Know Your Audience

Before embarking on ANY kind of communications campaign, you should know the audience you're trying to reach. Yeah, there are a ton of great sites out there that would be neat to reach out to. But if your audience isn't there, what is the point? According to a recent post on Business Insider, 69% of adults don't really know what Twitter is. Unless your audience is part of the 31% that does understand and use the service, you are probably better of focusing your effort elsewhere.

Similarly, a recent post on TechCrunch about Friendster, shows that the social networking site we North Americans might have thought of as dead is still alive and well over there. Any kind of marketing campaigning focusing on people in that area of speakers of languages from there might be better off focusing their efforts on Friendster than on Facebook.

Not only is it a good idea to know your audience in order to know where they are looking, but it will also help give you an idea of what they are looking for. To grossly simplify things, someone trying to reach college students might be better off with a series of entertaining online videos, whereas someone trying to reach purchasers at businesses might be better off providing their audience with printable, fact-filled PDFs.

-Parker

Getting in Touch with Michael Arrington by Violating Everything Social Media Stands For

If I had to describe Web 2.0/ social media with two words it would have to be "good manners": Communicate, connect, collaborate, share, exchange, listen, learn, criticise to improve not to hurt, don't mean ill but keep it nice, value people's time, appreciate their efforts, say please and thank you. Apparently a definition not shared by everyone. As the Blog Herald reports the Earthcomber CEO tried to connect with Michael Arrington – by suing TechCrunch. From Arrington's blog:

I called Earthcomber President Jim Brady this morning to verify the lawsuit. At first he wouldn’t answer - all he did was try to explain how he’s been wronged by Loopt. When pressed he did confirm that the lawsuit was filed, but quickly added that he didn’t really mean to press it with us. He wants to go to court with Loopt, but is willing to quickly work something out with us to make this go away, he told me, hinting that he’d like to partner with us. He also said he’s been desperately trying to get me on the phone but hasn’t been able to, so he decided to sue us instead.

Trying to connect with someone by violating everything the Web stands for certainly isn't a very clever idea, even more so when your aim is a partnership – which obviously isn't going to happen.

Writes Arrington:

The problem with using a lawsuit as a negotiating tactic is that you can’t put the cat back in the bag. The door is open, and it has to play out. In other words, suing someone to get them to return your calls is not exactly a sign of brilliance. (…)

I’ve asked our attorneys to spend whatever it takes to kill this lawsuit, and to find a way to counter sue this guy into the stone age. (…)

We will not be bullied, and people who file frivolous lawsuits need to be put down. I would rather run TechCrunch into the ground and go out of business than let this guy win.

Keep your good manners – keep your company.

-Jens

Hip-Hop and Social Media: Together Again

This post on TechCrunch made me think that my earlier post about how social media might be the new hip-hop was way more on point than I had thought. Apparently, the RZA (aka future-crime fightin' gangsta B.O.B.B.Y. Digital) came up with the concept of WuChess, a Wu-Tang-themed online social network based around chess. Even though I'm a fan of the Wu, I don't know how successful this venture will be. There are just too many free chess social networks, and I doubt that the Wu Army cares enough to support this one.

At least least the RZA seems to understand that it can be a good idea to give away his music for free. Wikipedia quotes him as saying that the Razor makes music...

"...to be heard, personally. And, if somebody download it, if they heard it, then my job was delivered. Of course I love to make the money. I get million dollar album budgets, so of course there's money involved with it. But, personally, as a musician, as an artist, the first thing is to be seen and heard. If you're not seen and heard, who cares? ... I never got pissed off at the Internet kids with the downloading. In fact, I told them, 'Help yourself. Have a good time."

Well put, RZA.

With that, I'll leave you with search for a version of their track "Da Mysteries of Chess boxin'."

-Parker