Social Media Goodness for Sports: 5 ways NFL teams are leveraging social media

Posted on January 2, 2011 by admin

The 2011 NFL Playoffs are just about to kickoff so I want to highlight some of the best plays NFL teams are making inside the social arena. Hut..Hut..Tweet!

Play #1 Integrating conversations using Facebook

Since Mark Zuckerberg was the Time Man of the Year (WTF!?!) and Facebook did have a HUGE year in 2010, I’m leading this post off with the Washington Redskins who integrated their community directly into their Facebook page. Redskins fans can log in and get the personalized Redskins Rule news feed directly within Facebook; which creates a whole new level of efficiency for the busy fan.

Play #2 Connecting the fans to the organization via Twitter

IndiaNAPolis no more – the Colts bring the excitement to NAP town and their social media is so savvy that I’ve used them twice in this post. Colts owner Jim Irsay communicates directly with the fans and is even giving away a Prius to one of his Twitter followers. Green + Sexy!

Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Social Media Goodness for Non-Profits

Posted on October 31, 2010 by admin

Non-Profits are typically all about doing something good in the world and facilitating this social improvement with their stakeholders. Keeping people updated is easier than ever before with Twitter and Facebook fan pages, but what about actually motivating people to do more good? This can be tricky, but it’s not impossible.

The vast majority of online rewards systems are focused on online activities and have produced mixed results. If we want to create real world results, how about recognizing and providing incentives for real world actions? It doesn’t sound crazy but you will be hardpressed to find a system like this online…until now.

KaBoom! is a non-profit who believes that every child in America should have a playground within walking distance. KaBoom’s KickApps-Powered online community now offer users an online badging system for their online and offline good deeds.

Badges include:

Build Volunteer Badge – Members of playground build projects earn this badge when they’ve successfully completed their build.

I Tweet for play badge – If you tweet about play and are a member of KaBOOM! you can earn this badge. Add your Twitter username to your profile page or send a Twitter reply to @kaboom and say, “I tweet for play!”.

New School Badge – Participate in 3 or more live KaBOOM! trainings and become a part of the KaBOOM! New School.

Users profiles display the badges they have earned to recognize their accomplishments and help them track their progress:

Posted in Uncategorized, ecommerce, non-profits | 1 Comment

Social Media Goodness for online shopping

Posted on October 4, 2010 by admin

Online shopping & e-commerce needs some social media goodness. Most online shopping experiences are still confined to “Here are the categories of products. Find what you want and buy it. If you love it or hate it or have too much time on your hands, please write a review”. When was the last time you went to Amazon to buy a product and either there was only ten reviews or you only had time to read 10 reviews? If you are like me, you never have time to read more than ten reviews and when you do read them you usually discover that about half were good and half were bad so you have no idea who is telling the truth vs lying and who is knowledgeable vs clueless. Here is a take on how online shopping + social media goodness might play out:

1. Custom Feedback Systems

When you look at a product online, you aren’t given a blank slate for feedback but instead given a list of responses that make sense within the context of the product. This way users can provide feedback in one click and glean helpful information from feedback in one glance. This is important because most shoppers don’t have time to read reviews and even less have time to provide them. Here is what a custom feedback system might look like on Hallmark:

2. Shopping with your friends

If you pass a stranger on the street and he is talking outload to no one in particular saying “The new Dell Streak is the best tablet computer on the market today” you will probably assume he works for them or is at least biased toward Dell. This real-life improbable situation is a lot like reading anonymous reviews and it just doesn’t compare to even just noticing that one of your friends is using a the new Dell Streak tablet. With Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn’s new social graph API’s, online shopping is finally ripe to go social. A simple outcome of this would be seeing your friends shopping activity on the homepage of any e-commerce site. Here is what Hallmark’s homepage might look like:

3. Relevant Social Purchasing Trends

Knowing that Dell Studio 14 Laptop is a “hot item” that is selling well is useful, but only if my computer needs are pretty generic. Much more useful is to know which items are trending among who. I would be interested to know that 90% of filmmakers purchased the Dell Studio 14 or that more than 100,000 sales professionals have purchased the Dell Streak tablet in the last 2 months. With Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn connect this is something that should be possible in the near-future. This is what it might look like:

Posted in Uncategorized, ecommerce, social commerce | 1 Comment

Social Media Goodness for your corporate website

Posted on September 14, 2010 by admin

We all want to have everyone and their mom like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter, but you can’t forget that your most important customers (the mavens and salesman of your digital world) are exactly the people who will look beyond your FB & Twitter and actually come to your website. Meaningfully engaging with these people and leveraging their interest in your company makes all the difference in the world so it’s time to show some love to the only digital home that you don’t lease with the permission of these guys: (Mark Zuckerberg and Evan Williams)

A typical "conversation" on Facebook

A typical topic stream on Twitter

The truth is that the excitement over Twitter and Facebook have made social experiences on your website seem like an after-thought. However; there are new technologies and ideas that will once again make your website the focus of your efforts to engage your  customers. These experiences will eventually make Facebook & Twitter look like what they are – the digital equivalent of shopping mall or giant dance club: good for stopping by to make sure you’re in-the-know, but not the place you would ever want to have a serious conversation. Not sure what I mean?

It only makes sense that a focused website should be able to facilitate a better focused conversation than Facebook or Twitter when it comes to specific topics like: Solutions to Child Poverty, the St. Louis Rams season prospect’s, or tips for graphic design work with a digital pen. So why do we now spend so little time having conversations outside of FB & Twitter? Because we want an efficient and personal experience . Facebook already has our friends and Twitter knows who we find interesting. Registration fatigue and the cumbersome process of online friend-making discourage us from setting up too many online homes.

Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off

A Bit About Me

Posted on September 1, 2010 by admin

I have worked on web technology and strategy for enterprise, brands, and non-profits. My customers include Dell, Shape Magazine, Sally Beauty, St. Louis Rams, Pampered Chef, ASCAP, Children International, and many more. In my current position I head Business Development in the US South for KickApps, the leading platform for building innovative social web experiences.

Prior to a career in Social Media, I worked in television as a casting director for MTV/Granada (Room Raiders) and Warner Brothers/Telepictures (Tyra Banks Show). I have had some memorable adventures casting shows in Miami, New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix, Dallas, and Austin.

Passions Include: Technology, Social Entrepreneurship, Documentary Film, Local Food, Stand-Up Comedy
Specialties

Web 2.0, New Media, Web Video, Social Media, Customer Communities, Fan Communities, Social Networking, Online Communities

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off

About This Blog

Posted on August 31, 2010 by admin

A digital scrapbook of emerging best-practices in social media. This blog represents the views of the author and does not represent any companies or groups affiliated with the author.

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off