Addicted

With a lot of my focus centered on social media these days (for work, in class, in the news), I took one of those long pauses to consider why networks like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and blogging play such an important role in our lives today.

On any given day, I will probably access and engage in social at least 6-8 times. I login to Facebook in the morning to check our brand page for work. I wish my friends a happy birthday, if their special day happens to be popping up in my newsfeed and I will continue to browse content for my brand page related to my field of health care. I then read straight news articles and make a post for my healthcare organization on some relevant material.

If I am not in the middle of running a planned campaign, I will usually post something educational and link to an online resource. Other times I'll choose to link to a news article or program offering. Typically, I monitor the site for 1-2 hrs after posting, leaving the browser open so that I can pick up on any negative activity immediately, while I move on to other marketing work. I will check back at lunch and in the afternoon, depending on work meetings and the structure of my day. I always have my mobile phone on hand, which will alert me to activity regardless. Right now my evenings are spent studying, but inevitably, I will return to social media for personal browsing and updates on my friends and family.

Wow. You probably think I'm addicted, now. Which may be the case -- but it's a good thing. I manage the social media platform at work, which is a big task. I am responsible for growing our fan base, with significant outcomes each year. As a nonprofit, we has chosen to use only organic efforts (campaigns, interactive marketing, and creative ideas) to promote our social media. We do not use paid advertising. It is also critical to our success that we target the correct demographic, ensuring that our efforts will yield the proper results.

And it's all about the metrics! Seriously, everything these days is measurable and this is a tool that is invaluable. Measuring the value of a LIKE or the virality of a message on Facebook allows for analysis and tweaking that can greatly improve your marketing method and legitimize your brand. If you learn as you go and stay abreast of the latest developments in social media, you are on your game. The potential ROI for interactive online marketing is unprecedented.

There are many thought processes that make a marketing campaign a success, but the most important thing to keep in mind is why are people using sites like Facebook anyway? What makes these sites addicting? Why is it that people stay on these sites for MUCH longer than the average web search or page visit?

Because...

1. You can connect with friends who live in all parts of the world or from different stages of your lives. These are people that you cannot see on an every day basis, but you can keep up to date on some of the ins and outs via Facebook. Sharing challenges and triumphs with people you care about is one of the greatest joys of life.

2. You can get useful info -- current news stories, job opportunities, education on topic. All of this info can be accessed and shared by valuable individuals, your "friends." A recommendation for a restaurant or a promotional deal for a local store is much more believable and reliable coming from a friend. Trust is at the base of all Facebook interactions; trust breeds sharing.

3. You can keep yourself busy stalking people (not literally, although that some times happens). When you get bored or need inspiration, Facebook is the place to go! It is possible to suck up hours and hours of time on internet and sites like Facebook are big culprits.

Good things to keep in mind. Why does social media matter to you? There's a good chance that it matters to your next door neighbor for many of those same reasons. Of course there are always differences between different populations and the marketer must take that into account, as well.

This article is the part of a series of posts that I will make throughout my graduate studies in Marketing and Communications. With a focus on both healthcare and interactive marketing, I hope to gain a better understanding for effective health messaging--which I think plays a key role in a happy, healthy society. Please leave your comments or write to me: camorous@gmail.com.

www.what the heck am I doing.com

When working in PR/Marketing, it's only a matter of time before you will be asked to help redesign a website. If you are one of the lucky few who never has this task (not to say it's not enjoyable, it's just tedious) then "Lucky you!" You still need to understand the ins and outs of a good site, in order to strategically place ad campaigns. 


Tell the Brand Story
A website serves as the "home base" for your brand. The strategy behind a website should be to create an accessible and easy-to-use website that embodies your organization's brand and legitimizes your message. When a marketer is speaking on the phone to the media, referencing his or her company to clients, or providing feedback to a board of directors, it is important to have a website that represents the entire company and highlights the significance of the work being done. In some sense, a website should tell a story on its own -- as a website visit can be a one time chance to capture the attention of the user.


Aesthetics 
Web layout and visual appeal are key. It is important to keep the branding consistent across the board for an organization or company, so the color palette for the website should align with the logo and other existing branding. A website should also use color combinations that make the text readable and easy to recognize (sometimes dark colors on dark backgrounds can make text undetectable). Consistent branding is also important as often users visit the site after tying a keyword into a search engine, such as Google. It is important that they recognize where they are and that the site branding confirms that they have come to the correct place. Otherwise, they will immediately exit the site and, thus, contribute to the "bounce rate" in your site analytics (something you'd rather keep low - trust me!)


Navigation & User Experience 
Visual appearance is only part of the equation for the perfect website. The navigation and layout of the site are also critical to creating a comfortable, easy environment for users. The "user experience" is what determines popularity of a site, the number of page visits, and the length of time that one user will spend browsing content. If a site is easy to navigate - meaning the navigation is intuitive, well marked, and fast- then the user will be happy. From that point on, good content will speak for itself. Interesting reading, helpful material such as downloadable PDFs, and interactive video will capture the user's attention. Content should be written in plain English- no clinical jargon or academic prose.


Know Your Audience
Keep in mind the unique needs that your users may have, as well as their expectations. You want their experience at your website to be a memorable, pleasant experience. Whether that means going out of you way to make online accommodations for vision or hearing impaired users; streaming news feeds or stock market updates to maintain user attention; or providing a "one stop shop" portal for users to access a list of resources, in addition to your site, that might meet their needs if they did not find what they needed at your site.  Much of the reasoning behind choosing a site layout should be to make the user experience easy for all audiences: community members, educators, physicians, students, and patients who may be accessing the site as a resource. When considering a patient, it is important to remember that some times symptoms of an illness can make everyday tasks challenging. Just another reason to tailor your user's web experience as best you can. Enabling access for people of all abilities is key to building a sustainable website.


Personalize it!
Website personalization is an area where health communicators have to proceed with great caution. Any app or login feature would need to be highly secure in order to protect patient health information and confidentiality. A login feature gives users who frequent a site the ability to participate in multiple event registrations, surveys, or webinars without re-entering registration info each time. Instead, the form would pre-populate with their info, made possible using cookies. Personalization does greatly enhance user experience. The information that users volunteer when they login, becomes an important piece of intel for marketing strategy. We will discuss this in a future post. 


Mobile Ready
Finally, in the current times it is crucial that a website be "skinned" for mobile devices. Everyone accesses the web via iPhones, Androids, iPads, eNotebooks, etc. and a company can miss out on an opportunity to engage a user if the website shows up in very poor quality on a mobile device. Nothing is more frustrating to a user then finding a website and then realizing that it is impossible to access half of the site because it goes off the screen. 


Do the work for your user - make the content easy to access. For me, this is the real message when it comes to website best practices for websites.

References:


http://www.homebaseprogram.org/ http://ask.enquiro.com/2010/a-big-list-of-user-experience-best-practices/

http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/11/best-practices-for-6-common-user-interface-elements/

http://mobilewebbestpractices.com/user-experience/


This article is the part of a series of posts that I will make throughout my graduate studies in Marketing and Communications. With a focus on both healthcare and interactive marketing, I hope to gain a better understanding for effective health messaging--which I think plays a key role in a happy, healthy society. Please leave your comments or write to me: camorous@gmail.com.

Understanding Cookies

What are cookies?

Let's be frank. You hear people talk about cookies all the time --no, not the chocolate chip kind, the internet kind. Everyone pretends to know what they are, cause who wants to look like an idiot? But let's face it - do you really understand them? Honestly, I'm not sure I'm there myself. But, I just wrote a short piece on them for class and I thought I'd share this batch : )

Cookies are small data stores that live on a computer's web browser. The browser will use cookies to store data about that user's web activity. According to the BBC's Webwise Blog:

When you visit a site that uses cookies for the first time, a cookie is downloaded onto your PC. The next time you visit that site, your PC checks to see if it has a cookie that is relevant (that is, one containing the site name) and sends the information contained in that cookie back to the site. The site then "knows" that you have been there before, and in some cases, tailors what pops up on screen to take account of that fact. [1]

This means that cookies can store info about the number of times you have visited a page, the length of time that you spent there, what links you clicked, and what types of browsers you prefer to use. This information can help make your user experience easy and more enjoyable by removing duplicate information, remembering favorite info, or giving you the content that you requested in a search.

Benefits

Cookies have enabled online shopping to expand through the use of a shopping cart feature that "remembers" desired items and "holds" those items for you, even if you exit the site. With a login feature that references info in your computer's cookies, you can return to that site and keep browsing with the same contents in your shopping cart.

The information captured through cookies can also provide key intelligence to inform brand-marketing strategy. By understanding what sites a user frequents, how often they visit, and where user's general interests lie, a company can effectively place ads. Ideally, the brand can target the user with ads for a product or item of interest and there is a higher probability that the user will actually click on the ad and generate revenue for the site host and the brand (if the user purchases the product).

This method of targeted advertising can be very cost-effective, as it matches marketing efforts with the targeted audience: an engaged population that is actually seeking the product and looking to fill a need. Cookies also give the brand a great advantage and insight into understanding user behavior. Cookies allow the brand to capture real time research data on the users interest, which can influence their entire strategy, constantly keeping an approach fresh and relevant.

Controversy

There is a downside to cookies, however, which is that users are often skeptical of the idea that information is being stored about them. Many feel that their privacy is infringed upon and this unease can affect a user's trust in a brand. Despite the fact noted by Larisa Thomason from NetMechanic that "Cookies cannot store any personal information about the user that the user doesn't voluntarily supply to the Web site,"[2]  people are still uneasy about the presence of cookies.

Some users dislike the idea of being targeted by marketing campaigns or having their web browser ads tailored to their interests. There has been some controversy over the legality of cookie use.  In the Guardian, Joanna Geary makes the "sneaky" function of a cookie clear:

The cookies that appear to cause the most controversy... are for managing the advertising you see on a website. This is particularly the case when websites set a cookie from a separate advertising delivery company. This cookie can record when and where you saw an advert, where in the world you might have been when it happened and whether you clicked on it. The cookie will send this information to the cookie owner, who records this data and uses it to make sure you don't see the same advert too many times.[3]

The consensus seems to be that cookies are harmless. For users that dislike the idea, there is always the option of blocking cookies-- which may make the web experience less fluid, as many sites do not operate well without cookies. Most sites have a cause within their "Terms and Conditions" that states that by using the site, you are agreeing to download the site cookies. A good site will also take the time to explain how the brand uses cookies and why they do so.

---

[1] http://www.bbc.co.uk/webwise/guides/about-cookies

[2] http://www.netmechanic.com/news/vol3/beginner_no5.htm

[3] http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/apr/23/cookies-and-web-tracking-intro


This article is the part of a series of posts that I will make throughout my graduate studies in Marketing and Communications. With a focus on both healthcare and interactive marketing, I hope to gain a better understanding for effective health messaging--which I think plays a key role in a happy, healthy society. Please leave your comments or write to me: camorous@gmail.com.

Personal vs. Professional Brand Marketing

The potential ROI for internet marketing is astounding. For little to no cost, a company or individual can successfully market themselves on a global level through hundreds of web apps, social media channels, email marketing campaigns, and blogs (to name a few). This is an exceptional development and one that certainly levels the playing field between large companies and small businesses/nonprofits. The power to increase visibility and the reach of their message or brand is exponential.

The laws of both Moore and Metcalfe attribute to this. Moore's Law states that every 18 months processing power doubles, while cost remains the same. Metcalfe proposes that the value of a network grows by the value of N squared, when N = nodes (devices or users connected to the network). Cookies (more on these later) contribute greatly to the processing power of the internet, as networks like Facebook become wiser about the interests of individual users, enabling customized advertising and more direct marketing. At the same time, however, it is important to utilize internet marketing in a strategic manner. This is where the difference lies between personal and brand dialogue on the web.

Over time, I have come to realize that with the internet, sometimes "less is more." As a healthcare marketing professional, I always want to be aware of developments and understand how people are using sites -- but this doesn't mean that I jump on the band wagon and create an account for my company immediately. Sometimes, it is better to observe from a distance. Not all social sites are successful and it is important that you check out a site, before choosing to create an account. Affiliation = endorsement and in order to protect your brand, you have to implement a strategy for which sites you choose to use and scout things out in advance.

The difference between a personal account on Facebook, for example, and a brand page is substantial. Personal accounts are often used to share personal info (duh) about relationships, emotions, and daily life in a casual manner. Where this can be a very friendly, inviting approach to online interaction, it is not appropriate for a professional entity or healthcare organization. On a daily basis, I observe how my friends and family manage their personal accounts on Facebook, Twitter, or other social networking sites. Many people do not give much thought to how what they say on their page or sharing private information. They say what they want, to whomever they desire and they don't worry too much about the repercussions or how they appear to the outside world.

Professional brands cannot afford this luxury; they have a reputation to uphold and an obligation to their clients, investors, etc. The need for careful monitoring and clear strategy is especially true for healthcare organizations or hospitals, as they have a very high standard to adhere to and must follow protocol to protect patient confidentiality, in line with HIPAA. How can hospitals and healthcare orgs use social sites? I will discuss this soon in an upcoming post, but here's the short and sweet of it: healthcare orgs can use social media to share important health messages, improve visibility, market programs and services that they provide, and offer a place for dialogue. However, the web is NOT a place for medical diagnosis, clinical care or instruction. There may be some hospitals that employ secure chat rooms or LIVE interaction where patient health info is protected. Facebook is not one of these places -- yet.

Moral of the story: with the development of so many new technologies, it seems that the possibilities for interactive marketing are endless. A small company or program can gain a large national presence through the internet in a very short amount of time. Through Google and other search engines, brands can find out exactly what their clients want and put their product right in front of the target audience, satisfying both parties. However, without proper application these powerful tools can do more harm than good. It is important for a brand to set in place proper protocol for both internal and external internet marketing policy (including one specific to social media). The brand must consider what sites or apps it chooses to use and how these efforts will integrate into the overall marketing strategy.

This article is the part of a series of posts that I will make throughout my graduate studies in Marketing and Communications. With a focus on both healthcare and interactive marketing, I hope to gain a better understanding for effective health messaging--which I think plays a key role in a happy, healthy society. Please leave your comments or write to me: camorous@gmail.com.

Are we like the People of Panem?

For those of you with a PR day job, you must understand this sentiment: I come home from a long day at work and bask in the freedom to browse the internet for the fluffy stuff. I spend my 9-5 day staying up to date on hospital policy, clinical care, and research studies. In the evening, I ride the social wave. Interestingly, more often than not, my evening reads connect back directly to my day job. Several weeks ago, the hot topics on the internet were: the #HungerGames and #HealthCareReform.

Ever since then, I've been itching to dig into the on-going health care debate, especially after listening to a very compelling piece that NPR did several weeks ago on the second day of Obamacare hearings for the US Supreme Court. So for a moment, let's talk universal health care reform and then maybe we can get to the Hunger Games. 

I understand the reason for all of the hype. It's a big deal for the government to try to mandate something like health care, passing a law like this would set an impressive legal precedent. Even if one argues that the mandate would not infringe upon the constitutional rights of American citizens (which it could, the Supreme Court Justices have yet to determine this), it could also open the door to future legislation that crosses farther over this line. But here lies the problem: health care is essential to life and not everyone can afford it. Does everyone deserve it? I think most would agree that the answer is yes, but there are so many other factors at play here that add to the complexity of the issue.  The largest of which, I think, is freedom of choice. 

What's more interesting to me at the moment, is how the American public is reacting to the Supreme Court Hearings. So my thought is, let's take it to the people and see what they have to say via Twitter: 

@Vision365 @darbus69 it is your RIGHT to work and pursue thosethings you want, such as healthcare. I choose not to buy insurance.

Good point. RT “@BorowitzReport: Americans should not be forcedto spend money on healthcare that they could be spending onguns.”

RT @KateClinton: Shouldn't Supreme Court judges who havehealthcare recuse themselves from this case?

Dumb tweet of the day MT @Jimi_We If SCOTUS kills ACA allAmericans should refuse to provide healthcare for congressmenand SCOTUS.

Hands off my Healthcare! We need #Obamacare!

Why don't we apply successful principles of Internet (transparency, choice) to health care? http://bit.ly/GZ7GoR 

Healthcare going down? Back 2 millions being uninsured. RSupremes makg that the American way? Canucks think we're nuts! 


So single-payer healthcare not only would have been cheaper & more equitable, but it also would have been more legally resilient.

Read the above (just a small sampling of one night's discussion on Twitter). To sum it all up: people are uneasy about change. That's old news, but, is it just the element of change that poses a threat? No, people are concerned about putting their own health in jeopardy. For this reason, we have been teetering on the edge of health care reform. We want to take the plunge, but we are scared of the consequences.

The fight over health care reform is just like the Hunger Games. The government has nurtured a society that promotes the Games (universal health care) and encourages tributes to fight to the death (provokes citizens to a place where they feel trapped); without freedom of choice. Each tribute, just like each American citizen, wants the chance to choose life (or medical care), without having to take it from their friends and peers. Therein lies the problem: when the government takes away their choice, they feel forced to protect themselves and they become animals - caring only for their personal well-being. It's survival of the fittest. They no longer trust the men and women in power.

Americans are caught between a rock and a hard place. Altruism is a strong force within democracy and they want to provide medical care for everyone, but they do not trust #Obamacare. People are too afraid that, like the Hunger Games,  the system is rigged; that when they really do get very sick, they won't get the timely, high standard of care that they need and feel that they deserve. And it may be a matter of life or death. Acts of kindness and universal health care may risk the loss of their own quality care. Like so many things in life, it all boils down to self preservation, as the Tweets above show. People are suspicious. Just like in Panem, they do not trust the government to make these decisions; this can cause a great deal of unrest and unhappiness in the nation. 

In MA, we pay a high percentage of our annual salary to healthcare benefits, as the result of the Massachusetts Health Care Reform Law (2006), implemented by Mitt Romney during his time as governor. For many single workers, like myself, this translates to 1/3 of my monthly pay check - a high price to pay. I am rarely sick enough to need medical attention, so this number does feels unjust.

I understand the resentment towards #Obamacare. However, this is no excuse for neglecting those who need medical attention. So what do we do? What if Americans want both free choice and universal health care? Can we have our cake and eat it too, or is this one big Catch 22?

State of Media State of Mind

With a couple other blog posts in the works, I feel silly starting yet another one; however, I am struggling to get my ideas out on paper right now. So this will have to do.Writer's block? Maybe, but it's more that I am out of practice writing freely like this. I have been working in Communications, editing and perfecting messaging, for so long that I am finding it hard to put my raw ideas down on paper.

 

Last week, I finally finished reading the PEW Center for Research State of the New Media 2012 report. It's long and full of detail, looking at the media world from all different angles. Worth reading if you are interested in the topic and have a long bus ride ahead of you. It's not one of those reports that you can squeeze into the five minute time slot  that you have between morning meetings.So, what did I learn?

 

1. American consumers are relying more and more on technology for their news. Mobile apps, ipads, and laptops make news acquisition easy, mobile, and customizable. No longer do we have to stay chained to our desks to catch up on emails or the daily newscast on TV. Instead, we can decide what news is relevant to us and determine how often we want personal updates sent right to us. Now wherever we go, we are always informed.

 

2. TV has experienced an increase in viewers and revenue for 2012 - even though newspapers continue to decline. We have been hearing about the inevitable death of print journalism for the past decade. When I enterred college back in 2006, I remember wondering if I was exploring a dying industry. All fingers pointed towards the new digital world of news, thus condemning the old fashioned newspaper to an early grave. However, I am not sure that this will be the case. It is encouraging to see that broadcast journalism has found a way to harnass JO, perfect example being the New York Times.

 

The success of online newspapers will depend upon the effective monetization of the print news medium. This is a problem that print outlets have grappled with for some time. Although I have no perfect algorithm to offer up (I'll leave that to the computer programmers and mathematicians of the world), I do notice some of the more effective methods that the NYT has applied as it goes digital. I will only mention a few: slow transition to paying for online news, free articles per month to encourage subscriptions, offering a diversity of mobile app options to fit consumer's needs, and increasing newspaper SEO to better utilize their online platform. All of these things can lead to a smoother transition and integration to the digital world.

 

The young professionals from my generation are not against print news. I believe that quality content still reigns over sensationalist jargon. It's all about how you present the news; the more accessible you can make the interface, the better it is for readers/viewers. No one minds a makeover (one could argue our society is obsessed with them).

 

3. News remains very important to Americans; in order to stay informed, they are using mobile technology to access articles and stay informed 24-7. I check the NYT.com website at least three times a day (as often as I brush my teeth). I suppose that news checking would be a habbit for any PR/Communications professional, but my actions also stem from an innate desire to know what is going on in the world. If I was tweeting right now, I might link this directly to the #AmericanDream. We live in a society where we are free to ask questions and we have the right to know the truth about healthcare discoveries, our ruling government, and world events. This innate desire to self-educate will be the milk that keeps the news industry alive. Of course, trust factors into this equation as well (trust between the American public and the media), but I won't go into that now. My point is: as long as we are curious and demand news coverage, the media will have a role to play in our society.

 

4. Technology and News industries will have to either team up, or battle it out. The teaming up part does worry me - large conglomerates and all that jazz. This was another topic that I studied during my time at BU. As it happens, I have the perfect example of this from today's CNN Money headline news: "Facebook Acquires Instagram for $1 Billion." Twitter, Foursquare, Pinterest, MySpace, the Google+, and Facebook are some of the top 15 social media websites that are leading the online media industry at present. In many ways, these power houses have a huge influence on the future landscape of the media world. Without these online forums, newspapers' reach would be much smaller and the speed of global sharing would be impossible. Social media plays a key role in driving traffic to sites, after that it's up tothe site and the content as to how long the user's interest is held. For this reason, many predict that - not unlike big media buying small media- social media sites like Facebook will continue to buy out smaller successes, in order to consolidate power. It may be a stretch to say that these companies will go as far as buying out big media like the BBC and CNN, but this remains to be seen. Already, social media is teaming up with news orgs to host shows and newscasts.

 

Although I call myself a social media nerd, it is a bit scary to realize that someday my raw news could come from the same place that people post about their daily activities (i.e. GTL BRB)-  a place like Facebook or MySpace.