The Presidential Campaigns on Facebook

By John McGory

The 2012 presidential campaigns are in full swing.  Ohio will soon be the battleground as the March 6 primary looms. 

Facebook is playing a large role in the campaigns.  Facebook's advice to the candidates is to be authentic.  Here is an update on how the contenders use the social media giant and content marketing to promote their candidacies.

The numbers

Facebook is the run-away winner among all age groups in terms of social media use.  President Barack Obama has a huge advantage among the four established candidates in the number of followers.

Obama has more than ten times the Facebook followers (25 million people) compared to the three Republican challengers combined.  Mitt Romney is the top Republican with 1.5 million followers, with Newt Gingrich second at 288,000 and Rick Santorum a distant third at 157,000.

Barack Obama

The president‘s Facebook posts are mostly of young or female activists.  His wall uses photos and non-technical materials such as photographs of hand-written signs to attract like-minded followers.
  
Contests sell on Facebook and Obama has adopted the strategy.  A $3 donation can win a follower a chance to have dinner with the president.  It is a solid strategy because it is an affordable amount and gives the young an opportunity to be a part of the campaign.

Free bumper stickers and the ability to purchase iPhone cases are also available.  These are both items that are popular with younger voters.

The site has a post appealing to Spanish-speaking supporters. 

Mitt Romney

Challengers in political races must focus their attention on fundraising.  Romney’s Facebook efforts are consistent with that political reality.

Romney takes the contest idea and puts his spin on it.  A $3 donation gets the winner an opportunity to hang around the candidate on a primary election night.

Challengers also face the problem of getting known.  Campaigns need to make voters become comfortable with candidates.  Facebook is a good source of providing followers with issue updates from the campaign.  There is no shortage of these on Romney’s site.

He devotes some space for slamming his chief primary opponent, Rick Santorum.

Rick Santorum

Rick Santorum’s handlers must feel their candidate looks the part of president.  There are several posts providing downloadable images of the candidate for use among supporters.  Also, there are plenty of pictures of him looking presidential. This is a good strategy considering the importance of visuals in social media.

His site is strong in event promotions.  While Romney’s site does this as well, it looks as if Santorum focuses on one event and works it hard.  His site is peppered with Daytona 500 posts and Santorum’s efforts during the race.

Newt Gingrich

Newt Gingrich’s Facebook page is issue driven.  He posts extensively about the high price of gasoline and the importance of oil and natural gas drilling.  His attacks on the president regarding this issue are forceful.

He allows viewers to follow him live on the campaign trail on Facebook.  He also works at building post-debate support by encouraging followers to like him for his debate performances.

He uses more video than the other candidates.  He has a longer history in front of the national cameras and seems to use that to his video advantage.

Conclusion

All the candidates are using Facebook in ways that highlight their individual strengths.  Obama can use Facebook in a more traditional method since he doesn’t have a primary opponent.  The Republicans are forced to be more aggressive as they fight for the nomination. 

It will be interesting to see how the use of Facebook changes for the Republican-party nominee.  The biggest challenge will be shifting to a more mainstream approach to capture independent Facebook viewers this fall.  Webface will keep its eye on this shift as the campaign continues.

John McGory is a partner at Webface, http://web-face-solutions.com  Webface provides content marketing services including video for businesses and organizations.

  

Marketing's True Spirit is You

By John McGory

Dale Carnegie wrote one of the first and greatest self help books.  The 1936 classic, “How to Win Friends and Influence People” sold millions of copies.  Here is an article dedicated to Mr. Carnegie’s philosophy.    

Do me a favor by answering this question.  Are you happy to be alive?

Hopefully everyone said yes.  Now jot down or think about why you are happy.  Who are the people or what are the things that make your life enjoyable?  Do you think others have similar reasons for their happiness? 

You have just created the seeds for your next great marketing idea.   You are on to something big.  Here are a few examples:

Let’s say you are an attorney and you are happy for your beautiful home and family.  There are many potential legal clients who are happy for those same reasons.  Do you think emphasizing your firm’s desire to help people protect their home and family would resonate with these potential clients?

Or you are the head of a large non-profit organization and are glad to have a job helping people.  Reaching out to others who also want to help could be your way of increasing volunteers and fundraising.  The United Way’s Live United campaign is an excellent example of this in action.

A third person may be a city official who enjoys making their city a better place to live.  Helping like-minded citizens find ways to improve their home town is a wonderful place to start.

Many of you are already practicing these strategies.  You are winning people over to your way of thinking by trying to see things from the client’s point of view.  You are sympathetic to their ideas and desires.

Now people may think this is corny advice, that social media and the Internet do not have a place in a 1930s way of thinking. And they may be right.

But people want noble causes to be central to their lives.  These include social concerns, personal traits and spiritual beliefs.  Many potential clients feel the same way.  Letting them understand that you feel as they do is a powerful first step in making a friend.

Many favorite marketing campaigns strike a chord by appealing to a noble cause.  Three of the most-famous campaigns and the emotion they evoke include: Old Spice’s Smell Like a Man (strong, cool and independent), Just Do It (active and winning) and You Deserve a Break Today (hard working and dependable).

Think about the noble causes in your life.  What makes you proud to be alive? Think about it then put it into action.

I challenge you to reach out to your potential clients by using one noble cause in your life as the central theme in a new marketing campaign.  Create a video or series of Facebook posts/tweets to highlight that you have the same noble cause as your potential new clients.  Your marketing effort's true spirit is you. I guarantee you will make new friends and influence people.

John McGory is a partner at Webface, www.web-face-solutions.com  Webface can help you tap your true spirit through content marketing including videos, blogs, social media and marketing materials.

Is the News at 6 Defining Your Community?

By John McGory

If it bleeds, it leads.  This mantra of local television news organizations comes from market research that suggests stories of crime and violence increase newscasts’ ratings.  This finding drives news directors to deliver more crime-related stories to their audiences.

How do these news stories impact your community or neighborhood?  Are potential homebuyers and investors scared away by the nightly news?  It’s likely.

Here are two studies that illustrate problems facing local communities:

A Baltimore study suggested that local television crime coverage is related to a heightened fear of the central city and that this fear translates to reduced travel there.

A study in New Orleans showed that reports of homicides made up 0.4 percent of all crimes but represented 50 percent of all reported crime stories.

 How can communities fight back?  By sidestepping traditional media to seize the opportunity to tell their own stories through the use of both social media and old school tactics such as word of mouth and newsletters.

No one is going to invest in a community that is feared.  If all people know about your neighborhood is what they see on the six o’clock news, then many of the wonderful stories will never be told.   Telling others what your community is about, the citizens who make it special and your neighborhood’s potential, are the ingredients for success.

There is hope for the future.  Social media is providing communities with the opportunity to change the way we view ourselves.  A Pew Research Center for Excellence in Journalism reported in September that the younger generations are turning away from television when getting their local community news. 

The report also showed that people use three to six different sources for local community news.  Television is viewed for breaking news, traffic and weather.  Newspapers are read for news about local government, housing and taxes.  The Internet is for restaurants and local businesses.  Old school forms such as word of mouth and printed newsletters still have a place in getting the word out about events.

The report shows that communities need to be strategic in communicating with the public.  Using a variety of sources can increase the chances that good stories will be a part of the discussion.

Crime scenes, grim-faced detectives and yellow tape will not disappear from the evening news’ leads.  Communities can help balance the public perception of urban neighborhoods by being proactive and telling the good stories that take place much more frequently than violent crime.    

The evening news is a business built on creating emotion, much of it fear.  Don’t let that business define your community.  Tell your story by getting strategic and using the tools of today.

John McGory is a partner at Webface, www.web-face-solutions.com.   We help communities and neighborhoods tell their stories through social media, video and community engagement strategies. 

Making a good impression by engaging your community

By John McGory 

This blog loves history.  It also loves the Internet and social media.  Put them together and you realize that when old meets new, powerful friends can be created.

Today’s history lesson starts with The Impressions, a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame soul band out of Chicago via Chattanooga, Tennessee.  Curtis Mayfield and Jerry Butler led the group to a string of 1960s and 1970s hits. 

The civil rights movement used many of their songs as anthems. The songs often encouraged community engagement.  Community engagement promotes trust building and arm linking, while raising awareness and visibility.

The band’s 1969 hit, “A Choice of Colors,” http://youtu.be/Zr0SLv9WFr4 captured in a powerful way the importance of improving as a nation through community engagement.  One of the inspiring stanzas in the song was:    

People must prove to the people

A better day is coming for you and for me

With just a little more education

And love for our nation

Would make a better society

The Impressions call for community engagement was not a new one. In the late 1800s, English common law advanced the concept of community engagement.  It was used as a way to actively implement change.

Fast-forward to today and it’s clear that social media and the Internet are the contemporary active agents of change.  So, is not surprising that one of the mantras of social media is to build community through engaging others in conversation.

The emphasis in community engagement is to build honest relationships for the sake of community, not for the sole purpose of moneymaking.  That is what is now termed “content marketing” in social media circles.

If your company or organization is active on the Internet, then you need a community engagement plan.   Here is an eight-step program for such a strategy:

1.       Determine the goals of the plan

2.       Decide on whom to engage

3.       Develop engagement strategies for those you already know

4.       Develop engagement strategies for those you do not know

5.       Prioritize those activities

6.       Create an implementation system

7.       Monitor your progress

8.       Maintain those relationships

This simple plan for community engagement works whether you are selling lawn mowers or improved community relations.  The purpose is to build trust and understanding through conversation.  The Internet simply allows you to expand to a wider community outside of your neighborhood.

You build a community when “people prove to the people a better day is coming for you and for me.”  If your fans don’t think a better day is coming, then why would they want to be in your community?

Social media and the Internet reach more people than Curtis Mayfield could have ever dreamed of when he wrote “A Choice of Colors.”  But the words of the song are more appropriate than ever.   Community engagement is a 120-year-old concept on how people change.  Social media is its new powerful friend.

John McGory is a partner at Webface, a content marketing company www.web-face-solutions.com. Let Webface help you engage your community and give your fans the hope that a better day is coming. 

The New York Giants: It's all about the right shoes

By John McGory

The climax of the National Football League season will soon be here as the New England Patriots play the New York Giants in the Super Bowl.   The big game is often decided by which head coach makes the best in-game decisions. 

The fate of your business marketing plan may well be determined by your “in game” decisions.  What can you do to make sure you make the right choices?  Let’s learn from one Pro Hall of Fame coach on making decisions in the clutch.

The greatest coach’s decision in NFL Championship history arguably came in the 1934 Sneakers Game classic.  It was the second NFL championship game in league history and the Giants were pitted against the Chicago Bears.

The game was played December 9, 1934, at the Polo Grounds in New York City.  The night before, freezing rain hit the city and the ice-covered turf turned into a skating rink.  Giants end Ray Flaherty suggested to Coach Steve Owen at halftime that sneakers would provide better footing than cleats on the frozen playing surface.   Owen agreed and sent Abe Cohen to Manhattan College to get some sneakers.

The Giants were losing 13-3 in the 3^rd quarter when Cohen returned with nine pairs of sneakers.  The Giants took over from that point in the game.  Running back Ken Strong had two touchdown runs and the Giants went on to win 30-13.

The Hall of Fame coach’s decision proved to be critical in his team’s win.  Players from both teams agreed the sneakers made the difference in the game.

Marketing in today’s business world creates many similar challenges.  The Internet and social media prompted unforeseen changes in marketing. Many have learned that the best laid plans are worthless when the playing field drastically changes.

What can we learn from the old coach when facing a dire marketing situation?

1.      Realize you have a problem.  Coach Owen knew he had to do something to change the game.  Too many company leaders refuse to admit they have a problem until it is too late. 

2.      Listen to your people.  The coach listened to Ray Flaherty. Flaherty went on to be a Pro Hall of Fame coach as well.  He invented the screen pass and the two-platoon system.  Owen knew his end was a sharp guy, so he took his advice and it paid off.  Today’s bosses and marketing managers need to do the same.

3.      Take action.  Owen sent Cohen to Manhattan College to get sneakers.  That “out-of-the-box” thinking proved to be the difference between winning and losing.

4.      Take advantage of your edge.  The Giants took advantage of better footing once they changed to sneakers.  If you get an edge over your competition, use it.

The ability to make critical decisions under pressure is the difference between Hall of Fame and losing coaches.  If your marketing program is slipping due to harsh conditions, it is time for action.  What can you do to turn your game around?

John McGory is a partner at Webface, http://web-face-solutions.com. We are a content marketing company that can help you make the right choices about your marketing shoes.  If you like this story then help us out and retweet it.

Nice is Not Enough

By John McGory

Is the lack of corporate creativity in marketing creating a chasm between business and the public?  Can corporations truly be creative or is the threat of offending people and losing market share keeping a lid on attention-getting social media tactics such as content marketing?

Today’s world of content marketing is creating conflict in corporate boardrooms across the world.  It has been a long time since George Carlin riffed on the seven words inappropriate for television and Lucy and Ricky slept in separate beds.  The Internet brings an uncut version of the world to anyone who wants it.

The public seemingly wants more and more outlandish content.  Videos need to be faster, crazier and more eye-catching than ever before.  Text is too slow.  No topic is taboo.

Content marketing’s goal is to attract attention to brands by providing interesting and free content to the public in exchange for their attention.  On the surface it makes sense, but putting it into practice is really tough.  The public wants shock and awe and the corporate world wants nice.

The Coca Cola Company is buying into content marketing in a big way.  Its Content 2020 initiative is designed to double its sales through the use of content marketing.

The bottling giant released two videos http://blog.junta42.com/2012/01/coca-cola-content-marketing-20-20/ that outlines how it is going to reach its sales’ goal.  The plan is to “create ideas so contagious that they can’t be controlled.”  Those are big words bound to create big pressure on Coca Cola’s creative types.

Grabbing the attention of the world is a monumental task.  Contagious ideas must be practical and hip at the same time.  Successful ideas for global brands such as Coke must be practical enough to cross cultural, language and political barriers.  The same ideas must also be trendy enough to engage younger markets, while not turning off the more conservative elements of society.

Most corporations are conservative by nature.  Some may see Coke’s content marketing effort as a foolhardy attempt.   Conservative corporations’ attitude is to keep its head down till this fad passes. 

Unfortunately, this approach has less of a chance of working than Coke’s effort.   Consumers today expect to be entertained.  The “let’s keep doing what we’ve been doing” strategy is severely outdated.

So the gulf between what corporations are willing to do to capture customers’ attention and what customers will watch grows by the day.  Coke deserves credit for jumping head first into the content marketing pool.   Whether it can swim in that pool and entertain the masses is another story.

The question for the rest of the corporate world is:  What are you doing to gain the attention of your customers in a world where nice is not enough?

John McGory is a partner at Webface (www.web-face-solutions.com), a content marketing company that can create video and written materials to get the attention of your fans.

Mr. Rogers' Tips on How-To Videos

By John McGory

“It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood….would you be mine, could you be mine, won’t you be my neighbor?”

Most people over the age of 20 know those words well. They were sung at the beginning of every episode of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.  The Emmy-winning show entertained and educated millions of children on the Public Broadcasting System from 1968 to 2001. 

Fred Rogers created a huge neighborhood of fans by showing children how to do thousands of things.  His soft-spoken and direct style was unique.  Rogers’ non-threatening style made him popular with children and parents alike.

Mr. Rogers understood who he was and what he was trying to do.  He taught it all – from tying shoes to break dancing http://youtu.be/Fw_GnjE-des.  He made it feel as if he was having a personal conversation with each viewer.

Today’s companies and organizations are trying to create their own neighborhoods by producing content for social media and the Internet.  One popular method is producing how-to videos.   Creating a how-to video scene using a Mr. Rogers’ approach is still relevant today.  Here are a few tips from his neighborhood:

1.   Be fearlessly authentic.  Initially educated to be a minister, Rogers was displeased with the way television addressed children. He made an effort to change that by writing for and performing on local, youth oriented Pittsburgh-area shows.  It was easy to tell Mr. Rogers was not phony. Don’t be something you are not.

2.   Provide information relevant to your audience.  Select topics that appeal to the widest audience range possible.  How-to videos are designed to be helpful, not to show your audience how smart you are.   

3.   Leave no viewer behind. Fred Rogers knew his audience and he communicated with them in a style they understood and appreciated.  He didn’t talk down to them, he talked to them. 

4.   Give them all the information they need in a step-by-step process that is easy to grasp.  While videos need to be short, make sure they cover the necessary steps.

5.   Mr. Rogers never did advertising.  Let them know about any tools or equipment necessary.  If you sell those products, display them, but a how-to video is not the time to try and sell those products.

6.   Discuss pitfalls and problems associated with the lesson and empathize with your viewers.  Coming off as a know-it-all will not help sales.

How-to videos are one of the great content-marketing ideas.  Showing people how to do something that they can use is a wonderful way to make a friend or neighbor.

Fred Rogers was an icon of children’s television.  His open, authentic and friendly style brought a sense of peace to televised education that may never be replicated.  It won’t hurt you to try.   Good-bye neighbor.

 John McGory is a partner at Webface, a content marketing firm that can help you produce how-to videos and other marketing materials to get you noticed.  Contact us at www.web-face-solutions.com.