tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58207900721010400072024-03-08T17:17:26.043-07:00Eric Fransen (aka Batcat)Video game marketing person. Musician. Cat aficionado.Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18242668174575284225noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5820790072101040007.post-75790551675091360892021-01-28T15:06:00.002-07:002021-04-28T09:31:04.435-07:00Ghouls and Graveyards<p>As a lifelong fan of video games, I'm officially dipping my toe into composing music for them. Below is the first song I'm publishing and it's available for anyone to use completely free (with attribution).</p><p>Originally created for a friend's game prototype, the brief with <a href="https://ericjfransen.bandcamp.com/track/ghouls-and-graveyards">Ghouls and Graveyards</a> was to communicate a combination of eeriness as well as childhood innocence.</p><p>If you like what you're hearing, <a href="http://ericjfransen.bandcamp.com">follow me on Bandcamp</a> to be notified whenever I publish something new.</p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=3895562864/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=none/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 120px; width: 350px;"><a href="https://ericjfransen.bandcamp.com/track/ghouls-and-graveyards">Ghouls and Graveyards by Eric Fransen</a></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-T-ntaKSdFTU/YBM3GugA8II/AAAAAAAAIHQ/ZMdmdB-IKLQXyW7hlbNGWPNoYkRHumfWgCNcBGAsYHQ/s1400/GandG.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1400" data-original-width="1400" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-T-ntaKSdFTU/YBM3GugA8II/AAAAAAAAIHQ/ZMdmdB-IKLQXyW7hlbNGWPNoYkRHumfWgCNcBGAsYHQ/s320/GandG.png" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18242668174575284225noreply@blogger.com0Scottsdale, AZ, USA33.4941704 -111.92605195.1839365638211561 -147.0823019 61.804404236178847 -76.7698019tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5820790072101040007.post-55304121222234336682021-01-27T14:54:00.003-07:002021-01-27T14:54:42.648-07:00Redesign and Relaunch... Let's Go!<p>Hello, world! </p><p>It's been a little while. I'm dusting off the old blog and will be starting to publish new content here on a semi-regular basis about everything from community building to my music projects and more.</p><p>You can also keep up with me on Twitter as well: <a href="http://twitter.com/ericjfransen">@ericjfransen</a></p><p>Thanks for stopping by!</p><p>~E</p>Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18242668174575284225noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5820790072101040007.post-42838939451566213522017-09-27T18:23:00.004-07:002021-01-27T16:50:37.640-07:003 Rules For Promoting Your Business on Social MediaWith all the advice and information available to you about how to use social media to promote your business, it's difficult to know where to start. It's with that in mind that I've put together a short list of what I personally have found to be the three most valuable rules when promoting your brand or business using social media.<br /><br />
<h3>
1. Lead with Value</h3>
What captures your attention as you scroll through your social media feeds? For me, whether it's a hilarious cat photo or a new movie trailer, the common element is value. Value can mean a lot of things, so here is how I define it within the context of marketing: <b>communication that leaves me better off having received it</b>.<br />
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Some examples of valuable communication include:<br />
<ul>
<li>a video that entertained me</li>
<li>a news story on a topic I care about</li>
<li>an update about a product that I'm following</li>
<li>a coupon that will save me money</li>
<li>a chance to win an incredible prize</li>
<li>a tutorial about how to do something</li>
</ul>
If your communication is valuable to one person, there's a good chance they know someone else who will find it valuable too and are that much more likely to share it. As tempting (and easy!) as it may be to repurpose existing promotional material and publish it on your business' Facebook page, ask yourself: "would I share this?" If the answer is "no," perhaps it's time to rethink your approach.<br />
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2. Know Your Audience</h3>
Before you can deliver value to your audience, naturally you need to know who your audience is in order to understand what they value. The most popular social networks like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube provide helpful dashboards with demographic and other data about your audience. There are also a variety of 3rd-party tools that can analyze your audience against your competitors'. It's also critical to create personas or profiles of your ideal customers in order to better plan and segment your communications.<br />
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<h3>
3. Start Conversations</h3>
This may seem obvious, but all too often I've seen this be one of the first things to go out the window when it comes to a company's social media presence. Posting dozens of times each week with heavy sales pitches and product messages, overwhelming their audience and tanking results in the process. Remember: social media is not a broadcast channel, it's a conversation with your current and potential customers. Ask questions and engage your followers - you just might learn something new.<br />Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18242668174575284225noreply@blogger.comSanta Monica, CA 90403, USA34.0279895 -118.4951550000000133.975351999999994 -118.57583600000001 34.080627 -118.41447400000001tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5820790072101040007.post-59266369285831950752016-03-12T15:25:00.002-07:002016-03-15T11:43:08.445-07:00Dark Social: The Next Frontier For BrandsWhat if I told you that over half of the traffic to a brand's website was unable to be tracked to a specific source? This is the essence of <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/10/dark-social-we-have-the-whole-history-of-the-web-wrong/263523/" target="_blank">Dark Social</a> - social communication that exists on private channels such as email, SMS and messaging apps like WhatsApp, and is virtually invisible to brands. What if I also told you that each of these channels each had over a billion users? Do I have your attention?<br />
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Last year, <a href="http://www.digitallyapproved.com/2015/01/29/2015-will-see-the-rise-of-dark-social/" target="_blank">our own Tom Edwards predicted that 2015 would see the rise of Dark Social</a>. And he was correct. Brands like Adidas are waking up the importance of Dark Social as a way to understand and better engage their customers. While some simple things can be done to capitalize on the behavior such as SMS and messaging app share buttons on mobile websites, the opportunity goes deeper than that.<br />
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In partnership with WhatsApp (acquired by Facebook in 2014), <a href="http://www.thedrum.com/news/2016/03/05/adidas-spotlights-dark-social-be-most-personal-brand" target="_blank">Adidas</a> has created what they've called squads -- hyperlocal communities around the world in cities like Berlin and Paris where content and brand news will premiere first. It's a brilliant way to learn from the consumer behavior -- providing value as a way to drive users to engage and share the brand news.<br />
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So what does this mean for YOUR brand? A couple things:<br />
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1) <b>Learn everything you can about the dark social traffic that's leading to your website.</b> What content is being shared by users through these channels? Are you creating content and value that's designed to be shared in this manner? Apply these learnings and evolve your branded content accordingly.<br />
2 ) <b>Consider messaging when creating brand experiences.</b> From customer service to building communities, this kind of 1:1 engagement among consumers and brands is the preferred medium. Embrace the behavior and learn from it as Adidas has.Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18242668174575284225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5820790072101040007.post-42339921876815650022015-11-11T12:59:00.000-07:002015-11-11T12:59:34.250-07:00Pause for Playlist: Lord Huron's Strange TrailsIt's not very often that an artist or an album stops me dead in my tracks. I'm deeply entrenched in my music collection, and explore as many new ways to discover new music as possible. Far and away, Spotify Weekly Discover has been the most compelling source of new tunes - and this week was no exception with Lord Huron's masterpiece, <i>Strange Trails</i>.<br />
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<a href="https://play.spotify.com/album/3yoNZlqerJnsnMN5EDwwBS" target="_blank">Listen to the album on Spotify here.</a></div>
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<i>Strange Trails</i> is hauntingly beautiful, with gorgeous melodies and floating reverb. Recorded by frontman Ben Schneider in his Whispering Pines studio in Los Angeles, the album began its life as an idea for a feature film. And it shows. The album plays like an outdoor adventure and instills a sense of wanderlust like no other record before it.<br />
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I had certainly heard the name Lord Huron before. But I wrote them off as just another "indie folk" act, lumped in with Mumford and Sons, The Lumineers and about a million others. As it turns out, I just needed to hear the right album at the right time and place in my life. It was perfect as the soundtrack to a productive evening working at my desk, carrying me along to the end of my duties for the day. And it's been on repeat ever since.Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18242668174575284225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5820790072101040007.post-44172649453742075832015-10-22T17:29:00.002-07:002015-11-02T16:02:59.053-07:00Google Serves Up Shopper Trends to Retailers to Win in Mobile MomentsGoogle's recently begun to use the term Mobile Moments to describe mobile's place in the consumer journey across devices. Specifically, trying to understand how search signals intent at a regional level and how retailers can capitalize on this intelligence. I'm certainly in Google's camp when it comes to search as a signal -- when you're asking a question about a product, you're almost certainly heading toward a purchase, depending on what information you discover -- and Google's plan to address (and monetize) these signals just got better.<br />
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Earlier this week, <a href="http://recode.net/2015/10/20/googles-new-tool-lets-retailers-find-shoppers-based-on-what-they-search-for-and-where/?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=HomePageStream&utm_content=companies" target="_blank">Google announced a new ad product</a> that allows retailers to tap into their massive databank of search and mapping data, offering them the opportunity to fully utilize local shopping trends and behaviors. For example, Google found that demand for Playstation 4 was 2x that of Xbox One in New York, while consumers in Los Angeles were nine times more interested in Xbox One. This kind of insight could change the entire strategy of merchandising and co-op advertising to fit local preferences and nuances in behavior. Why spend equally everywhere when the same dollar promoting Xbox One would go a lot farther in Los Angeles compared to New York?<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I shop here because of their people-first approach to marketing across devices.</td></tr>
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So, where does mobile fit into this behavior? <b>Everywhere</b>. In fact, <a href="http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/8511-mobile-shopping-moments.html" target="_blank">according to a recent study</a>, 54% of shoppers are expected to shop in these Mobile Moments between other activities throughout the holiday season, rather than simply cramming it all into Black Friday or a "shopping day." This also includes the ever-present behavior of "show-rooming" -- where consumers are checking prices and comparison shopping online even while they are in other stores.<br />
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Here's the bottom line: mobile is going to be bigger than ever this holiday season, and Google's got a new bag of tricks to make sure you're reaching the right customers with the right message on the right device.Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18242668174575284225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5820790072101040007.post-1783917622687917232015-09-21T14:19:00.001-07:002015-09-21T14:19:40.683-07:00Virtual Reality and RetailI have a confession to make. I wasn't always a believer in virtual reality. I thought it was the latest tech fad, with everyone trying so hard to make it happen.<br />
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Gamers are in the middle of the Virtual Reality rebirth with Playstation VR (formerly Project Morpheus), Oculus Rift, Google Cardboard and others. You can't talk about the future of the gaming industry without discussing Virtual Reality. Want to ride a virtual rollercoaster? What about a survival horror experience? You got it.<br />
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Yet, none of it was speaking to me in a way that caused me to say "THIS is the future..." Until I tried the HTC Vive with Steam VR. It was eye-opening to say the least. For the first time in my life, I actually felt like I was completely immersed and present in a virtual world.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;">HTC Vive taught me everything I know about digital kitchens.<br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
To try and describe my experience with the Vive would not do it justice. It truly must be experienced to comprehend how realistic it really is. In the demo that I tried, I watched as a full-scale whale swam by me on a sunken ship, I painted in 3D space and could walk through my creation, I cooked a meal in a kitchen, and tried to repair Atlas -- a robot from the beloved Portal series. It was incredible. TL;DR I'm a believer.<br />
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<b>So how does this come to life in retail?</b><br />
The possibilities are endless. With flexible VR tech like Google Cardboard and other smartphone enabled opportunities, retailers can create simple, lightweight experiences designed to be used remotely or to enhance the in-store experience. With the more sophisticated tech like the HTC Vive that requires a substantial footprint, there's an opportunity to create in-store engagements that transport consumers into virtual worlds with products to experience them firsthand.<br />
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Here are a few ideas of how this could come to life:<br />
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<b>Design</b>: Stores like Bed Bath and Beyond or Home Depot could create an interior design experiences where consumers virtually build their dream house using products available in the store. Once the design is complete, they're provided with a shopping list of the appropriate materials.<br />
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<b>Outdoor</b>: Outdoor stores like REI could create experiences that allow consumers to try out the gear in the context of amazing locales like Yosemite, the Grand Canyon and even Everest.<br />
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<b>Fashion</b>: Stores like Forever 21 and H&M could allow customers to model various clothing items on avatars modeled after their body types. This could extend to unique designs and colorations to be custom made for the customer.<br />
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<b>But why does this matter?</b><br />
As I've touched on in a previous post: <b>personalization</b> (or perceived personalization). Virtual reality offers the ability to completely personalize the experience for each customer. It affords flexibility and <b>immersion</b> in the shopping experience like never before. In many cases, it's going to be the closest consumers can get to trying out products without actually trying out the product. The possibilities are endless.<br />
<br />Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18242668174575284225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5820790072101040007.post-77373342304830648612015-08-28T13:09:00.001-07:002015-08-28T13:09:33.124-07:00Beacons in Retail: Will Eddystone Be a Game Changer?In July, Google announced their answer to Apple's iBeacons -- <a href="https://developers.google.com/beacons/" target="_blank">Eddystone</a>. It's an open-source beacon that is not only accessible by both Android and iOs platforms, but can operate without the need for an app by sending of a URL. This kind of flexibility could open up a world of possibilities for interested retailers. Here are just a few ideas:<br />
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<b>Real-Time Inventory</b><br />
Departments, Aisles and Product Sections feature beacons that help users locate the product they're looking for and alert them if it's in stock. If it's out of stock, users could be pushed to complete a transaction through the mobile app or eCommerce site to order for home delivery. App users could instantly connect to an expert through chat or messaging to ask product questions or get help with an order.<br />
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<b>Real-Time Content Delivery</b><br />
Product Sections feature beacons that trigger access to exclusive content from content creators, product reviews, and lifehacks featuring the products. For example, a shopper in the Home and Bath section of a store may receive a video of interior design inspirations with complementary products that are curated by a popular YouTuber, or featured Pinterest boards from a Pinfluencer.<br />
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<b>Real-Time Social Reviews and Tips</b><br />
Shoppers can leave reviews, tips and complementary product suggestions through an app experience that are tied to physical locations in stores. For example, a shopper may have had a better experience with a particular brand of cleaning materials -- they could leave that preference in the form of a social sticky note for the next shopper to discover.<br />
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<br />Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18242668174575284225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5820790072101040007.post-35208040753590897342015-07-20T18:49:00.000-07:002015-07-20T18:53:41.741-07:00Content and the Consumer Journey<div style="text-align: left;">
Our smartphones are a crucial part of our daily routine -- a connection to the rest of the world. And in the case of retail shopping, it's the critical key to accessing information to help inform our purchase decisions in real time.</div>
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According to Google, 79% of shoppers access information online while visiting a store - from retail websites to influencer vlogs. The fact that only 9% more shoppers conduct pre-visit research suggests that there is a huge opportunity to influence decision making in the moment at the time of purchase by using the right content across the right channels.<br />
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But what kind of content is most impactful in purchase decisions? In short: not the brand's.<br />
<ul>
<li>92% of consumers trust recommendations from other people -- even strangers -- over brand content</li>
<li>70% of consumers reported online customer reviews as the second most trusted source</li>
<li>35% of U.S. readers read blogs to discover new products</li>
</ul>
As marketers, it's our job to understand how impactful influencers' and peers' reviews and opinions are in the decision-making process, and plan accordingly. This means developing meaningful partnerships and lasting relationships with advocates and influencers, as well as encouraging consumers to share their experiences and opinions.<br />
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The bottom line: conversations are taking place with or without the brand's involvement. Will you be part of them?<br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Sources: Google Insights (Oct 2014), Content Marketing Institute (2014)</span>Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18242668174575284225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5820790072101040007.post-62801008146456884272015-03-25T14:56:00.004-07:002015-03-25T14:56:53.961-07:00Dark Social Media and Content MarketingWhat is Dark Social? Dark Social is the sharing of content that's not trackable through traditional analytics -- that is, for business purposes, it's in the dark. Beyond more traditional channels like email, SMS and instant messages, Dark Social sharing also includes ephemeral platforms like Snapchat and WeChat.<br />
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Tom Edwards recently published a fascinating article in Social Media Insider on the topic: <a href="http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/242124/2015-will-see-the-rise-of-dark-social.html" target="_blank">2015 Will See the Rise of Dark Social</a>. What's most staggering are the statistics:<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; line-height: 25px;">According to a recent </span><a href="http://radiumone.com/proof/" style="background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; color: #3f647e; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; line-height: 25px;">Radium One study</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; line-height: 25px;">, 59% of all online sharing is via dark social. Further, a whopping 91% of Americans regularly share information via dark social methods. This study also showed that 72% of sharing is simply users copying and pasting long URLs and either e-mailing or texting the information.</span></i></span></blockquote>
While I agree that Dark Social is on the rise and will only continue to grow in 2015, I'd like to focus on how we as digital marketers can prepare for this shift. So what does it all mean?<br />
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<b>Social Media is about connections. </b>While this may seem quite obvious, it's easy to focus on trendy new platforms and lose sight of social media's original reason for existing: people want to connect with other people. Whether that's publicly on Twitter or privately on SnapChat, one thing is certain: channels are variable, but connections are constant.<br />
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<b>Great content fuels conversation and sharing. </b>With so much conversation happening off of more "traditional" social networks and visible channels, the need for quality content to inspire sharing and discussion has never been greater. Content can be anything from feature films to 6 second Vines; graphic novels to single panel comics; double albums to hit single teaser snippets.<br />
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This is just the beginning. I expect this segment of social to only continue to grow in 2015, so get ready and stay out of the dark!Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18242668174575284225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5820790072101040007.post-7869721666393757982014-12-12T11:03:00.002-07:002014-12-16T13:12:41.126-07:00Prediction: Perceived PersonalizationIt was sometime between my first battle with an Uruk captain and overthrowing my first war chief that I realized something was special about Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor. While the gameplay itself was fantastic, it was something in particular about the game's enemies that struck me. Each Uruk had a unique name, appearance, and set of weaknesses, strengths and fears. Each Uruk had its own personality that was only present in my game. If I fell in battle to one, he made sure to let me know the next time I saw him -- in alarmingly specific detail.<br />
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This is all thanks to Monolith's <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpRXiyIvvX4" target="_blank">Nemesis System</a>. What the Nemesis System has managed to accomplish is something extraordinary -- and noticeably lacking in many other of its AAA game brethren: perceived personalization. It wasn't a matter of going after these Uruks because the game said I had to -- I went after them because I wanted to. For sweet, sweet vengeance. It was no longer purely a game mechanic. It was personal. It was as if I KNEW the Uruk and he existed purely to antagonize me and make my life more difficult. All of this made it that much more satisfying by the time I was able to exact my revenge by parting his head with his shoulders.<br />
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So what does this all have to do with digital marketing? Everything.<br />
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You see, Monolith has stumbled onto something utterly brilliant. Mechanics that go a long way in making you, the consumer, feel like you're having a completely unique experience. At its core, the Nemesis system is essentially a bank of possible names, attributes, personalities and sound bytes that combine to form randomly created characters. But it's how it all comes together to form a cohesive experience that's where it really shines.<br />
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You could apply this same logic to attributes in product design, custom web experiences, or experiential events. If you feel like you're the first and/or only person to experience something, how much better of an experience is that compared to a one-size-fits-all approach? By creating something truly unique, you're creating social currency and empowering your consumers to speak on your behalf.<br />
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But why <i>perceived</i> personalization? Isn't it just personalization? Yes and no. Yes, the experience is unique and personalized to me, the end user. But where I see the differentiation is the fact that it's unique without any additional input from either the development side OR the user side. It's a highly sophisticated automated system that makes me FEEL like it's built specifically for me. That's the magic. And something I believe we are going to start seeing even more in 2015.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Disclosure: I worked on a marketing program with WB Games and GameStop to promote this game, however, all opinions and commentary are mine and mine alone.</span></div>
Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18242668174575284225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5820790072101040007.post-6608810856465574842014-09-05T18:48:00.002-07:002014-12-12T11:03:56.026-07:00How To Make Trends and Influence PeopleOne of the proverbial Holy Grails of social marketing has been to get your brand to trend on Twitter. It signifies scale and social value, it's easy to explain, and not everyone can do it. Or can they?<br />
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First, let's begin with some definitions.<br />
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<b>What does it mean to trend on Twitter?</b><br />
It means appearing in the top trends box on Twitter's home page and mobile app. The trends are tracked and viewable at a global, national and city level.<br />
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<b>What are trending topics?</b><br />
Trending topics represent what people are talking about the most at a given time. But it's not just a traditional word cloud, tracking individual words -- rather, Twitter uses an algorithm to identify the larger conversations related to topics and distill them down to hashtags and keywords. By clicking a trending topic, you can see all related tweets, profiles, and headlines.<br />
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<b>How does something become a trending topic?</b><br />
The most certain way to trend on Twitter is to pay for it using Twitter's Promoted Trends product. These opportunities are offered once per day at a fixed rate -- typically $100,000 - $200,000 for 24 hours. While this is a surefire way to get your brand in front of the massive Twitter audience, what we're discussing today is how to do it the old fashioned way: organically.<br />
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<b>There are a few things to note about organically trending topics. </b><br />
First, there's no telling how long or short their time to trend is going to be. I've seen trends last less than 20 minutes and up to a majority of the day. It really comes down to the size and nature of the audience that's engaging -- that is, fans of One Direction and Justin Bieber are incredibly passionate and show up in the millions to create organically trending topics quite frequently.<br />
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Second, a big part of the algorithm that causes content to trend is based on two things: frequency and volume over time. That is, the more people are tweeting about a given topic in a shorter amount of time, the more likely that content is to trend. This is why you see topics related to live television like sports and The Voice trending -- the viewership is so massive and active on social media that, at any given time, thousands upon thousands of conversations are occurring about these cultural events.<br />
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<b>So, what does this mean for me and my brand?</b><br />
When it comes to trending topics, there's a lot to do with chance -- right content, right time -- but there's an equally important part that can be affected with the right strategy to put your best foot forward. Here are a couple thought starters that should get you on your way to your first trending topic.<br />
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1) Live Events<br />
What better way to replicate the momentum achieved by a live television or sports event than to create one of your own? I'm not saying you need to produce a television show or host the next Dodger game. Quite the opposite, in fact. You can create an online event targeting a smaller but passionate audience. The most common example of such an event is a Twitter Party -- an event hosted by a popular Twitter personality, centered around a hashtag, and designed to get their audience talking about a topic. Another type of live event that I have personally have seen success with is a live trivia event. Working with a gaming client, we devised a program that offered up high value prizes to the first Twitter follower to answer each of a series of increasingly difficult trivia questions using a designated hashtag. We hosted a similar event for four weeks and organically trended three of the four times.<br />
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2) Mass Appeal<br />
Don't have the means to make an event of your own? You can try appealing to the masses with something that hold a universal truth or can be entertaining to everyone. A program I created for the same gaming client was designed to tap into the passion around nostalgia for a particular franchise and the result was the topic trended within the first 10 minutes of publishing the original tweet. It comes down to understanding your audience and their motivations. What are they passionate about at scale?<br />
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<br />Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18242668174575284225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5820790072101040007.post-33113633200444513482014-08-01T18:16:00.000-07:002014-08-01T18:16:16.172-07:00Google's Updated Search Algorithm Puts Greater Onus on Social Content Marketing<b>What's changed?</b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Source: fitmarketing.com</span></i></td></tr>
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Google recently announced significant changes to their legacy algorithms -- Hummingbird, Panda, and Penguin, which impact <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/jul/28/google-seo-social-media-search-marketing-panda-penguin-hummingbird" target="_blank">90% of the world's searches</a> -- that took the war against spam links and black hat SEO to new heights. At its core, the change is putting a much greater emphasis on content relevance and quality by stripping out bad searches (keyword stuffing, duplicate content, and hyperlink manipulation) and clearing the lane for the good stuff.<br />
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<b>So what does this mean for digital marketers and brands?</b><br />
The bottom line is this: great, relevant content will prevail over all else. No longer will marketers and SEOs be able to stack the deck to artificially inflate the presence of bad and/or irrelevant content. If the ever-increasing demand for original, quality content wasn't already apparent -- this is your wake up call.<br />
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The good news in all of this is, if you're already creating engaging, high quality content for your marketing campaigns, this is some of the best news you'll hear all year. With the clutter out of the way, your content stands that much greater of a chance of being discovered by your intended audience.<br />
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As a brand or agency, there has never been a more important time to focus on the creation of original content in real time. By reacting to global events and trends quickly in an authentic manner, you'll not only ensure your content is original and fresh, but you'll be poising your content (and brand) for discovery. And the changes to Google's algorithm have cleared the lane of clutter to make a clearer path to the top of the search engine results pages.<br />
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<br />Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18242668174575284225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5820790072101040007.post-58880798910222220802012-06-01T10:46:00.003-07:002015-05-05T10:08:02.465-07:00The Adventures of a Videogame Rebel: Tim Schafer at Double FineAfter picking up SF Weekly in the Coffee Bean in San Francisco's financial district, I read an amazing article about Tim Schafer and his recent Kickstarter success. What was most interesting to me was the run through his personal history. The man's brilliant and this article captures it perfectly. Definitely worth the read :)<br />
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<a href="http://www.sfweekly.com/2012-05-23/news/videogames-documentaries-lucasarts-2player-kickstarter/">http://www.sfweekly.com/2012-05-23/news/videogames-documentaries-lucasarts-2player-kickstarter/</a>
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P.S. If you haven't already, pick up the <a href="http://www.humblebundle.com/" target="_blank">Indie Humble Bundle V</a> - it comes with <i>Psychonauts</i>, arguably one of Schafer's best AND the soundtrack. Just name your price...<br />
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Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18242668174575284225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5820790072101040007.post-26017043295173938312012-06-01T01:34:00.001-07:002014-08-01T18:16:59.622-07:00Mark Lanegan and His VoiceMark Lanegan's <i><a href="http://open.spotify.com/album/0SvgSZT9yW6ocN88GtZwVG" target="_blank">Blues Funeral</a></i> is my favorite album of 2012 so far. For the uninitiated, Mark rose to notoriety as the frontman of the <a href="http://open.spotify.com/artist/3Ukr3Ufjg8ygRJv7Ww887f" target="_blank">Screaming Trees</a>, but broke off to pursue a solo career and eventually recorded and toured with Queens of the Stone Age for <i><a href="http://open.spotify.com/album/7twfmpN1hLIELM96TBe3P2" target="_blank">Songs for the Deaf</a></i> (where I ultimately came to hear of him). Some other notable collaborations include <a href="http://open.spotify.com/album/6fiWcas8yfuUTbTxMy6Nzu" target="_blank">Soulsavers</a> and <a href="http://open.spotify.com/album/4vPZUSwLbvknOOo9UJZQVs" target="_blank">Isobel Campbell</a>.<br />
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What is it that I love about Mark, exactly? That voice. It's both chilling, warm, and laden with years of cigarettes and whiskey. The perfect compliment to beautiful guitar hooks, beating drums, and orchestral accompaniment.<br />
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<i>Blues Funeral</i> kicks off with a bang with the Gravedigger Song - eerily reminiscent of Queens - and continues on a genre-bending rampage. His gravelly voice is second to none and was absolutely incredible when I saw him recently under the stars in Los Angeles at the Autry Plaza in Griffith Park. The video below captures the experience pretty well. Enjoy!<br />
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<br />Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18242668174575284225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5820790072101040007.post-77145706420806379412010-03-01T01:13:00.001-07:002014-08-01T18:19:07.151-07:00The Future of Gaming and "Reality"<div style="text-align: center;">
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Here's a really interesting (albeit bizarre) presentation from DICE 2010 by Jesse Schell - "Design Outside The Box"</div>
Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18242668174575284225noreply@blogger.com