Disqus - Latest Comments for mrhames

Re: LinkedIn, other data aggregators heighten presence in college-prep marketplace

Matt Hames — Thu, 14 Aug 2014 08:16:23 -0000

The question is about data sets. Where is the most up-to-date data set? As young people change jobs, they are more likely to update their LinkedIn profile before they update their alma mater. So as a tool, it doesn't need to replace other data sets, it can enhance other data sets.

Re: Starbucks sending flyers… What has the world come to? - Single Post - FUSE Marketing Group

Matt Hames — Mon, 03 Feb 2014 11:50:00 -0000

The marketer who thinks only one element from the toolbox "works" (or that just because it is social media, we should try it) isn't really a marketing person.

Coupons drive behavior, so getting people a coupon can drive them into changing their route in the morning or not. Starbucks is trying a number of ways to market itself because they are premium product coming out of a recession.

One can easily suppose that when times get tough, the Starbucks Flan-freaking Latte is one of the first things cut off the caffeine delivery list. Tim Horton's double/double or Dunkin Donuts at a third of the price looks like a better play.

So Starbucks is more than likely using this package to attempt to give an incentive to people who once visited to come back now that times are getting a bit better.

But I'll bet it isn't framed as a "come back", because that would limit the potential. So instead its generic "Have a discounted coffee on us."

Dunno what's right, all the above are guesses. I will say, a come back message is prolly what they need. And they were never getting Stephen anyway. Does Diet Coke still own that market?

Re: Three Long-Held Beliefs Every Marketer Should Rethink

Matt Hames — Mon, 27 Jan 2014 13:38:21 -0000

My answer was too long, so I made it a blog post. I disagree with almost all of this. http://sharemarketing.wordp...

Re: The Ad Contrarian: The Slow Painful Collapse Of The Social Media Fantasy

Matt Hames — Mon, 20 Jan 2014 10:21:51 -0000

The person who does social media without anyone else is as idiotic as the person who just does outdoor. To view the problem, imagine if all of a sudden a Billboard Strategist walked into every client meeting, advocating the importance of Billboards, regardless of the needs of the brand.

That's essentially what happened – these so-called experts said social media should be part of everything. I recall a client meeting wherein the maker of a light switch wanted a Facebook page. A light switch. I tried to explain that the average person couldn't even identify their light switch brand, let along like it on Facebook. The client went elsewhere and was sold a Facebook page that doesn't work under any definition. That isn't the downfall of Facebook, it just means that maybe, in this case, we didn't need social media. Imagine that same dude advocating for a billboard.

Ad Contrarian, I love your posts because you're the guy laughing at the nudity of the situation.

You'd correctly laugh the Billboard Strategist out of the room, and should continue to mock the social media strategist until he/she stops saying "you must have this" – and clients stop believing it (because therein lies the rub, every client thinks people will like their product on Facebook.)

Then we'll all be able to do proper marketing.

/rant.

Re: Bob Weeks on Curling: Wall Street Journal in running for best curling headline ever

Matt Hames — Thu, 16 Jan 2014 10:58:40 -0000

I do. The end of a long week, you're mentally drained if you're not physically fit. The game is getting more intense because of perfect ice and great rocks. So it isn't just what you make, what you call matters so much. Fit people don't get as tired. They also tend to eat better which also helps at the end of the week. So yes, it helps.

Imagine a fit Wrench?

Re: Tools for Displaying Tweets at Your Event

Matt Hames — Mon, 08 Jul 2013 15:13:45 -0000

Hi Eric, we use Tint. Works really well.

Re: The Death Of The QR Code

Matt Hames — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 09:30:36 -0000

"In many cases, the mobile experience sitting behind the QR code is a disappointment. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tried scanning these codes only to be taken to non-mobile optimized sites, or worse, to a site where I scratched my head wondering what the connection to the original call-to-action was."

This is the problem. Dumb marketers taught people to be disappointed by the experience. Sending people to a website is lazy, and kills the category because it kills the overall expectations. All the dumb/lazy marketers ruined it for everyone.

QR codes can:

Add an event to a calendar.
Download a vcard (why aren't they on business cards)
Connect to a company on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter.
Take out menus could have it initiate a call.
How to assemble video on a thing that needs assembly
Link to a podcast.

I don't think they're dead. I think marketers are/were dumb. http://sharemarketing.wordp...

Re: Altimeter’s Take: The Technologies That Matter from SXSW 2013

Matt Hames — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 16:52:38 -0000

Interesting. When Apple launched the pc, it was a big important company. Then it wouldn't allow other people to make the hardware and for a long time, languished as a not-so-big-important company.

That time, incidentally, didn't have Steve jobs at the helm.

Even though Apple will be an important company without the iPhone, one wonders if it is deja vu all over again.

Thanks for the report.

Re: On Googling Job Candidates

Matt Hames — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 10:33:31 -0000

Sorry to break this to you Matt, but the cat is out of the bag. Your post is about HR specifically, but what about when someone writes something on Insider Higher Ed? Or speaks at a conference? Or meets at a networking function. Google is a second point of contact for more people than just HR. So it is possible that HR will look away and hum with their ears plugged, but that doesn't negate the need to think about it well before the resume gets on Matt's desk.

The danger will be people read this and think they shouldn't care. They should.

Re: A Sincere Question About LinkedIn

Matt Hames — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 16:25:10 -0000

Hi George, here are four reasons.

1. Google. More and more LinkedIn is becoming a 'people search engine'. Search for a name, and it returns a LinkedIn profile (unless you share your name with a university, then you have to search down the page). Thus, you go to a conference and give an awesome speech. This speech is the first point of contact for colleagues The second is Google. Your faculty bio might win a search for your name, but if you also had a LinkedIn profile, you would win it twice. Or if you happened to share a name with a University, you will win it for your name.

2. Your LinkedIn profile is easy to update and make perfectly current. LinkedIn offers you chance to add the aforementioned conference. You can add associations. Papers, grants, awards. Indeed, it can be a more persent vide of your work. Different from your faculty bio, it can be a more active, up-to-date you.

3. Expertise. As a people search engine (see #1), LinkedIn appears to be evolving into an expertise search engine. If people want an expert in braille literacy, for example, they could search LinkedIn for an expert. Searching Google for expertise doesn't often return people.

4. Learning. If Facebook is a place to share the banal, LinkedIn can be the place to share content about the category you care about. I get a lot of news about social media from LinkedIn pushed to me by my connections. I treat it like a peer reviewed news feed.

Finally, do I encourage students to join LinkedIn? For me, #1 on this list is critical to students. If the first point of contact is a cover letter/introduction/resume, the second is Google. Not winning that search with a compelling argument for skills and talent is an opportunity that students should stop wasting. Forget Facebook, LinkedIn wins Google searches from people who know you, or who are interested in your skills and/or talent.

Re: Answering a Social Media Question

Matt Hames — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 13:57:55 -0000

Good points. I also think it is important to take a step back and see where and how the students engaged with the school before coming to the school. For example, there is a solid chance that the admissions department has a Facebook page for all applicants, and a closed Facebook group for admits.

Or perhaps there is a Twitter list of admits.

The second thing is, students will increasingly have smartphones or internet ready devices. So the platform you pick needs to work seamlessly with mobile. Facebook is getting better at that, but photosharing sites like Instagram and even to a lesser degree Pinterest are killing it.

So you need to think about platform. Finally, you need to think about what you want them to say. To often we pick platforms based on content we will create, when in fact, we need to pick platforms based on content users will create. We consider this last part more and more. It isn't just about engaging students, ask yourself what you want them to do or say.

Re: You Are Not a Social Media Jedi, Ninja, Sherpa, or Guru

Matt Hames — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 11:37:48 -0000

When people who work in social media are called "marketing people", the bubble will have ended.

Re: You Are Not a Social Media Jedi, Ninja, Sherpa, or Guru

Matt Hames — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 11:37:35 -0000

When people who work in social media are called "marketing people", the bubble will have ended.

Re: To Develop Student Entrepreneurs, Colleges Incubate Their Ideas

Matt Hames — Mon, 14 May 2012 10:42:01 -0000

Colgate University also has a vibrant entrepreneurial spirit. You can see some of it here: https://www.tiainstitute.com, and read more about it here: http://blogs.colgate.edu/20...

Re: Pondering the Interest in Pinterest

Matt Hames — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 09:23:49 -0000

Pinterest is delicious with images. We use it to showcase the images of Colgate University. We also use it to show off Faculty novels and Alumni novels. At this point though, it is more about imagery. We're also experimenting with adding links to the images back to our website.

There's a danger in chasing a hot tool. That said, having a presence sometimes needs to come before the strategy because people ask for it. We're working on the strategy.

Re: 'Social-Media Blasphemy': An Academic Adds 'Enemy' Feature to Facebook

Matt Hames — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 09:04:31 -0000

If you want a dislike button, join Reddit. If you want enemies, join 4chan.

Re: Facebook Returns to Campus Roots With ‘Groups for Schools’

Matt Hames — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 09:01:03 -0000

I have mixed feeling about these new groups. On the one hand, I like that students are joining groups in a place we can access. On the other hand, these are University branded groups that the University didn't start. Yes, this is social media where the user dictates the space – but I'm not sure schools are comfortable ceding control. That said, we all should get used to it and join the groups.

Re: T-mobile Sucks! Never Get Tmobile!!

Matt Hames — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 20:18:25 -0000

I just recently had a crazy experience with them. They suck.

Re: The Battle Of The Century?

Matt Hames — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 08:37:11 -0000

Here's another angle: think of a cable package the same way one thinks of a newspaper. Prior to the internet, in order to read the sports section of the newspaper, I had to buy the whole paper. the internet un-bundled news...now I can read the sports section without buying the whole paper.

Cable is the last bundled product. We buy 150 channels but watch 20. Or 10. In order to get the sports, we need a whole host of channels that rarely get watched.

Internet TV will un-bundle cable. To some extent, that is what netflix is – the a la cart of TV. Since the cable companies own the pipe, the battle will be a legislative one: can the cable companies force bundles on us? http://sharemarketing.wordp...

Re: The Value of a Check-In

Matt Hames — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 09:55:27 -0000

I think there's another question to be asked. Is your brand the kind of brand that is getting "free" checkins already. And if so, at what price point can you offer a reward? When it is a straight loyalty play, then the rewards should get better with frequency. That's my opinion anyway.

Re: The Value of a Check-In

Matt Hames — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 09:55:20 -0000

Re: What Is A Facebook Fan Really Worth?

Matt Hames — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 11:14:25 -0000

This is a good question, but there's another element that will be new. Impressions are a well-known marketing metric (even though we can debate different kinds of impressions and their value based on the message), but I think the interesting thing will be what is a 5-year fan worth? In 5 years, what will an impression on that person be worth?

Re: How Correlated are Social Media and the Recession?

Matt Hames — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 13:38:34 -0000

The recession of the early 1990's launched Direct Marketing. The current recession is really, really, really helping SEM.

Re: Social Media for Law Firms by Samantha Collier: Google + in a Nutshell

Matt Hames — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 21:04:46 -0000

Facebook is a social network, Google+ is a sharing network (like Twitter). In Facebook, our connections and status mean something -- to younger people, who you are dating is a reflection of status. What someone is doing is important. To us older people, we care about knowledge and less about status.

That was why young people didn't flock to Twitter, and it is why young people will most-likely avoid Google+ until they are in the enterprise and faced with the notion of sharing knowledge.

I actually think Google+ has a chance to take down e-mail in the enterprise. And I think Google wants that as well. They tried to reinvent e-mail with Wave. Not they are just reinventing sharing. Which could be the same thing.

Re: The Lemmings Are Back! (And This Time They've Got QR Codes With Them!)

Matt Hames — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 15:44:35 -0000

Top five things you can do with a QR Code:

1. Have it on your business card. Have the QR code automatically download your data into someone's contact folder. This isn't just doable, but if you've ever had a business card from someone and wondered what the heck to do with it, you can see value now.

2. Drive someone to a mobile site. For the love of god, DO NOT DRIVE someone to a site on the interwebs that isn't mobile.

3. Have the QR code be a simple Facebook like. That's it, scan this to like our page. Do it at tradeshows, on the bottom of e-newsletters, on the side of your website. We already know people don't clock the darned follow us on Facebook 'F' logo. This is easy.

4. Have the QR code initiate a call. Yes, really. A take out menu could print them on their menu. And yes, you can scan, and it will initiate a call. Is it easier than dialing? In a 10 digit dialing world, it's many less buttons.

5. On package, a 60 second sizzle video on the brand features of the product.

Be patient. While what you describe above isn't entirely untrue, the fact is, QR codes aren't that hard. You don't have to take a picture, you just have to hover over them. Yes, there are a million different readers and a million different QR code generators, but when placed at a reasonable point in the marketing journey, and when leading to a reasonable place, QR codes are a simple way of getting someone to do something.

When you ask, and what you ask them to do are important. Which means I'm equally as frustrated as you when people used them all willy-nilly. QR codes don't work. Bah. Chances are good that since you didn't think about it, you sent to to the website and not a mobile site. Use a QR code to send me to a mobile site. Or an app. Or an video. Or...

/rant.