Community Mobilization

Geo-tagging and Photo Sharing

One of the next evolutions in photo sharing and blogging is automatic geo-tagging. The NY Times technology reporter David Pogue looks at very cool memory card that places geographic information onto the photos you take with your digital camera. The Eye-Fi memory card uses a new technology called WiPS, short for WiFi Positioning system.

A company called Skyhook employed drivers to drive all over the nation capturing home and business based WiFi network signals and attached GPS positions to each of the network addresses. Eye-Fi detects those home network signals and then associated them with GPS coordinates so that you can get geographical information based on the WiFi networks you are close to. It is position accurate within about 10 feet. Great information especially since it gets loaded onto photo sharing spaces like Flickr.

Like other geo tagging projects (Yellow arrow) this evolution is going to build information in the Metaverse. Form a marketing perspective when you combine information tagging and geo-tagging you get to see a more holistic understanding of personal experience to place and events. It is unique view that conveys genuine honesty beyond what you can obtain from a focus group.

Mobile Search and Phone Type

One of the critical trends to marketers in mobile usage is the increase in web enabled phones, and what their users are doing with them. With the advent of mobile data transfer phones have become extensions of personal computing. A recent eMarketer.com article details the  usage purpose of mobile internet on iPhones, Smart phones, and standard web enabled mobile telephones.

Of particular interest is the utilization rates that are significantly higher across the board for iPhone users. The curious question for me is, "Is it the phone, or the people?" Is there such a fundamental difference in the personalities of the individuals who buy iPhones than the rest of the smart phone audience, or is the technology just that much simpler to use that it entices people to use the net more often and for more things.

Either answer brings a lesson for awareness and marketing campaigns. If it is the people then there is a clear target audience built right into the product. Find ways to capture the high tech high propensity users and go forward with developing campaigns for them and only them via their favorite communication device - their iPhone. If the answer is it is the technology the obvious course is to identify upcoming direct competitors and link your self to those potential markets and for get about the demographic. If I had to wager a bet I'd say it is the people not the technology but only time and telephone company records will let us know for sure.

David Neff on using social media tools in Non Profits

Our friend and social media maven Beth Kanter has posted a insightful interview with our other friend and frequent co-presenter David Neff. David using the Sharinghope.tv platform to provide 3 key tips to non profits when entering the social medial space.

The tips are 1. Experiment, 2. Buys a video Camera, and 3. Research what other companies and organizations are doing in the field and learn from their success and mistakes. These suggestions are not only valid for nonprofits but they ring true to any organization or company. Part of being successful is understanding the space you are entering. Any for profit company will invest money and research into understanding new markets before getting into them. With social media all you really need is a few adventurous staff members to try things on with an eye always focusing on the organization's goal.

Social Multitaskers and Social Value

Forester just released a report linking social value to social multitasking. The report poses an interesting idea and I am going to take a stab at concocting my own argument to support it, and then propose why it is all rubbish.

Social multitaskers I would define as people involved in a number of social spaces, either in real life or on virtual and electronic communities. I'll even add in that the social spaces need not be mutually exclusive.The fact that they are involved in unique named and purposed groups is good enough for me.

So the argument that Social Multitaskers have higher social value is true in a broad sense. Involved in numerous circles they have the a potentially greater reach than the average person. They touch entirely separate groups giving them a high potential to motive and mobilize a greater volume of people for a cause or action. In terms of resources they also hold an advantage in that they posses a larger pool to poll when seeking assistance.

But reach in of its self is simply a lousy metric. I think reach tells nothing about impact. Regardless of the number of folks you can reach if you have no relationships to leverage individuals to action. This is where I have a hard time with this theory. There are a number of people who are dedicated to a single community. They are involved and have strong ties to leverage people into action. I would be curious which set up has the most actual power, not potential power.

Will Web 2.0 Transform Market Research

Our friends at Forester Research have a new article out discussing the value of using online social media and social networks in market research. The immediate reaction is that social networks are a complete collection of lowest common denominator banter and hollow ramblings and musings. My response to that is  ... well yea.

Think about the value of a focus group, and how it comes from collecting an assortment of average people to talk about or review a concept or a product. In non profits we may use them for website usability testing, or new patient service programs. If we are looking at the average John and Jane then why would we not got into social networking spaces for feedback?

The article hints at the cost structure involved in using the spaces to collect data and how it could reduce the response costs and increase response rates. Already there are survey applications appearing on Facebooks and Myspace. The next great leap forward is going to be targeted surveys based on profile information and purchase information. That is the 4th monetization strategy of Social Networks.

One Man Non Profits IV - Direct Restricted Resources

Restricted gifts are a unique topic in our business. Imagine buying a tank of gasoline and saying that you want your profits only to go towards green energy research, or buying a T-shirt and insisting that your portion of profits only go towards subsidized medical coverage for the employees. In non profits restricted gifts work just like that and they can be very effective.

In the realm of the one man philanthropy there is an opportunity to direct donations  towards a single cause or program. A very recent example of this is MalariaEngage.org that requests $10 donations and then affords donors the option to fund  seven projects  recommended by Tanzania's National Institute for Medical Research. Once those have been funded, MalariaEngage.org will look to support new projects across developing countries.

In creating an inexpensive platform MalariaEngage.org can send the sum of its donations to support research. Other organizations are not so lucky, in that they have developed numerous patient support, advocacy, education, and outreach programs that really do help people but require staff to organize and run.  It is not unfathomable that organizations could build micro campaigns around restricted donations to mission critical services. Matching donors to what they are passionate about almost always results in better connection and affinity with the organization, and really makes donors feel like they can see their impact on specific programs. This innate need to feel like you are making a difference is what drove the entrepreneurial philanthropists to create their own activities in the first place.

Virtual World Engagement for those Virtually Engaged

E Marketer Daily posted a report from the Virtual Worlds conference and had some surprising pieces of information. The charts provided show that time spend in Second Life is on a very steady and rapid increase while participation volumetrically speaking is increasing at an equally impressive rate. Expect additional investments in marketing from some of the more advanced media companies and expect and equal amount of resistance from the residents of the virtual spaces. They are there in part because they are tired of the consistent bombardment of marketing messages.

Sharing Hope . TV Interview

If you followed the story of the Frozen Pea Fund from the beginning, you know that just before Susan Reynolds was diagnosed with invasive breast cancer, David Neff of the American Cancer Society had Connie Reese to do some pro bono work for the Society on a new project, SharingHope.tv, which recently launched.

 

David Neff is the director of Web and interactive strategy for ACS, and is featured in this video talking about the origins of the idea for SharingHope.tv, and why ACS decided to build it with Ruby on Rails and enable OpenID.

Video Job hunting

It would only be a matter of time before the stream of videos, the web, and jobs intersected. Videojobshop is a space where job hunters and employers alike can post resumes and request for employees. I like the idea of making the ob hunting a bit more personal and interesting beyond the stock resumes and vanilla job postings we see at online job boards like Monster and Career Builder.

Direct Mail Overhaul

In fund raising and marketing circles, pre-internet, Direct Mail was the most effective way to mass distribute information and solicit donations. Depending on the cause and the relationship management of the organization direct mail proved to be either very effective or an absolute waste of time and money. Response rates are traditionally very low (a few percent) but a new method may help drive those rates up.

Matter is taking an unconventional approach to direct marketing by sending out boxes of "interesting stuff" instead of paper. The items are carefully collected for specific audiences, and sent to consumers at no charge. Each participating company creates and contributes an item—something that explains what the company does, says something about its ideas or values. Matter is a collaboration between Artomatic and Royal Mail, and it targets consumers in the UK only. If US based companies and philanthropies adopt this method who knows what kind of interesting stuff we may get in the mail, or how much junk we will be contributing to our landfills.