Interview with Social Times Pro, I: Facebook advertising for direct response

February 13, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Why Facebook's Self-Serve Ad Platform Works

Social Targeting: Why Facebook's Self-Serve Ad Platform Works

I was recently interviewed for the report “Social Targeting: Why Facebook’s Self-Serve Ad Platform Works” from Social Times Pro lead analyst Tameka Kee (@geekychic). The full report is available for download to subscribers. Here’s an excerpt:

Case study: Facebook for direct response

Facebook’s self-serve ads may be effective at building brand awareness, and less intent-focused than search, but that doesn’t meant they can’t be used for direct response campaigns. Take coupons, for example.

  • Target audience: “Soccer moms”
  • Brands involved: CPG food brand
  • Agency/Developer: Bulbstorm
  • Flight time: Four weeks; April 2010
  • Cost: $5,000

Bulbstorm’s client wanted to position itself as a “cost-effective, convenient family meal.” The Facebook ad copy asked users to share tips about how they saved money for their families. The ad drove traffic back to the brand’s Facebook page, where users received a coupon after they posted a money-saving tip.

Outcome:

  • 8,000 new fans over the course of four weeks
  • 4,000 family savings tips submitted

Why it worked: First, Bulbstorm targeted the ads using age, gender and marital status. The ad also featured a call-to-action that focused on encouraging users to engage with others, not just promoting the brand. The addition of the coupon added direct response metrics to the “branding” benefits, since the advertiser could track how many Facebook users actually redeemed the unique code.

“We were especially proud of this campaign from a cost standpoint, because $5,000 was relatively inexpensive for such a competitive demographic,” Bulbstorm marketing director Matt Simpson said.

“These moms spend lots of time on Facebook playing games, among other things, and CPGs with huge budgets go after them. It’s difficult for smaller brands to compete, but the combination of smart targeting and compelling content made it possible.”

The campaign would have also been far more expensive if it had run via paid search on Google or Bing, given the competitive landscape.

Copyright 2011 WebMediaBrands Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reprinted with permission from SocialTimes Pro.

Filed Under: All Posts, Digital Marketing Tagged With: , ,

7 Tips for Landing Your First Social Media Job

April 25, 2010 by 5 Comments

Bulbstorm says Help Wanted in Social Media

Bulbstorm seeks smart guys and gals to work in social media. If you've followed these seven tips, drop us a line!

So you wanna work in social media? You’re not alone. Bulbstorm is hiring for multiple positions right now and it ain’t easy.

A lot of decent, smart people want to work in social media. But few can prove in a resume or interview that they can actually do it. It’s one thing to play with the tools. It’s quite another to apply them in a business setting.

Even employers are still trying to get it right. Last summer, Best Buy was ridiculed for requiring Sr. Manager of Emerging Media Marketing candidates to possess one year active blogging experience, 250 followers on Twitter, and an MBA.

So, how do you force your way into an industry that hardly existed five years ago and continues to evolve? Here are a few tips:

  1. Create an online brand. What’s your personal passion? Maybe it’s concert photography or fantasy artwork or ASU football. Build a brand around that topic – or around yourself – and market it like an actual business.

  2. Start your own blog. You have to go deeper than 140 characters. Prove that you can think critically and organize and articulate thoughts in posts unfiltered (and unedited) by your boss. Your blog doesn’t have to be about social media, but it has to be your own.

  3. Start your own blog (Pt. II). Get intimate with your blog’s backend. (Oy!) Play with different WordPress themes and plug-ins. Ditch the wysiwyg and write posts in html. Install Google Analytics and get familiar with the tool’s features. It’ll all pay off.

  4. Drive traffic. Use Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. to drive eyeballs to your content. Don’t forget social bookmarking and niche communities. Familiarize yourself with SEO and/or PPC. Then use your Google Analytics to assess what’s working and what’s not.

  5. Go viral, or at least try. No budget? No problem. There are plenty of free tools out there. Customize a Facebook gifting app. Create a Twitter hashtag. Edit your own Downfall parody or Photoshop something silly.

  6. Keep learning. Your college degree is not enough. Neither is your current job. Read white papers and case studies and attend webinars and live events. You’ll need to dive deeper than 200-word blog posts to keep pace in a constantly changing industry.

  7. And finally, get real. Do not – repeat do not – apply for a social media job without social media experience. And please note that I didn’t say paid experience. Don’t ignore your professional experience. Just supplement it with your personal work in social media.

If you followed the steps above, you should have enough for a few bullets on a resume and a few talking points in an interview. Maybe you can join our team at Bulbstorm. Good luck!

So, what should hiring managers expect from a social media applicant? Two-hundred Twitter followers? An MBA? Let me know in the comments!

Filed Under: All Posts, Digital Marketing Tagged With: , ,

Rework from 37signals: Daily Meditations for Entrepreneurs and Startup Employees

March 28, 2010 by 3 Comments
Back of business book Rework.

The back cover of Rework. I disagree with their bite-sized take on meeting, but different strokes.

My introduction to Rework came in a Facebook status update. “I insist that you read REWORK, from the founders of 37signals,” my teammate Dwight Knowlton wrote. “I’m a third of the way in and inspired.”

He nailed it.

I’ll admit that I wasn’t feeling Rework at first. I like my business books to be nice and meaty like, say, Built to Last. Rework is definitely not a 10 on the Inc. rigor rating.

But Rework is filled with bite-sized morsels of business wisdom – particularly for someone working in a tech startup like Bulbstorm. And it left me properly inspired to post my first blog entry in nearly three months!

Now, on with the morsels:

  • On lean product design: “Constantly look for things to remove, simplify, and streamline. Be a curator. Stick to what’s truly essential.”

  • On productivity: “Those taps on the shoulder and little impromptu get-togethers may seem harmless, but they’re actually corrosive to productivity. Interruption is not collaboration, it’s just interruption.”

  • On meetings: “Invite as few people as possible, always have a clear agenda, [and] end with a solution and make someone responsible for implementing it.”

  • On constraints: “Constraints are advantages in disguise. Limited resources force you to make due with what you’ve got. There’s no room for waste. And that forces you to be creative.”

  • On getting to market: “Put off anything you don’t need for launch. If you really think about it, there’s a whole lot you don’t need on day one.”

I read from a daily meditations book every morning. Nothing too meaty. Just 100-or-so words from the author plus 40-or-so words of my own scribbled at the bottom of each page.

That’s how I think one should read Rework. It’s not a rigorous examination of the ins and outs of business. It’s more of a daily meditation book for entrepreneurs and startup employees. It provokes enough thought to push buttons without overwhelming the already-taxed mind.

Read one passage every morning and spend five minutes reflecting. Perhaps, like my teammate Dwight, you’ll be inspired too.

So, what’s your favorite business book? I’m looking for a new read, and ready for you to sway my choice!

Filed Under: All Posts, Startups Tagged With:

3 Opening Moves for an In-House PR Startup

September 29, 2009 by Leave a Comment

This article originally appeared as a guest post on Brian Camen’s excellent The PR Practitioner blog.

With limited marketing resources, you have to reach for the low hanging.

With limited marketing resources, you gotta reach for the low hanging fruit.

A corporate reorganization left my manager and me – both marketing copywriters by trade – as stewards of the media relations program for a Fortune 500 enterprise in Phoenix, Arizona. Our company had historically shied from media coverage. But, despite limited resources, we wanted to transform our minimalist approach into a more proactive model.

At the start, our assets included a press release template, a process guideline for media engagement, and a pool of incredibly knowledgeable but far-flung subject matter experts (SMEs). That’s about it.

So, like most in this economy, we took a deep breath and got to work. These were our opening moves:

1. Pick the low-hanging fruit. With limited startup resources, we had to accept our limitations and identify and pursue easily achievable wins to gain momentum in our efforts. We simply didn’t have the manpower to pitch stories or build deep relationships with the media. So we patiently followed journalists on Twitter and browsed HARO e-mails and waited for a pitch to hit.

2. Secure executive buy-in. In some large companies, it’s easy to lose hours, if not days, in approvals. That dog won’t hunt for journalists on a 3 p.m. deadline. So we made the case for responsiveness and flexibility and streamlined our engagement process. Fortunately, our executives were very supportive—especially after we whetted their appetites with a handful of early wins.

3. Build a SME list. We’re blessed with a robust and deep pool of SMEs. Unfortunately, they’re spread from Boston to Chicago to Dallas to Phoenix, and that’s when they’re at their desks and not in the field. Plus, our industry is pretty technical. So we had to assess the SMs for which we had SMEs, and then locate the SMEs. Our SME list enabled us to react quickly to media opportunities.

We didn’t do everything right. But we managed to keep the lights on while building relationships with local journalists. And we advanced long-term projects including an online media room and an introductory media kit.

Eventually the plan called for adding resources and scaling our fledgling operation into industry publications and key markets outside Arizona.

So how’d we do? Let me know if we missed any key steps – or low-hanging fruit – in building out our program.

Filed Under: All Posts, Startups Tagged With: ,

Good Bye Copywriting, Hello Social Media Marketing

September 23, 2009 by 1 Comment

Im the new Social Media Marketing Manager for Bulbstorm.

I'm the new Social Media Marketing Manager for Bulbstorm.

I gave my two week’s notice at Insight on Monday with the intention of building my freelance copywriting business. However, a Phoenix startup I had hoped to cultivate as a freelance client asked me to join their staff.

Good bye, Fortune 500 copywriter. Hello, startup social media marketing manager.

My new employer is Bulbstorm. They aim to build an online community for companies and their customers to unite and share ideas for improving their products.

The main platform is online innovation communities on Bulbstorm.com, but the company is working to add their innovation technology to Facebook fan pages. They also offer agency-esque social media services to clients.

Bulbstorm found me by googling Phoenix Marketing Copywriter and landing on my freelance copywriting website. My experience with social media and blogging related to Echo from the Buttes particularly piqued their interest.

When I considered turning them down to focus on my freelance copywriting business, the CEO trash talked me on Twitter.

That got my attention and I signed on. Here’s to the future!

Filed Under: All Posts, Career Updates
« Previous Page
Next Page »