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Wednesday night, approximately 150 attendees were on hand at the monthly meeting of AiMA (Atlanta interactive Marketing Association). The topic was Search Marketing: Finding the Value Beyond the Online Click to Conversion. According to AiMA’s current vice president and president-elect Joe Koufman, AiMA is one of the most active marketing associations of its kind in the country.

The event was listed in this week’s Bernaise Source Buzz — my ongoing calendar of keys events in Atlanta (with a nod to the South and national conferences) to build awareness and adoption of social media. I felt there was a need for a centralized site to track social media events around the city.

Moderated by John Cattarulla, Director, Strategic Accounts, Yahoo, the panel included:

Ron Belanger - VP of Agency Development, Yahoo!
Roku Coryne - East Coast Manager, Search & Analytics, Google
Jason Fisher - Group Director, 360i

During the 90-minute discussion, I was struck most by what Ron Belanger had to say. He confirmed what PR professionals are now realizing: the boundaries between marketing, PR and advertising are collapsing. Social media is clearly an opportunity for PR to play a broader role in marketing decisions.

A recent SEMPO survey indicated that direct sales and branding are the top objectives of paid placement programs. There is value even if users don’t click through and buy. Sounds like PR to me.

Belanger also reminded the audience of the importance of search in the post purchase experience. Customers often go to the Web when they have questions or problems with a purchase. Those searches are great opportunities to strengthen the brand experience and deflect expensive calls away from support centers.

With hundreds of consumers participating in the campaign, Belanger stressed how the ad campaign and search effort highlighted the importance of engagement.

As important as brand building is, measurement is never too far away from any marketer’s heart, and conversion is still very important.

With heaps of praise for Avinash Kaushik, Roku Koryne talked about some of the fine points of web analysis including “Bounce Rate.” That’s the percentage of traffic that enters and leaves on same page. It’s a powerful metric and directly tied to conversion. Obviously a high bounce rate means the site generated very little interest. It’s an indication of how much scent (“consumers are like bloodhounds looking for their prey”) or stickiness. The higher the bounce rate, the greater the likelihood that consumers are using the wrong key words.

Koryne cited two numbers of note: 4 and 25. Four is the average number of key words in a phrase that consumers use when search and 25 represents the percentage of new terms that appear on Google Search each day.

She also talked about “conversion funnels” as a way to examine how, when, and why consumers leave a site. What caused them to abandon a site is as important as what caused them to stay.

In addition, she showed how data can drive marketing decisions rather than preconceived notions or HIPPO (the highest paid person’s opinion). She cited how Skype designed three landing pages to test customer response. They chose the page with the highest conversion rate.

Finally as many of us know, measurement is fragmented across the brand and the company – with different stakeholders focusing on different metrics and priorities. Koryne stressed the importance of seeing the big picture and how offline marketing can have a big online impact.

Technorati Tags: AiMA; Search Marketing; Atlanta; Hellman’s Real Mayonnaise; Ron Belanger; Roku Koryne; New South Media Buzz; Bernaise Source Buzz;

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Antone Street, Atlanta

This unassuming street in midtown Atlanta houses the productions studios of some of the biggest names in the music industry, including OutKast’s Stankonia Studios, Music Mogul Group and Zac Recording. And nearby are the offices and studio of Dallas Austin.

Co-founders Clarkson Logan and Greg Shrader with Aaron Rosen

Two of the co-founders CEO Clarkson Logan and COO Greg Shrader met in business school at the University of Georgia. The other co-founder, Daniel Escobar is also from the South — Colombia, South America.

From Thomas Edison to Napster, technology has long played a major role in the way music is distributed. Social media is the next step, shifting the balance of power along with it.

Perhaps that’s why (as fellow blogger James Andrews pointed out to me) Atlanta’s Jermaine Dupri recently declared the DJ is dead.

Whether he is overstating his case is open to debate, but users are exerting their influence by bypassing traditional distribution channels. They are also using social media to create content and, through playlists, influence how music is packaged, promoted and sold. Conversely, artists can create customized playlists (add audio clips, songs from other artists that influenced, etc) that strengthens ties to their fans. Creativity is to be found in both the songs themselves and in the playlists that contain them.

As Aaron Rosen who heads Maestro’s business development and social media product development wrote me:

Playlists become a new form of promotional tool, yet can wield as much power as any other. Paralleling the industry as a whole is the fact that with the outbreak of digital music comes new business models, and new figures and tools within these markets. The average music fan now has the capacity to become the DJ of old.

Looking for other examples of social media’s influence? Consider:

Or look at Soulja Boy who rivaled more established musicians by using YouTube to distribute Crank Dat or Colbie Caillat who achieved fame through MySpace.

Curtis James Jackson III aka 50 Cent aka Fiddy declared “What is important for the music industry to understand is that this [file sharing] really doesn`t hurt the artists!”

It’s not surprising that Logan and Shrader would make Atlanta home. University of Georgia is in nearby Athens, another music mecca and the home to REM and B-52s – bands I “grooved” to in my pre-Web college days.

Yet with all this musical heritage, you’d think Atlanta would be a natural place to wed Web 2.0 and music. Not yet, according to Maestro’s founders. From the investment community, web 2.0 is still a hard sell, and user adoption still lags behind San Francisco.

Clarkson often gets the “same feedback.” Investors grapple with the model and want to see “massive growth or revenue first.”

They too thought of moving to the Valley, where the technology community gets this marriage of music and technology, but as Clarkson said they want to “put a stake in the ground.” They firmly believe Atlanta’s music community is the ideal place to launch a music distribution company. And they see social media as they way to get there.

Maestro faces the same hurdles that any startup faces – attracting capital, establishing connections and educating investors and customers about the market. But Maestro feels they have technology on their side.

Let me get back to you.

Technorati Tags: Atlanta Music; Maestro; imeem; last.fm; iLike; Soulja Boy; Stankonia Studios; Music Mogul Group; Zac Recording; Dallas Austin; Colbie Cailat; New South Media Buzz; Bernaise Source Buzz;

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Last night I attended a Firefox 3 Launch Party here in Atlanta at the Park Tavern off Piedmont Park. Firefox is hoping to set a new mark in the Guiness Book of World Records for the most downloads in 24 hours.

Outside in the park, it was another spectacularly lit early evening. Inside the darkly lit tavern about 25-30 tech geeks (I use the phrase in the highest of praise) and several Macs were on hand to celebrate and download. The evening was co-sponsored by Atlanta based companies StomperNet and Appcelerator.

StomperNet’s Andrew Edmonds is a big believer in Firefox’s open source philosophy. He organized a Firefox 1.0 launch party in Boston a few years back. In true open source spirit, StomperNet is using this day to launch a free Firefox plug-in for SEO.

While I am sure there are much larger parties taking place across the country, it is heartening to see members of Atlanta’s computer community getting behind a global Internet event.

Launch Party attendees

StomperNet’s Andrew Edmonds

ATDC’s Lance Weatherby

Jessica Chris, Jon Gosier and Jeff Haynie

Let me get back to you.

Technorati Tags: Firefox 3.0; StomperNet; Jeff Haynie; Lance Weatherby; Andrew Edmonds; New South Media Buzz; Bernaise Source Buzz;

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WorthPoint CEO Will Seippel (left) and members of WorthPoint team

As a self-proclaimed “old guy” who prefers Atlanta to Silicon Valley and a father of 5, including quadruplets (age 11), Will Seippel is not your typical social media CEO.

With around $5 million in the bank from his own pocket and from friends, WorthPoint is not your typical startup.

Worthpoint is an online database and networking site for collectors. Think PBS Antiques Roadshow Meets Wikipedia, Wisdom of Crowds and Long Tail. (There is value all the way down the supply chain because what is somebody’s garbage is another’s treasure.)

In fact, Seippel doesn’t see WorthPoint as “the premier Website for collectibles and antiques.” Instead, Worthpoint is a “data company,” and social media is a way to monetize and manage information.

To Seippel with a 25-year track record of successfully turning around more traditional companies (he came in and helped AirGate PCS boost its stock price from $0.64 to $36), the world of collectibles represents a “data conundrum.” He is working to create more efficiency in the marketplace so that a buyer can find a desired object more directly. He is building a giant taxonomy to organize the vast amount of stuff that humans have created and stored over time.

WorthPoint’s motto: “We are here to help people make money.” It’s particularly ironic that in an age of bits over atoms and the “everything will be free” model that physical objects are commanding record prices.

There are stories like the one where WorthPoint helped a woman sell a painting she found in the trash for $103,000 at a Sotheby’s auction. But Seippel also understands how a lack of knowledge can cost someone dearly.

Seippel tells the heartbreaking story of a woman he knew who regularly struggled to make ends meet. After her mother died, she rented a giant dumpster to cart away the bulk of her mother’s belongings and sadly the means to help her live comfortably for the rest of her life. Among the objects thrown away were highly valuable copies of Ebony Magazine with Martin Luther King on the cover.

Unassuming and grounded, Seippel married his high school sweetheart. He admits he is avid collector, an interest that began in college. He sees WorthPoint as a huge opportunity to attract dissatisfied users who want an alternative to EBay and to auction house giant Sotheby’s that according to Will has no plans to leverage the Web to drive growth.

WorthPoint is a global community where registered members can post questions about their collectibles and antiques. According to Seippel, many can pay as much as $500 to $700 for this information on other sites.

It is also a paid service where registered members can get unbiased expert opinion from individuals known as “Worthologists” (ages 11 to 80 plus) that have passed background checks and yearly conflict of interest assessments. It’s a site where there are plans for individuals to earn “WorthPoints” (based on how much people like their answers) and suggest changes to the WorthPoint’s taxonomy on a “semi-wiki.”

Let me get back to you.

Technorati Tags: WorthPoint; Will Seippel; Long Tail; Collectibles; Antiques; ATDC; Sotheby’s; Advanced Technology Development Center; New South Media Buzz; Bernaise Source Buzz;

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Tony the Tiger, Ronald McDonald, the Jolly Green Giant – all are part the pantheon of famous characters that have helped companies personalize their brands over the years.

And then there is Jim Long founder of Verge New Media and a television cameraman for NBC News who tweets regularly about life on the frontline covering breaking news.

So popular are his tweets that Connie Reece commented on his blog that his use of Twitter motivated her to start watching Meet the Press – a welcomed response for the network news executives who continue to experience declining viewership.

And finally there is the example of Comcast and Frank Eliason from Comcast Customer Outreach who uses it as a touch point to assist customers.

Traditional advertisers could learn a thing or two from Tony Hsieh, Jim Long and Frank Eliason.

It occurred to me that what is good for CEOs, cameramen and service reps could also be true for company mascots or spokescharacters. If Twitter can take companies to the next level of customer interaction, maybe it can inspire brand managers to make their characters and products more engaging.

Maybe it’s time for these advertising icons to enter the social media age and start microblogging.

Now I was reminded that character or fake (depending upon your perspective) blogs have been the subject of much controversy. But maybe it’s time to revisit the topic in light of the customers-as-friends phenomenon made popular through social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook.

In addition, there was a story in the New York Times this week on how companies are updating their characters to appeal to today’s Internet savvy generation.

Imagine getting regular Twitter updates from:

Let me get back to you.

Technorati Tags: Twitter; Character Blogs; Zappos; Tony Hsieh; Jim Long; Frank Eliason; Tony the Tiger; Social Media;

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As PR and marketing professionals, our jobs involve assessing risk. Risk is the possibility of loss, damage, or any other undesirable event.

And what’s more risky these days than social media. Decentralization, transparency and conversations are departures from the safe and the familiar. Poor execution can weaken the brand and damage corporate reputation. How often have you heard executives say, “I don’t want to give customers a platform to say negative things about us?”

Many companies are still opting to take a pass, postpone plans or continue to “consider their options.”

Now as a former corporate communications vice president, I appreciate the need to minimize risk. I understand that decisions are often reached by consensus (or depending on your perspective, committee). Bold action can be reckless or impolitic.

But as I move ahead with plans to launch a consultancy and in talking with potential clients, I have reached the following conclusion – When risk becomes necessity, it is no longer a choice.

You must act. The fear associated with risk is diminished. In its place is a clear line of attack.

Consider the following. You are in the second floor of burning building. Jumping out a window would normally be risky. But now staying in the building is more risky. So you jump.

This is not just a game of semantics. As we all know, there are real business consequences at stake with the decision to take a risk.

Reaching A Social Media Tipping Point

Social media may involve unacceptable levels of risk, but at a certain point, the opposite will be true. Not acting will mean real loss (of customers) and damage (to your reputation).

It would be interesting if we could create a way to graph the social media tipping point – the point where no action is worse than action. That tipping point would vary from company to company and industry to industry, but it would include the following matrices:

• Reactions by existing and potential employees – employees appear less engaged and attracting new younger employees becomes more difficult

As advocates of social media, how can we minimize risk? We can’t change market dynamics, and we can’t implement business strategy unilaterally. But we can monitor actions by competitors, online conversations by customers, and reactions by employees. We can build internal consensus by educating executives and rank and file on the benefits of social media. We can form partnerships with the marketing and product development teams to help build in social media components. And we can help determine ROI for department heads who are looking to cut costs and increase revenue.

Let me get back to you.

Technorati Tags: Risk; social media;

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On Monday, I wrote about a company that left Atlanta for the allure of Silicon Valley. Today I look at a social media company that decided to stay.

JYGY is the brand name of Streamverse’s flagship product. Its a play on jiggy - meaning fun / cool. (“Think Will Smith’s hit ‘Getting Jiggy With It.’”) It allows mobile subscribers to develop and distribute content they have created via their mobile units and other digitally connected peripheral devices.

Ironically, it took a trip to San Francisco for me to meet this Atlanta transplant. At the Web 2.0 Expo in April, I bumped into Vinding on the Expo floor when asking him where he found the ice cream bar he was eating. I never did get the ice cream, but I did learn that his goal was to be “the number one way to add cool mobile content to whatever social network you are in.”

Streamverse believes that one primary influence driving the rise in revenues will be user generated content. UGC gives the end-user the ability to develop as well as distribute content that they have created via their mobile phones and other digitally connected peripheral devices.

David Harnett, vice president of technology industry expansion at the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce told me that Atlanta has more cellular users than any large city in the country. That makes sense given that Atlanta is home to ATT Wireless, and Alltel and T-Mobile have a significant presence here as well. Atlanta also leads the nation in attracting highly educated 25-34 year olds – a prime demographic for mobile carriers.

Technorati Tags: Streamverse; Mikael Vinding; JYGY; Startups; Mobile Social Media; New South Media Buzz; Bernaise Source Buzz;

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Where do you get your news and information about local tech companies? Conversely, if you are a company, how do you get the word out about your company to the local community? Local newspapers, websites, blogs, local networking events? Or do you rely on Internet sources like CNET, Techcrunch, Mashable?

In San Francisco, finding local tech news is less of a problem. Local papers like the San Francisco Chronicle and San Jose Mercury News make technology news a priority. They have to; technology drives the economic engine out there.

But in many cities that is not the case. Often times, local tech news is ignored unless you are a dominant employer. There is not the space or resources to cover the tech industry in depth. In Atlanta, for example, the name of the game is real estate. Facing increased economic pressures, papers like the Atlanta Business Chronicle must play to their strength. They have not replaced their local tech reporter as Scott Burkett recently lamented.

That is why I am intrigued by what I learned yesterday while attending the monthly Technology Association of Georgia Enterprise 2.0 meeting here in Atlanta. In a discussion about wikis and collaborative tools, I learned about a local initiative called TechPedia Atlanta.

Let me get back to you.

Technorati Tags: Technology Association of Georgia; TAG; Techpedia Atlanta; John Yates; Justin Rubner; Enterprise 2.0;

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This is a tale of two companies — one that decided to stay and one that got away.

Their stories are unique. And like the issues I discussed in my profile on Paul Stamatiou, their success points to the opportunities and challenges of being a technology company in Atlanta.

For weeks I tried to track down the names of the founders of Esgut, an Atlanta based company responsible for some of the most popular applications on Facebook. It was part of my quest to chronicle social media success stories here in Atlanta. Their web site said little, and Google searches yielded no clues.

And then in April I got a tip from a local entrepreneur. Esgut had been bought by northern California based Social Gaming Network. A quick search on Google led to an Inside Facebook entry, and there I had it — a name of its co-founder, Suleman Ali, Suli for short, a 26 year old graduate of Georgia Tech.

He teamed up with Jamal Ashraf, moved back to Atlanta, and together they formed Esgut. (That’s German for it’s “all good.” Apparently, Jamal took German in college.) Of course, as Suli confided, he now had two difficult names to pronounce – his company’s and his own.

Superlatives was their first success – a Facebook application that let’s “you tell friends what you think of them” as in who is most likely to…

With the success of Superlatives, they created other applications including Text Twirl and Entourage, which enabled Facebook users to create a collage of their friends on their profile. The more friends, the cooler it looked which is what viral is all about.

After initial success, however, they noticed some trends that made them reconsider their next move.

From Suli’s perspective, the Silicon Valley investment community he spoke with was more aggressive and on board with Facebook fever than the folks he met in Atlanta. They definitely could have raised money. And given their market position, he felt there was opportunity to take the business to the next level.

However, as Suli wrote me, he realized that there were several inherent risks in getting there–the Facebook platform was changing. As Facebook “dialed down virality on channels,” Fortune 500 and VC backed companies were entering the space and driving up development times and costs, and Esgut’s success on Facebook would not necessarily translate into success on Myspace, Hi-5, and other social networks.

And so Suli is now in Silicon Valley where he had intended to be all along with the greater opportunities he thinks it presents for him. His goal is to start another company. It appears to be in his DNA.

His advice for would be entrepreneurs:

• Hire really smart people

• Pick opportunities based on your assessments of the upper limits within a marketplace dynamic

• Live in Silicon Valley
  

From his perspective, Silicon Valley is more conducive to partnership building and multiple investments. The investment community has deeper contacts to promote relationships. From an educational perspective, Suli felt Georgia Tech encourages students to join large companies. Stanford on the other hand encourages students to be more entrepreneurial and join startups.

While we lost a promising entrepreneur, his experience is encouraging for fellow Georgia Tech grads. It demonstrates that in the age of social media, it does not really matter where you start your company. Talent, drive and vision know no boundaries. What is far more challenging is how to keep that talent, drive and vision here.

Later this week, I will look at a company that stayed.

Let me get back to you.

Technorati Tags: Suleman Ali; Facebook; Jamal Ashraf; Georgia Tech; Esgut; Social Gaming Network; Text Twirl; Entourage; New South Media Buzz; Bernaise Source Buzz;

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