very hard to read, takes too long to download, etc. will cause users to get confused or frustrated, and therefore, look for another website that offers what they are looking for.

So, how can you establish a visual web identity that sticks? Here are the basics:

1. Know: keep in mind that your website is a reflection of your company’s brand. Therefore, it should look and feel like everything else under the brand name. If your brand stands for elegance, simplicity and sophistication, your website should reflect that in its design. Use the website as an online extension of your brand and its promise.
2. Learn: test different options to determine the visual appearance that your customers are more comfortable with. The ease of navigation and the inherent interactivity of the website should be optimized so customers can easily find what they want or need. The aesthetics of the site are important as they can influence your customer’s behavior.
3. Influence: make sure that your site looks credible and professional in order to inspire trust in your visitors. Achieving the right combination of colors, images, typography, animation, and navigation while keeping the consistency throughout the website will ensure that your customers have a positive experience. Driving your customer’s experience by making it easy for them to find what they are looking for will ensure the achievement of your website’s goals.
4. Promote: having a well designed website is one piece of the puzzle. However, in order for your efforts to be effective, you need to promote the site through all of your marketing and communications channels (e.g. search engines, social media, marketing materials, press releases, blogs, videos, etc.). Make your site accessible through different devices and platforms, and integrate new tools and technologies as you see fit.  The success of your website will largely depend on your promotion efforts to drive traffic.

First impressions can dictate the success or failure of your website. Use the design of your website to attract visitors and inspire a sense of reliability and trust so that you can engage and establish a relationship with them.

The Hispanic population is growing faster than any other group in the US. According to the US Census Bureau, in 2010 Hispanics surpassed 50 million accounting for 1 in every 6 Americans. Furthermore, their buying power exceeded $1 trillion in 2010 and is expected to top $1.3 trillion by 2015. So, if you haven’t considered targeting this group, 2012 may be the year to do so.

Here are five tips for marketers who want to engage with Hispanics using online media:

1. Language: don’t assume that all Hispanics speak Spanish. Depending on your target market and their level of acculturation, you may find that English is the preferred language. However, keep in mind that Hispanics that are completely fluent in English may consider their values, traditions and key consumer behaviors (e.g. food, entertainment, etc.) to be heavily rooted in traditional Latin culture. If you decide to use Spanish, take into consideration that Hispanics come from over 20 different countries and that they tend to identify with their country of origin.
2. Translations: don’t use software or applications to translate your content. There are nuances and cultural elements that need to be crafted into your messages in order to be relevant to Hispanics. Also, don’t do partial translations and keep some links in English and others in Spanish. If it’s absolutely necessary to provide a link to content in English, make sure that you provide an option to your users so they can decide if they want to switch languages.
3. Content: according to a study by AOL, it’s important for Hispanics that the content takes into consideration their backgrounds and experiences, regardless of the language. Use messages that create an emotional connection; appeal to their sentiment of pride in their culture. In addition, try to offer the same amount of content that your website in English offers. A site in Spanish that offers a third of the content from your other sites may detract Hispanics from your brand. Also, provide fresh content periodically and/or maintain your content updated.
4. Experience: Hispanics are heavy users of the Internet. In fact, compared to the general market, Hispanics are considered more sophisticated in their use of technology (e.g. they are more likely to use smartphones and gaming devices to access the Internet than the general market). They use the Internet as a medium for information and socialization. They like referrals and recommendations so provide them with product rating and social marketing tools such us Facebook “Like” options. According to AOL’s report, 72% of Hispanics say they trust online product ratings.
5. Engagement: Hispanics trust brands and the tools they provide to help them make smart decisions (e.g. recommendation tools, configuration tools, etc.). Word-of-mouth is very powerful among Hispanics so seek out influencers and make smart use of social media channels. Use email alerts and updates to draw them back to your website. Once you have earned their trust, they’ll be willing to engage in meaningful conversations and respond to surveys, reviews, etc.

Lastly, have fun. Use humor and laughter to connect with Hispanics. But, make sure to do your research and determine the cultural preferences of your target audience before using humor in your communications and marketing campaigns.

We hear about it all the time: emerging media this, emerging media that. People have been talking about it since the 80’s, sometimes calling it new media, other times calling it emerging media. So, after 25 years, what is the status of emerging media? Is it still emerging?

Let’s take a quick look back. What is emerging media? How did it get started?

According to Professor Marian Azzaro from Roosevelt University, new media can be defined as “the use of digital technology to communicate with a target audience.”  It all started with the rise of personal computers in the 80’s. Since then, we have witnessed the transformation of print media, tangible art and analog broadcast into digital media, which exploded even further in the 90’s with the Internet.

Professor W. Russell Newman from the University of Michigan said in 1991 that emerging media would:

• Change the meaning of geographic distance
• Increase the volume of communication
• Increase the speed of communication
• Enable interactive communication
• Allow different forms of communication to merge

Twenty years later, Professor Newman’s vision is a reality. Emerging media is now our main form of communication. We are used to the here and now that emerging media makes possible as well as to being in the ‘driver’s seat’ as far as deciding what kind of information we want to get, who we want to get it from, and how we want to get it. There is content for everyone, available in a variety of different forms.

So, is emerging media still emerging? I would say yes, absolutely! So far, emerging media has changed the way we consume and interact with media, it has altered our relationship with others and it has completely redefined our relationship with brands. And yet, emerging media has a lot more to offer! As new technologies come into play such as mobile and wireless, and new initiatives take place such as social TV, augmented reality, etc. emerging media will keep inspiring us to push the envelope even further in our quest for new and innovative ways to communicate.What do you think, is emerging media here to stay?

Additional resources: For those of you who are curious about the future of TV and the Internet, check out this video from Peter Hirshberg, a Silicon Valley executive, entrepreneur and marketing specialist who has spent the last 25 years following everything high tech related and its impact in culture and in business.

Hello and welcome to my blog. I’m a marketer and communications professional that speaks two languages (English and Spanish) and lives in two different worlds (North America and South America). I’m fascinated by everything related to how people interact and communicate, especially through technology. In light of my current school responsibilities (I’m working towards an MS in Integrated Marketing Communications), I’ll be focusing on emerging media during the next 9 weeks. Hope you enjoy!