Sentiment Analysis: Not Yet a Science

There’s no denying that consumer sentiment is important. It’s obvious that companies and brands are curious as to the thoughts of their consumers. More importantly, they are interested in where those thoughts lie on the positive to negative spectrum. “I love your product” says you’re doing something right. “This is the worst customer service experience I’ve ever dealt with” says you’re doing something wrong. And measuring these types of opinions or mentions is quickly becoming one of the ways that companies measure success of online marketing campaigns.

We have to be careful, though, because sentiment analysis isn’t quite yet a science. Where other things like site traffic, interactions, and audience growth are numbers, plain and simple, sentiment is an entirely different ball game. It’s not even across all playing fields, and can be different from client to client. What someone says about an insurance company can hold different weight than what someone says about a food product. Sure there are tools out there to help measure the positivity / negativity / neutrality of those comments, but are these truly capturing how people feel?

Sentiment analysis should needs to have a human element to it, and that becomes difficult on a platform as huge as the Internet. Do comments and likes on Facebook deserve to be weighed equally? How about a conversation? What about a blog posts praising / bashing your product? What about a recipe that includes a client’s product? Which count as positive, negative, or neutral, and to what extent? There’s so much that goes into every mention that we can’t simply rely on a tool and its set of trigger keywords to judge what someone thinks. Plus, using a tool removes the human element, disabling the real-time reaction you might need. And to top it off, being in the trenches allows you to track or control the ebb and flow of a conversation and help turn a negative situation into a positive one.

The moral of this story is that we’d be silly not to take consumer opinions into account, but we can’t rely solely on sentiment to gauge their thoughts. That’s where actual interactions come in. Converse, engage, talk about products, ask for honest feedback, take responsibility when bad things happen, and follow through on your promises. If you do these things, regardless of any hiccups, you’re bound to get some positive opinions out of it.

We just talk ourselves out of it.

During Baltimore AdWeek this year, I got the pleasure of listening to Justin Kownacki speak on creating web content people will actually enjoy and share. I won’t divulge too much of what he said because, well, you snooze you lose! I will tell you one thing he said that got me thinking, “It’s not that hard to create media people relate to, we just talk ourselves out of it.”

How true is that? There seems to be this belief that creating engaging, relatable content is hard to the point of being some kind of black magic. Creatives try to decipher what the “secret” is, like there is some formula we can crack while clients ask for the world and then settle with the safe bet. I think we’ve all psyched ourselves out a bit on this one.

Not to say that creating engaging content is easy, it definitely isn’t. However we’ve made it into a terrifying monster that eats web denizens like us for breakfast. We still valiantly charge into work each morning with our swords held high, but I know for me, after eight hours of trying to brainstorm interesting ideas I can get discouraged. Whether it’s a blog post, or a client campaign or a giveaway that I need to get a Facebook audience to participate in, I can convince myself that it’s never going to take off. And you know what? It might not. I’m not going to lose my job though. I’m going to try again and at the end of the day, the biggest obstacle to creating good content is often my own insecurities and doubts. Mr. Kownacki shared a plethora of good advice on creating content, but the best thing he said was that we just need to stop talking ourselves out of it.

Twitter adds photo sharing… Better late than never.

What is blurry, noisy and shared on Twitter in the millions? Bad cell phone pictures! Photo sharing has almost single handedly helped propel Twitter it to 200 million users. That’s why it’s surprising that Twitter itself has never had that feature baked in, it’s always been provided by 3rd parties such as Twitpic and yFrog. On June 1st, Jack Dorsey announced that Twitter will be providing their own photo sharing service. It will start with the website and then propagate to their cell phone clients. Did you hear that sound? That was the sound of Twitpic and yFrog crying out in despair.

This is going to be great for users because it will streamline the whole photo uploading aspect of Twitter. You can just dump a photo into the website and post it. Viewing photos will be consistent and build right into Twitter.com or their mobile applications, alleviating the need to navigate to another page. It is also going to bring some slick features such as trending photos, where photos that are getting traffic will be displayed on Twitter. Now imagine if they add promoted photos, letting marketers pay to have a photo displayed on the side of users’ profiles. How much better will it be to promote a picture than a little text trend with a yellow text icon next to it?

Twitter has been slowly taking back control over the entire Twitter experience from 3rd parties; first with official mobile apps, then with their own URL shortener and now with photo uploading. Expect this to continue as Twitter continues to tighten their grip and find ways to fully monetize their 200 million minions.

New Facebook Ad Manager Looks Promising

Recently, Facebook has been busy rolling out new features of its advertising platform. It first started with the addition of new types of Facebook ads, and now the social networking site is releasing a newer version of the ad manager. We’ve become accustomed to constant changes from Facebook, but this time, these changes seem to be in the favor of marketers.

Three main changes will be made when ad manager alterations roll out to all users on May 25, 2011. The first change improves performance graphs (A). In other words, graphs shown to marketers are simplified and easier to understand. You’ll be shown how many people your ad has been exposed to out of your proposed target audience, and how many of those people are social connections (clicks on ads that were shown with the names of the ad viewer’s Facebook connections who have liked a page, an ad, etc.).

The second change improves ad measurements (B). These new metrics will focus more on the audience and how they responded to your ad. The best part of this? Data is now updated in realtime, allowing for quick and timely changes to any ads that might not be doing so well.

The third major change allows for better ad viewing: inline ad management (C). If you are anything like us, and are in your ad manager several times a day, you feel the pain of having to navigate back and forth between pages. Problem gone! You can see all necessary information, make changes, and toggle between graphs, all within one easy window.

Facebook has also added new methods of tracking success. These include things like reach, social reach, frequency, and connections made. Read more about the changes that Facebook has made in the PDF they released. May 25 is coming soon, you best be prepared!

Facebook “Like” Button Changes: Straight Wall Abuse

I just recently read an article about Facebook’s new changes. I immediately began experiencing sweaty palms, a heart palpitation for two, and a look of confusion on my face that frightened my coworkers away. Okay, so maybe it wasn’t that serious. But still, I had a moment.

Folks, the “like” button has changed. Remember when you could read an article over at, say, AdAge.com, and simply “like” it? Ahhh, the good ol’ days. Now, if you “like” that same article, it’ll go ahead and post the danged thing straight to your Facebook wall the same way that the “share” function does. (Sure, you’ve got to be logged in for this to happen, but come on… aren’t we all eternally logged in?). Oh, the joys of technology. Streamlined life at last.

So what the heck does this mean, anyway? From a marketing perspective, there are benefits that can’t be denied. This means longer exposure of content on the web, and a share ability unlike anything we’ve seen thus far. The content is also more visual, giving opportunities for an alert audience to see and connect to that shared page more immediately. It also means a stronger (and ridiculously immediate) tie in of social media across the web.

From a personal perspective and an avid Facebook user, I can’t help but be a little miffed. It isn’t because more things will post to my account. Heck, I’m fine with that! It is more that Facebook seems to “forget” to tell us, the users, these things. It also presents a bone to pick – will users be annoyed that their “likes” are now unfiltered?

Ultimately, it seems that Facebook might be losing focus on their purpose. Are they there for authentic social connections? Or are they becoming marketing minions? While yes, Facebook can be a powerful tool for marketers, this power comes from the authentic nature and actions of its’ users – users who might jump ship if they feel taken advantage of. After all, Facebook wasn’t designed to be a billboard. Or was it?

What do you think? Can Facebook find a balance between maintaining its comfort for users and encouraging marketing involvement? Or are they  losing focus on what makes Facebook unique?

Word of Mouth Toolbox: Ambassador Programs

Blog post theme of today: back to basics! There are a few things that we’ve got in our word of mouth toolbox that are tried and true tactics, so we thought we’d revisit some and share them with you. One of our most powerful tools as word of mouth marketers is the creation and implementation of an ambassador program. We’ve seen it in action, helping create some serious online buzz for a number of clients.

So what the heck is it?

An ambassador program is a way to leverage the very idea behind word of mouth marketing: the passing of information from one person to the next. Ambassadors in and of themselves are people who speak on behalf of a brand. Sometimes they are celebs, but most of the time they are normal folks. It has been said time and time again that the most powerful recommendations come from friends and family, so enthusiasts’ opinions obviously matter to marketers. Ambassadors will talk about their love for a brand or service on their own, but it is our job to find those people and magnify their voice. We bring structure and organization to a group of enthusiasts, encouraging them to do a number of things, which include posting positive reviews online, attending offline events, and passing along coupons or news.

Think about it. Some of the most potent brands are chalk full of people who will go to the ends of the earth to show their love. Apple. Starbucks. Whole Foods. Harley Davidson. Coca Cola. Louis Vuitton. You can’t escape those enthusiasts. They are in your face whether you like it or not.

Let’s go get those brand ambassadors!

The thing about brand enthusiasts is that they are passionate for a reason. It could be the strength of the product (Apple), the value of the service (Whole Foods), or the way the brand experience makes consumers feel (Starbucks or Louis Vuitton). It is important to have a great offering in order to have enthusiasts. You can’t fake brand love. Great brands like these reward their enthusiasts up front, regardless of if they write a positive review online or tell someone about a new product. And even more so, its important to build relationships with your enthusiasts before asking anything of them.

Well, okay! Now what?

Consider what you’ll need for an ambassador program. Each is drastically different, and should correlate with a larger campaign idea or a set of objectives you’d like to accomplish. The main thing you’ve got to keep in mind is that ambassador programs should be designed to be mutually beneficial. Participants must find a reason to be a part of the program.

Why should they sign up? In an ideal world, just telling others about their love would be enough, but most often, it isn’t. Make them feel special by letting them in on breaking news, asking for their opinion about new products, providing them with coupons or free products, or giving them VIP access. Then, provide them with ways to help you: direct them to places online where they can review you, lead them to your Facebook page where they can “like” and share their opinion, or have them talk to a potential customer about why they love you.

The main key to a successful ambassador program is to locate your enthusiasts, and reward them upfront for their love. Then, make it easy for them to share their thoughts, and reward them for that, too.

Here are some general things you’ll need:

• Objectives – What are your goals? Do you want event attendance, positive reviews, general feedback?
• Outreach Plan – How many enthusiasts are you going to need? How are you going to reach out to them? Communication is KEY here.
• Timeline – How long will the program last? Is it a 6 month campaign or a lifetime program?
• Tasks - Exactly what will you have the participants “do”.
• Rewards & Incentives – The most obvious part: thanking people for their love.
• Tracking – Know what your ambassadors are up to!

Ready to take the leap? We’d be happy to help you locate your brand enthusiasts and build some meaningful relationships with them.

Facebook Fan Page Outreach: Power of Cross Promotion

We’ve covered a ton of ways that we reach out and build relationships on our Push-n-Pull blog – everything from Facebook ads to crisis communication plans to blogger outreach. While we’ve shared our tried and true strategies with you, we’re also tweaking our methods to find new ways to create connections even more effectively.

Most recently, we’ve been leveraging what we like to call Facebook Fan Page Outreach (FFPO). FFPO is a great compliment to other forms of outreach like building blogger relationships. While FFPO isn’t a big trend in social media strategy yet, its been proving to be effective for building beneficial relationships on Facebook.

Part of the strategy behind Facebook outreach is leveraging already targeted audiences. For example, if you’ve got a Facebook fan page for hats, you can find other pages that are similar in nature, like pages dedicated to hat hair, baseball hats, or cowboy hats. These audiences are already pre-qualified for your message, you simply have to get your message there.

Don’t mistake this for simply posting your message on another Facebook page. Part of the process is building relationships with the owners of these pages, working together to create the best mix of value for the audience. The most ideal situation is having the page post on your behalf, spreading your message themselves. The audience is more prone to absorbing the message if it is coming from a page or company they have opted to like.

On the other hand, it is important to be willing to go the distance for the other pages. Relationships should be mutual, and asking others to do something that will benefit you but not them won’t get you very far. Be willing to work together and share information that is valuable to your audience.

Have more questions? We’d be happy to oblige.

Social Good for a Social Media Generation

These days, it seems like everyone is “going digital” and leveraging social media to communicate their message. But, as we’ve mentioned before, it goes way beyond just Facebook pages and Twitter accounts. We’ve noticed that Web 2.0 is emerging as a way for newer generations to change the world without even leaving home. People are already making friends and doing things online based on their interests – its a natural next step to use social networks to connect to causes you care about.

Being A Part of the Online Experience.

Non-profits and corporations alike are embracing the web to get their message to millions of people. These groups can have enormous success by taking their causes online. While non-profits traditionally promote one fundraising event at a time, social media allows charitable organizations to become part of the online experience, enabling more frequent interactions with their audience. And if organizations make it is easy to get involved, people are more than willing to contribute.

It could be on a Facebook page where you can “like” an initiative you’re passionate about. In the case of Pedigree’s “Become a Fan, Help A Dog” campaign, fans can actually make a difference with just one click. Or you could use Twitter hashtags like #AmericaWants to share information with like-minded people and get your cause noticed. You can donate online, and not always just with your money – you can find volunteer opportunities through search engines, message boards and online communities like Jumo. It’s never been easier for people to support a cause.

So what?

Companies are seeing big results from engaging in social good. For example, Pepsi took their Super Bowl advertising budget and turned it into a social good phenomenon. Their Pepsi Refresh program has engaged thousands of regular people by giving them the opportunity to win grants for their grassroots projects. Even more so, Pepsi set aside an additional $1.2 million for projects dedicated to helping the Gulf after oil spill crisis occurred. Since January, more people have voted for Pepsi Refresh causes than voted in the last presidential election. Amazing, huh? And the best part? Pepsi hasn’t suffered from taking their Super Bowl ad money and setting it aside for good – they’ve received a tremendous amount of publicity for encouraging others.

What We’re Doing.

Here at The Cyphers Agency, we’re engaging in some social good of our own by support a local Annapolis grassroots effort, Carol for a Cause. The mission of this community project is simply promoting goodwill, and so we leverage social media and word of mouth tools to engage with people and spread our client’s message. Right now, we’re building some meaningful relationships with bloggers who care about the same things we care about and become ambassadors on our behalf. We’re also running an awesome contest where Carol for a Cause fans can show what “doing good” means to them. The winner will get money towards their favorite charity.

We’re happy to be taking part in social good. We’ve seen some incredible things happen through the web, and we’re glad that we can help businesses use such a powerful and multifaceted tool to make a difference. Have you seen anything like this online? We’d love it if you shared it with us by leaving a comment below.

Facebook Places is Here!

Well folks, this is it. Facebook announced earlier today that Facebook Places is up and running.

Starting today, you can tell everyone you know (or at least those you connect with on Facebook) where you are, at all times, from your mobile device. Just like Foursquare and Gowalla, you can “check in” to the place where you are.

The Places feature is designed for those with an iPhone (there’s an app for that) or others who have HTML and geolocation features on their mobile device (go to touch.facebook.com on your phone). One cool feature Facebook offers (and that Foursquare doesn’t have) is that when you check in to a location, you can tag people who are with you, just like in a picture or status update.

So what does this mean for privacy? Will everyone know where you are all the time? Just like anything with Facebook, you have privacy options, but you must make sure you set restrictive customized settings if you don’t want everyone to see where you are. Want to learn more? Check out Mashable’s Facebook Places Field Guide.

We’re wondering if Facebook Places will jump ahead of the competition. What do you think about Places? Will you use it? Do you prefer other geolocation services like Foursquare or Gowalla?

Effectively Leveraging Facebook Advertising (part 2)

This is the second part of a two part series on Facebook Advertising. See part one of Effectively Leveraging Facebook Advertising here. Here are some recent graphs from a client’s Facebook advertising campaign.

In our last post, we talked about what we measure, how each metric is affected, and what they all mean. But you can’t just go sign up for a Facebook ad and automatically get these results. How do we get such great results from our Facebook ads? Read on…

Compelling Creative

We wouldn’t be in business if everyone could come up with a creative way to convey a client’s message to target audiences. Our creative team has been doing this for over 20 years, and Facebook ads are simply a new way to convey that message. When our creative team spends time working on our Facebook ads, they consistently achieve significantly higher results. We’ve tested!

Strategic Targeting

We don’t ever just blast out an ad to “everyone.” In this business, there is no “everyone.” There is always a specific target audience, usually many, that will be more interested than others in a clients message. If we are paying to send clients’ message to the wrong people, it’s a total waste of money. What we like about Facebook Advertising is that we can target users several different ways. We can target people based on their: location, likes/dislikes, relationship status, age, school, workplace, and more. With all of those options, we can usually pare down the audience to exactly the type of people that we want to target. That way, each time money gets spent to show the ad, it isn’t wasted on people that don’t care.

Tweaking and Maintenance

No, Tweaking and Maintenance aren’t our nicknames for the office interns. Rather, the terms describe the art of a successful Facebook Ad; the continual maintenance and tweaking of things like the ad copy (words in the ad), graphics, title, demographic targeting, keyword targeting, and bidding. We don’t have time to explain all the terms here, but the idea is to hit your different audiences sequentially, instead of all at the same time, so that you aren’t spending tens of thousands of dollars in a month. Instead, you target one audience after another. We monitor the real-time statistics to help determine when an ad has saturated a certain audience. When our results decrease to the point where our clients’ money is less effective and less efficient, we tweak (or completely redesign) the ad to target new audiences, or target the same audience a different way. This might be through different keywords, different creative strategy, or any one of the myriad adjustments that we can make.

Research and Planning

We didn’t just come up with a cute ad for our client out of nowhere. We started working with this client months and months ago, as every good campaign starts, with a marketing plan and a creative strategy. That way, every time we want to create a new campaign or a new ad, we have all the information we need at our fingertips, and we are better equipped to clearly articulate our clients’ value proposition to their different audiences. Without the appropriate research and planning, we wouldn’t know who target audiences are, where they interact online, or what the client’s message should be.

So there you have it – more than you ever wanted to know about Facebook Advertising. Any questions?