SMCakl 7 - Analytics Tools & Tactics - #EpicWin

Social Media Club Auckland NZ #SMCakl Social Media New Zealand SMC akl

Social Media Club Auckland (SMCakl 7) was a super-success or in the clipped, hashtagged vocab of the twitterati, was an #EpicWin !!!

Held on Tue 10-Aug-10 at the uber-CBD bar, Bluestone Room, the topic for the night was a hot one: SM Analytics - Tools & Tactics.

As expected, the evening was chocker with talent on both sides of the podium. While we had some informative talks from the speakers, it was also a very interactive (aka social) evening with lots of questions from the audience, which our distinguished panel fielded with ease.

Giapo & Jayson - NZ's very own 'SM for SMEs' success stories - were there!

Highlights of the evening:

• Insightful presentations loaded with facts & figures, graphs & graphics by the speakers
• Crowd favourites Giapo & Jayson Bryant almost stole the show when they strode onstage
• An endless supply of Whittakers Chocolates on every table
• Generous snack platters with compliments from the bar
• Prizes handed out for every Q in the Q&A. Robyn Ellson of Bullet PR took home the top one!

Justin Flitter, host, co-organiser and speaker on the night blogged about the event providing comprehensive coverage - complete with speaker bios, downloadable presentations and live links. You can read all about what happened on the night here.


Speakers in action at SMCakl 7:

Justin Flitter from Zendesk

Louisa Jones, PR Consultant from Eleven PR

James Townsend, Digital Communications Manager for ASB Bank

Adam Good, Exec Director of Digital Innovation, Clemenger BBDO

Three SM monitoring tactics in a cross channel marketing program

Tony Boyte, Research Director, Nielsen

Preview of Nielsen's latest Social Media NZ Report 2010

The high quality pictures you see above are courtesy of my good friend, Johann du Plessis. An accomplished lensman (and all-round good bloke), Jo (pronounced Yo) has a highly specialised niche - pet portraits! Which only makes it easier for him to shoot two-legged creatures. Click here to check out his website and portfolio. Thanks to his voluntary offer...
 
We're starting a Seen at SMCakl photo section on the Facebook profile! So prepare to get "papped" by Yo at the next meet-up. Call Johann on 0211131444 or yelloducksearch@gmail.com for any photo-shoot or hi-res copies of your pics. But for that, you'll have to be... seen at SMCakl.

Coming up next: Social Media Debate: Evangelists v/s Sceptics on Tue 14 Sep at Saatchi & Saatchi NZ. It's going to be a noisy one. See you there!
Social Media Club Auckland NZ #SMCakl Social Media New Zealand SMC akl

The 4 Cs of Social Media

Social Media, Auckland, New Zealand. Social Media NZ, Social Media Club
Be it New York or New Zealand, digital or direct, hand-held or ambient, traditional or social... primarily, all media are means of communication.

What's different about social media is owing to its speed & size, it's not as easy to define its basic framework. To understand SM at a glance, I've drawn a simple sketch to illustrate what lies at its core.

4 Cs of Social Media - the basic framework

Collaboration

Collaboration is the spirit of social media. Call it participation, sharing or engagement, it's what puts the "social" in social media. Without sounding too psycho-babble, it's the behavioural glue that builds & binds online networks. It actually works on the oldest of truisms - Man is a social animal... and modern man, an attention-loving beast!


Content

Content is King. And quality content is organic ranking (even without those SEOs!) Clearly, we're living in an Information Age, where everything is media and everyone is a media channel. As a result, user-generated content is popping up everywhere at never-before rates - created by people like you & me. Consume it. Create it. Share it. Love it. Hate it. Enjoy it. Just don't try keeping pace with it.

Sample this UGC nugget - 24 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube every 60 seconds - that's 1 day of content for every 1 minute!

Conversation

Conversation is social media in action. Without it, social media wouldn't be. Content (good or bad) leads to an opinion and when two or more opinions concur (or collide), it strikes (or sparks) a conversation.

What's more, opinions are like arseholes. Everyone's got at least one:) (anyway, back to work!) Feeds, updates, tweets, retweets, comments, likes, share bars, embed codes, reviews, ratings, links - are the lifeblood of conversation.

And the truth is, people share things they like with their family, friends,  fans, followers - at different places, at different times, in different ways. The true test of good content lies in its talkability = the ability to generate WOM by jumping across social networks and even, media platforms. That in a nutshell, is how content goes viral and it's truly social art when it does.

Community

Community creation is the whole point of social media. A direct consequence of collaboration, communities form when people with a common point of interest come together on social networks. It is the interaction within & across communities that creates connections, and it is here the SM strategy comes into effect.

The Quality of the Connection is where it's at.

The end goal of all business is profit creation via customer generation.

For most companies, CRM, corporate communications/ PR, advertising & marketing and direct sales is where social media comes in. SM allows a forum to connect with existing customers (and reach out to potential ones) - closer, faster and easier than ever before.

Marketers considering social media in the mix may ask "What separates one SM initiative from the other?" Answer: The quality of the connection with the community = volume, frequency and depth of interaction. Before setting up a corporate feed, decision-makers and stakeholders need to devise a carefully thought out SM strategy factoring in things like:

• Could it result in better customer service?
• Could it result in better brand equity?
• Could it lead to a better end experience for the consumer?
• Could it increase customer satisfaction?
• How open and transparent should we be?
• What's our contingency plan in case shit hits the fan?
• Who looks after SM - who takes the calls & who mans the decks? 
• Which are the right SM tools for our business?
• Do we have the systems to channel feedback into the product?
• What other media should we integrate with for best results?
• How do we measure ROI?

Social Media is for doers. It is on-going.

The trick is to never stop asking questions and the answers can only be found by doing. While Just Do It, Listen & Learn, Keep it Real, Explore & Experiment, Measure & Monitor, Filter and Integrate are handy mantras, here are 3 things to remember:

1. You don't control the conversation, you facilitate it
2. Your community is your brand (and key business driver)
3. On-going community management is the way to success

Social Media's star on the rise in NZ

A recent study of Kiwis participating in social networks drew up encouraging statistics. Here's a snapshot of Nielsen's 2010 Social Media Report.

With Facebook crossing the 500 million user milestone (that's one in 14 humans) last week, SM has only just begun. Might as well get social with it.
Social Media, Auckland, New Zealand. Social Media NZ, Social Media Club

#SMCakl 6... they're still talking about it!

Social Media Club Auckland NZ #SMCakl Social Media New Zealand

Social Media Club Auckland (13Jul10) what a night - one to remember!

Social Media Club Auckland (#SMCakl 6) was a hoot with over 150 SMperor penguins huddled inside the Saatchi atrium braving the chill.

With a topic like ‘Social Media for Social Good’ we knew we were onto a good one. But the zealous response it fetched was unforeseen. And boy, did things heat up during the Q&A!

Featuring prominent names from NZ’s leading charities and NGOs, the speakers treated the audience to insightful presentations and shared how they leverage social media for ROI, sustenance and growth.

L-R: Me, Stuart Young, Lee Hales, Suzanne Kendrick, Nick Young

L-R: Me, Stuart Young, Lee Hales, Suzanne Kendrick, Nick Young

Kick-off... with both feet-in-the-mouth!

Our Keynote Speakers for the evening

Suzanne Kendrick

Online Marketing and Community Management, Grey Lynn 2030

Simon Coley

Founder, All Good Bananas

Lee Hales

Marketing Manager, Give a Little NZ

Stuart Young

Online Communications Manager, Oxfam NZ

Nick Young

Web Manager, Greenpeace New Zealand

The heated Q&A session... the conversation is still going on!

Unprecedented

#SMCakl6 was a night to remember not only because it featured many firsts, but because it created quite a stir at the event and unprecedented buzz afterwards. The event led to a barrage of blog posts (incl this one!) and triggered a deluge of conversations. In particular:

• Vaughn Davis - Hatred: it keeps you warm at night and doesn't hurt your campaign results either Vaughn's post is the hottest social object to emerge from SMCakl. An honest and outspoken opinion, it's a true thought-starter. See how many sharp, loaded and passionate comments it attracted! 
• Simon Young - Lessons fom a hashtag (or, why #sy is now sy)
• Justin Flitter - Hashtag your way to tweet success
• Saquib ‘Sim’ Ahmed - Live blog from #SMCakl 13/07/10 - definitely the freshest event coverage - can't get fresher than real-time now, can you?
• Simone McCallum - she created an #SMCakl newspaper using an online aggregator app (paper.li) that lays out all the event coverage (tweets and blogs) in broadsheet format - cool idea!
• AdMedia & Fastline’s coverage of SMCakl - Before & After the event

Also, here's a good article on the local social media scene by Kelly Gregor (of NZ Herald) featuring quite a few SMCakl speakers.

SM Whiz Quiz Prizes - Rebecca Smith draws the winners...

And the lucky winners are... on the comments wall (login required to view)

Prizes Galore

For the first time, SMCakl had an SM Whiz Quiz where lucky winners took home a Motorola Milestone & T-sticks from Telecom NZ; T-shirts from Oxfam, All Good Bananas & Greenpeace; Tickets from WordCamp NZ.

The twitterrific #SMCakl tweetwall - thank God it didn't break Twitter:)

tweet as

Another cool first at #SMCakl was the live Tweetwall (set up by Peter Mangin, CIO, Saatchi & Saatchi NZ) which displayed all tweets with the hashtag #SMCakl as a real-time feed on a jellyscreen - a ‘tweet as’ success. End result - #SMCakl became a top trending topic in Auckland.

AdMedia & Fastline gave prizes to the top 3 Qs at the Q&A, and top 3 tweets. Check out the Events page to see all the winners, prizes...

Vote of Thanks

Organising events is not easy - esp. with audience numbers of 150+. #SMCakl 6 was a resonating success thanks to our Speakers, Sponsors & Supporters: Peter Mangin, Chris Macdonald, Nicholas O’Flaherty, Alex Erasmus, Vaughn Davis, Simon Young, Justin Flitter, Julian Waters, Rebecca Smith, Tara Sutherland (Telecom NZ), David Gapes, Jason Kemp (WordCampNZ), Marty (Milk Cafe) and all those who participated in it - online and offline.

I ate that banana right after that talk. Suddenly, I felt all good!

That's me (hashtag #makingahashofitall:)

The famous S&S logo on lift, me, the tweetwall & the latest handbags:)

My tee was eyeballed (in a good way) by many. Idea courtesy amysticgirl

Might as well add, it was my honour to organise the event, MC the evening, host the Q&A and quiz-master the SM Whiz Quiz. A great experience, both a pleasure and a privilege indeed.

All in all, a great networking event with Monteith’s beer + cider flowing all night, nibbles from Milk Cafe and fair trade bananas for everyone.

Next meet on Tuesday 10 August. Topic: SM Analytics & Listening. Add yourself on Social Media Club Auckland's Facebook profile to keep up with the latest updates. See you all soon.

 Till then, keep the madness alive and get social with it.

Mr. Social would like to thank amysticgirl for the photos & videos.

On a lighter note, here's a Supercop gone All Good Bananas - full story in pictures!

#SMCAkl 5 - Jam-packed and Facebooked

Social Media Club Auckland NZ #SMCakl Social Media New Zealand

Social Media Club Auckland (#SMCakl 5) was packed to capacity... and with 150 attendees, was the biggest meet so far. Just goes to show, awareness as also interest in social media is growing with each session.

Featuring some big names in Social Media, including the biggest of them all, the topic for the evening was Marketing through Facebook: an opportune one to discuss as the number of advertisers on Facebook today has quadrupled since 2009!

Keynote speakers at the event and the main points they made were:

Rowan Schaaf, Ogilvy; Paul Webster, Facebook

Rowan Schaaf, Ogilvy

• We want to achieve a general collaboration in thinking wrt media campaigns and sourcing the right media and tech talents.
• No platform or methodology is foolproof' - make sure you've got the right message going to the right person at the right time.
• "I get laughed at for not having a TV, I can get away with that. I can't get away with not having a Facebook"

  

Paul Webster, Facebook

Paul Webster, Facebook

• 1.67 million active users of Facebook in NZ
• Average no. of friends for every FB user = 130 (potential number of people you reach everytime you connect with someone on FB)
• 75% of Kiwis aged 15-39 are active Facebook users
• Brands build connections through Facebook using 2 way dialogue
• FB case studies in NZ - 100% Pure Tourism NZ; 2degrees; Holden

Tom Osborne, Wag the Dog

Tom Osborne, Wag The Dog

• You don't own your brand, nor does your marketing dept. Customers do.
• Social Media is just a channel, not a magic bullet
• Combining SM with above the line helps
• Social Media is not a campaign medium, it's a 5-10 year medium
• Good reads: Social Object Theory & Conversational Capital

Piero Liguori, 2degrees

Piero Liguori, 2degrees

• Facebook is about linear not sporadic campaigning
• Being active on social media doesn't mean you have to lose control. 2degrees deletes people who are  consistently offensive (= trolls)
• 2degrees has full time front line customer service staff working on social media platforms

Q...

...& A

The talks were followed by a Q&A session where Piero gave away 2degrees starter packs to audience members who participated.

Social Media Club offers great networking opportunities with people from all walks of life, with a keen interest in new media. A few attendees I met:
 
 

David MacGregor, Idealog/ BrandWorld

Toni Knowles, 3D Interactive; Julian Waters, Communico

David Sakey, Colmar-Brunton; Ghanum Taylor, Below the Line

 
 

Debbie-Mayo Smith, NZ Herald; Piero Liguori, 2degrees

Justin Flitter, FlitterMedia; Tom Osborne, Wag the Dog

James Townend (ASB Bank), Nicholas O'Flaherty & Kevin Ptak (Bullet PR)

And a few more pics from the event:
 
 

 

  

 Tip to put Twitter to better use
If you're looking for info on something popular (aka a trending topic in Twitter lingo) - be it breaking news, a major incident, celebrity goss or a public event (eg. Social Media Club Auckland), the first thing is to identify the assigned hashtag - protocol sign-off used by all tweeting on the topic (#SMCakl, in this case) - via Twitter feeds or Google.

Now, for all those who cannot make it to the event (and this to my mind, is the true beauty of collaboration), just Twitter Search the hashtag and all the tweets related to SMCakl appear. You could follow the feed in real time and thus 'attend the event' remotely; engage directly with attendees via tweets/ RTs; or tune in for a listen later.

 

Huge thanks going out to: Ogilvy NZ for playing gracious hosts and for plying the venue, beer and vino; to Bullet PR for organising the event, and Nick O'Flaherty (above pic) for emceeing the proceedings.

Social Media Club meets on the second Tuesday of every month. The next one will be on July 13, 2010. Check out the Facebook profile for updates and event details. Feel free to jump in anytime and join the conversation.

Welcome to the Conversation Economy

Aisha Hillary, Senior Marketing & New Media Specialist, SBS; me

Last month, I attended Social Media Junction - NZ's biggest event on the topic du jour. One of the keynote speakers, Aisha Hillary of SBS.com.au played a video loaded with factoids and trivia... which stuck in my mind.

Social Media is all about conversations and Socialnomics is the new economy. See the clip and you'll know what got millions of them started.



Is Social Media a fad... or a phenomenon?


For the skeptics out there, the above compilation is credited to Erik Qualman, who offers data sources in his book and website... SocialNomics.

If, like me, you enjoy UGC (user-generated content) without getting too caught up in it, you must check out the fascinating Did You Know videos. Pure brain-candy!

Mr. Madness would like to thank Geeta SK for the pic above.