On the heels of our post on transparency and ethics in social media marketing, today we examine the hotly contested phenomenon of ghost blogging. This is where a ghostwriter is employed by a company or brand to write blog posts, Tweets, Facebook updates and other public communiqués under the client’s name.
Some argue that the practice is unethical because it obscures the truth behind the byline. But we at Media Needle argue that the byline matters less than the truth behind the client. It’s easy to forget that autobiographical books “written” by famous people — books you likely have read — usually have ghostwriters, some acknowledged, but most not. Do those books and the fascinating life stories within them suddenly ring hollow because they were not penned by the subject?
Of course they don’t. Not everyone can be born a captivating writer, and a ghostwritten book is always the result of a lengthy collaboration between writer and subject to make sure that the book’s voice is authentic and events are represented accurately. It’s no different for ghost blogging, whose goal is to also be authentic, accurate and, most of all, engaging. This is where a professional writer comes in — to convey a client’s views in a way that engages and attracts readers and, ultimately, grows a following.
In social media marketing, ghost writing is a common practice (and, in fact, a burgeoning field). It is only dishonest when it misrepresents the brand, but when used correctly, it services the brand by selling it better than the “writer” behind the byline could. Most important is that the content always be vetted by the client prior to publication. And, in the interest of transparency, the existence of the ghost blogger should never be denied, but rather understood to be a part of a larger marketing plan that aims to always put the client or brand’s best face forward.
It is the stylist behind the fashion icon celebrity, the producer behind the superstar’s platinum album, the speechwriter behind the president’s most memorable speeches. No one can do everything him or herself, which is why Media Needle advocates the use of ghost bloggers who can create compelling, engaging and well-written content that accurately reflects a brand’s values. For more information, contact us.
Every seven seconds someone in America turns 50
77 million people were born between 1946 and 1964. By 2015, the AARP predicts that people aged 50 and older will represent 45% of the U.S. population.
These consumers matter and advertisers should pay attention.
The largest age group in the United States
According to the U.S. Census, in 2010, 49 will be the single largest age group in the United States. In 2010, adults 45 and older are predicted to out-spend younger adults by $1 trillion.
Where do casinos, health-care organizations and political campaigns — examples of advertisers whose models depend a lot on the 55-plus demographic — advertise if most broadcast outlets are programming toward younger demographics?
The answer is social networks
Internet monitoring site comScore, estimates 16.5 million adults age 55 and older currently engage in social networking.
Baby boomers, are finding social networking sites appealing for the same reasons younger people do – to stay connected. Of course the older you are, the more likely you are to be interested in reconnecting with long lost friends and classmates you haven’t talked to in more than 30 years.
Boomers like to Blog
Most people believe that all of the blogging, Twittering and Facebooking is being done by twenty and thirty-somethings. However the facts tell a different story.
The fastest growing users of social networking sites
According to a Consumer Electronics Usage Survey from Accenture, Baby Boomers (those born 1946-1964) are the fastest growing users of social networking sites and are increasingly reading blogs. Meanwhile Gen Y interest in these services has started to plateau.
Baby boomers are social
- Increased reading blogs and listening to podcasts by 67 percent year over year; nearly 80 times faster than Gen Y (1 percent)
- Posted a 59 percent increase in using social networking sites—more than 30 times faster than Gen Y (2 percent)
- Increased watching/posting videos on the Internet by 35 percent—while Gen Y usage decreased slightly (-2 percent)
- Accelerated playing video games on the go via mobile devices by 52 percent— 20 times faster than Gen Y (2 percent)
- Increased listening to music on an iPod or other portable music player by 49 percent—more than four times faster than Gen Y (12 percent)
Gen Y is falling behind
- Participation slipped in virtual worlds from 23 percent to 19 percent
- Consumed no more video online than they did last year
- Blogged and contributed to wikis less ( down from 35 to 33 percent)
Grandma loves Facebook
According to Facebook, their fastest growing demographic is those 35 years old and older. According to iStrategyLabs, Facebook has a user base of 18.1 million users, and the number of users age 55 and over has grown from a negligible 950,000 to 5.9 million in a mere six months, which equates to a 513.7% increase.
Look who’s on MySpace
Even MySpace, with 130 million users, is enjoying a surge among the 55-plus set, who total 6.9 million users and spend an average 204 minutes a month on the site.
The AARP gets social
In just one year, over 350,000 users created 1,700 groups celebrating everything from gardening to social activism on the AARP.org social networking platform. This 55-plus online Community encourages users to meet new adult friends and socialize with one another by sharing photos and videos, playing online games, asking advice, writing in a journal, and chatting with their connections. As social networking evolves, older consumers are becoming more and more involved with social networking sites. According to a study conducted by the AARP, 58% of members over 50 access their online community several times a day.
Boomers like to share
These sites are where Boomers share their opinions, and brands are starting to realize social networking is a great way to connect with this increasingly large group and wealthy group of consumers. In a world where few people live close to family or old friends, social media sites are making it easier for everyone to reconnect.
Everybody’s doing it
Whether it’s congressmen Twittering during presidential speeches, parents connecting with high school flames on Facebook or empty-nesters planning group outings on grown-up sites such as Eons.com, Baby Boomers are a growing part of social media’s evolution, becoming more connected and more engaged than ever before.
How Mobile GPS and Location Based Information In Social Media Is Changing The Way Business Connects With Customers
2 Comments | Posted by ezamos on January 26, 2010
GPS-aware mobile devices have become commonplace, making connecting the dots between what you’re doing and where you’re doing it easy. Now that businesses are actively exploring the opportunities that location-aware services provide, location will matter more than ever.
Everyone is Sharing Location Based Information
This year, Twitter, Foursquare, Loopt, Gowalla, Google and Facebook will all make it easier for people to share real-time, location based information and post location-aware updates.
This past December, on Christmas day Facebook was the most trafficked web site in the United States. Now it wants all of it’s users to become more open. Altering the default settings on millions of people’s status updates, in the hopes of making more Facebook updates public and searchable.
Get Ready for Location-Aware Status Updates
Sometime later this year Facebook will start to implement opt-in location-aware status updates. Knowing where your Facebook friends are having lunch or going for a run is a just as important, if not more so, than knowing that they’re doing it. So in much the same way that Foursquare shows you check-ins from friends and people checked in at events, Facebook will provide context around status updates in the wild, but on a much broader scale.
The social element of this voluntary disclosure allows marketers to tap into an engaged network of users and offer special promotions based on reported location. We expect FourSquare and other apps with a hybrid location/social-networking component to grow significantly in 2010.
Geo-Targeted Marketing
As the number of GPS-enabled devices continues to rise, expect to see a variety of innovative marketing solutions created to facilitate geo-targeting (i.e. in-aisle, in-store or in-proximity) and automated direct-marketing campaigns that are pushed to consumers with GPS-enabled mobile devices.
Business Will Capitalize on Location-Based Services
With the growth of location-based services and mobile apps, business now has the chance to minutely target consumers.
Of course this explosion of location based information will no doubt lead to main stream media stories of location-sharing gone wrong and will be used as cautionary tales for those who live their lives too openly. But once people begin to understand the value of connecting through location, more and more local business will capitalize on location-based services on social networks and mobile devices.
Buzz in a Vacuum: Transparency in Social Media Marketing
3 Comments | Posted by mdorman on January 18, 2010
No one likes being lied to. It’s a simple truth we all take for granted, but it’s one marketers sometimes forget when promoting products. This can be especially true in social media marketing, which is rife with opportunities for misrepresenting oneself online.
Fake user accounts can be created and added to fan pages. Message boards and blogs can be populated with phony praise for a brand from “product plants” masquerading as real enthusiasts. It’s easy to see why lying can be so tempting, with its minimal effort and immediate results.
To keep from going astray, marketers should adopt a code of conduct that governs their online interactions. Luckily, the industry leader on all things word-of-mouth marketing, WOMMA, has created such a code. From WOMMA’s website:
It’s all about the Honesty ROI. Ethical word of mouth marketers always strive for transparency and honesty in all communications with consumers, with advocates, and with those people who advocates speak to on behalf of a product.
* Honesty of Relationship – you say who you’re speaking for
* Honesty of Opinion – you say what you truly believe; you never shill
* Honesty of Identity – you say who you are; you never falsify your identity
Media Needle knows there are no shortcuts to building brand loyalty and awareness. We follow our own strict code of conduct that closely mirrors WOMMA’s, which means our brand ambassadors never lie about who they are or whom they are representing. We simply care too much about our clients to allow that to happen. And, as fellow consumers, we wouldn’t want to be lied to either.
Plus, the consequences are too great. Not only does lying ensure bad karma that can follow you into future lifetimes, once a consumer/fan discovers the dishonesty — which is inevitable — the breakdown of trust between the consumer/fan and client will reverberate well into this lifetime as people let their friends and family know, which means negative word-of-mouth that results in diminished trust of your brand. That’s the exact opposite of what needs to happen when promoting a product, service or event.
There’s also the pesky fact that dishonest marketing simply doesn’t work. A million fake user accounts will never translate into increased traffic, sales or referrals, because buzz in a vacuum can never be a substitute for genuine consumer/fan engagement. Granted, this engagement is hard work — it’s time-consuming and costly. It requires dedication and patience, and actually listening to both the client and the consumer/fan.
But it’s the only road to results.
kaChing.com Unites the Investment Community, One Stock at a Time
5 Comments | Posted by mdorman on January 13, 2010
In another sign that social networking is wiggling its way into every industry, stock traders were given their own community playground in the form of kaChing.com, which launched in October 2009 and last month announced another injection of venture capital to the tune of $7.5 million from DAG Ventures.
Conceived by veteran investors, kaChing allows users to create and manage a virtual stock portfolio with virtual money to see how it would perform in the actual stock market. Based on the portfolio’s earnings, risk-to-reward ratio, turnover and other factors, investors are assigned an investing IQ that measures their prowess, with the highest performers given Genius status. For a small fee, these Geniuses can have their stock trades automatically “mirrored” in real-time by other kaChing investors who can invest their own money into the portfolio.
The Good
•Transparency: Who wouldn’t be interested in knowing the secrets of successful investors? kaChing takes it a step further by disclosing how much of their own net worth the Geniuses have invested in the portfolios they’re managing — a thoughtful way to foster trust in both the Genius and the company.
•Engagement: All investors have message boards where they can answer questions, discuss stocks and wax poetic on market trends with other investors, further connecting the community.
•Innovation: kaChing is really the first website of its kind to marry social networking with finance in a way that’s potentially profitable for both the users and the company, a rare combination.
The Could Be Better
•Centralization: kaChing could use a community message board, an area devoted to stock research, a live news feed of Genius trades and a feed of the day’s top business stories. Hopefully a few of these will be added in the coming year.
•Product Placement: Admittedly, kaChing is not a place to sell products, unless that product is one’s own investment expertise, but the financial world extends well beyond individual stocks and kaChing would do well to explore these parts.
•Social Media: Where are the Twitter followers? As of this review, kaChing’s last tweet was in December 2009. And what about a Facebook fan page? There is a group page, though no one from kaChing seems to be monitoring it. For a site that’s built on the principles of social media marketing, kaChing could be maximizing its reach more.
With nearly $5 million invested in its portfolios — after less than a year in existence — kaChing is proving that peer reviews, even for something like stocks, can drive purchasing decisions. And in this climate of financial meltdowns, bank takeovers and shady accounting practices, kaChing’s allows investors the freedom to abandon the professional firms and put their money where their mouse is.
Moms Who Blog...And Make Us Laugh
Last Friday, December 4th, The Tree House Social Club hosted a night celebrating Beth Feldman’s “See Mom Run” book tour. What made the night special was live readings from her host of contributors; all innovators in the world of blogging. Out of deference for their talents, I will refrain from the catch phrase “mommy blogger”. In the course of the evening and after a few conversations it became clear that these dynamic women had no agenda to be part of this pigeon-holed part of the current internet landscape. Now despite this, the book and the readings still wound up celebrating motherhood and we can certainly celebrate THAT!
Beth Feldman
Beth’s reading was an insane account of her pregnancy within the few days preceding the birth of her first child. It reads more like Hunter S. Thompson than anything else and although out of my league, I was hooked. Following her were readings from Beth Blecherman of (http://TechMamas.com) who reflected upon the needs for family time at odds with her online commitments exacerbated by a power outage wreaking havoc on both matters. Ciaran Blumenfeld (http://popshopology.com) read an amazing tale of potty training run amok with such vivid descriptions that I am inclined to hold my nose just writing about it. Then Jenna McCarthy (http://jennamccarthy.com) almost gave Ciaran a run for her money with another well-humored tale of children and their bodily fluids. This, of course, involved travel and using available clothing to deal with the mess only to set Jenna up for a close run with an indecent exposure situation at Target. By now, I, possibly the only non-parent in the house was in stitches. Lenore Stoller, aka Role Bubbe and Beth’s mother, read and shared in a way that brought the wisdom to the table. Her tale of her son’s leaving the nest for college and somehow reappearing with laundry on weekends was a truly unique take on the mixed emotions that come with watching your children grow up and travel through the stages. Sue Levine Kupcinet shared valuable anecdotes about her numerous “light bulb moments” and how they each fared differently to bring her both some hard knocks as well as great successes. Beth closed the night with a fun song, yes a song!
Also enjoying this entertaining evening were Debbie Lavdas ( http://peaceloveandmomminess.com ) and Tree House partners Jeannine Chanin and Tricia Leight Ficher. I was very much entertained by the “venue” and the inner-child in me was screaming with envy as kids rode the slide and played in the tree-fort (all indoors).
Everyone needs a watch monkey...
The “Moms Who Blog” world is both massive and influential. It’s also rife with humor, wisdom and mind-boggling resourcefulness. There was not one person I met or saw that night who has not mastered the management of many things at once. See? I didn’t say “multi-tasking”. THAT is something women have been doing for, hmmm, ever? The new Mommy Blogger (ok, I said it) cosmos is grand and to be celebrated. I’m glad I stuck around. Please visit
Visit this link for the best collection of images. Most of my photos were inferior so I have only posted two: Beth and the resident orangutan. The group image used is from Ciaran’s Whrrl entry.
Bernard Yin
* Top photo courtesy of Beth via http://whrrl.com/experience/story/18713009?wref=per_1_7_ttl&sharer=17097631 *
When someone else talks about your stuff, it's earned media
What exactly is earned media? I’m glad you asked. But first, let’s define paid media (sorry, it’s the best that Wikipedia had to offer). Paid media is just that. Exposure that you pay for whether it be television, print, radio, outdoor or online. If you paid someone to put your message there, it’s paid media. Don’t get me wrong, paid media is absolutely necessary and crucial to an integrated marketing mix. And, with the controls available today, you can reach a very targeted audience exactly where you want them for smaller investments than ever before. But, nevertheless, it’s still paid.
Earned media is the result of coverage, comments and conversation produced by press releases, chat threads, Facebook posts, Twitter tweets, blogging, commenting, reviewing, rating, social bookmarking like Digging, StumblingUponing (I made that verb up so don’t hate), Deliciousing (see previous parenthetical note), and video posting (I still love “Will It Blend?” and applaud Blendtec for doing it the right way) among other user-generated and brand-owner content development. Earned media is not completely free. You will most likely pay an agency like ours or an employee of your company to create, craft, post and manage earned media. If you are bootstrapping and doing it yourself, it still costs in terms of time and effort that could have been spent elsewhere. But let’s face it, you’d be paying to create the ads or media for your paid media on top of the actual media costs anyway. So, earned media still costs less.
Even better than costing less, earned media is more valid, engaging and connecting than paid media in a myriad of ways. It can come via a trusted third party – a friend, a media source, a blogger or a community you respect. It, by its very nature, sparks a dialogue that can open the doors for deeper connection. And, it engenders credibility (when done right, mind you) by offering information and conversation versus a come-on or enticement.
Word-of-mouth can be sparked by great paid media, but it’s the following earned media that makes it viral. Keep that in mind when you are planning and the word “viral” pops up.
1.Business Becomes Social
With widespread adoption of social media for marketing, advertising and customer engagement, 2010 will be “the year social media goes corporate.” This means all types of agencies (advertising, digital and PR) will continue to look for ways to help clients participate in social media. But the real trend is the increasing number of Small Business owners who are using social media to attract and retain customers.
2.More Places To Share Video
Video is exploding across all communication platforms and will continue to play an important role in social media. As more and more blogs include links to video content and as mobile devices expand the use of video, we will see even more video content in all aspects of digital, mobile and social media.
3.Mobile Becomes The Viewing Choice For Social Media.
With approximately 70 percent of organizations banning social networks and, sales of smartphones on the rise, more and more people are turning to their mobile phone to connect with social media. As a result, we will see more mobile versions of social media sites.
4.Smartphones Make Websites Smarter
With more consumers using smartphones, websites will start to recognize when a user is viewing content on a phone and be able to deliver more specific, personalized, local content to mobile users.
5.Status Updates Fill Jobs
In 2010 more and more jobs will be posted through social networks. With the increased use of social networks, companies are realizing that announcing a job on an employee’s social networking site is easier and more cost effective than paying $400 for a 30 day job posting and getting 95% bad candidates or paying a recruiter 30-35%.
6.News Feeds Influence Investors
An increasing number of retail and institutional investors are using financial blogs and social networks to communicate and drive investment ideas. Although companies have been slow to adopt, 2010 will be the year that companies understand the opportunity and importance of embracing these channels and engaging with their investors and stakeholders.
7. Customers Speak Up On Fan Pages
Social media is being used to improve customer service. In 2010 more companies will start leveraging social media platforms to gauge the
customer mood, gain insights about specific groups, test products and improve customer relationships. Sites like Facebook will be used to run tailored marketing campaigns to change consumers attitudes, address problems and give customers a chance to share true feeling on a fan page.
8. Social Networks Spend More Time On The Phone
Mobile social networks and communities continue to grow at a staggering rate. Social networking and consumer generated media are no longer limited to a wired computer. Separate reports from M:Metrics and ABI Research show a surge of social media activity via mobile handsets. According to mobile research firm M:Metrics, mobile social networking is projected to grow to over 800 million users worldwide by 2012.
9. Everyone plays Together
More and more platforms are becoming complimentary of each other (ie. Twitter open API model) increasing integration of social media platforms.
As more companies adopt some type of integration with major social platforms, niche social platforms will need to work on mobile, Facebook and Twitter to gain major traction. In particular, the market is just begging for an app where a user can manage all social platforms in one place, for both aggregating and disseminating content.
10. Social Networks Work For The Government
Many government agencies are already using Twitter and Facebook for crisis communications. However more and more federal, state and local government agencies will start using to social media. G-Commerce will evolve. New applications will be developed to directly deliver services and benefits to citizens via smartphones.
Eventful.com despite seemingly anemic activity levels, has come into its own hard and fast with indie films using them as voting platforms. Integrating new systems further such as widgets and outside domains is a delightful new flavor as well. Eventful as a voting platform has also been implemented for a notorious case study (and success story) for Paranormal Activity. We’re seeing it used now for the film Youth in Revolt. That deal is to get your already-registered-to-eventful classmates to vote and Michael Cera may very well be at the screening event that your school will host! Since Eventful already is a known spot to scour for hip local events. Light bulbs go off when you see a promotion like this! That said, jumping through this hoop isn’t too much to ask either; even for non-members who may need to register.
Check it out here: http://bit.ly/YouthInRevoltEvent and by all means explore their contest category in general. You can get all democratic and such for Adam Lambert or KISS as well.
Random musing: Paranormal Activity’s highest voting city is LA. Why are we not surprised? Amityville, hovering at around 10,000 citizens stands no chance. Either there is no justice or are we just dating ourselves? * Optional winky emoticon here *
URL: http://eventful.com/competitions/youthinrevolt2009
While not digital, these assets grab attention
One of the most interesting things we see happen time and time again – most recently with a film promotion – is the lack of basic digital assets. What are these? We’re talking a logo, a few banners, images, video, widgets, editorial content and whatever else you can provide your team and the public-at-large with to make their engagement with your brand or project more visually stimulating and relevant.
The more you have, the more they get used…and shared…and re-used on other sites whereby expanding your reach and awareness well beyond the narrow focus of your website and/or social media profiles. By the way, bloggers love to have assets to punctuate their posts. Most of the time, these items are quick and easy to develop. They can be created on an ongoing basis as other items are being prepared such as offline marketing materials, packaging or other online media. One quick side note while we are talking about creating – when you start designing, think about your social media profiles which, let’s face it, are de rigueur. Start building and skinning your Facebook or Twitter profiles while building everything else.
Oh and finally, if you want people to run with your brand (and remember, this is what happens with all successful brands anyway) you might as well make these assets easy to share. We love how Groupon kills two birds with one stone via their “e-schwag” widget-meets-banner.