Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Twitter... A better medium for marketing?

With New Twitter, I feel that more people will start using twitter at Twitter.com.



New Twitter has a split-screen and view pane that lets users share video and photos from at least 16 different media providers like Flickr, YouTube, and TwitPic. This new enhancement probably made Twitter on par at least with Facebook where embedded links with videos and photos can be seen.

I feel however, many people follow a lot more people and brands than their friends. Compared to Facebook, I follow a lot more people on Twitter and I have a lot more followers. Twitter allows me to network, and network FAST! Although Facebook pages may be like twitter, I usually go to Facebook just to read updates and interact with friends, and when I'm on twitter, I sometimes search hashtags and other interesting keywords. I also follow a lot of people, and if I read interesting things, I RT.

Recently, in an article on Yahoo by PCWorld, "Twitter Crushes Facebook For Marketing" According to a study by SocialTwist, Twitter seemed to be a far superior marketing tool compared to Facebook.

There are a few interesting points made by the article and I would like to add that for successful Facebook pages, the threaded conversations started by fans are simply priceless, and a great way to collect CRM data.

-- Robin Low

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

LinkedIn vs Facebook / Twitter for Events management


Recently, I've done a survey on my 500+ connections in LinkedIn on "Is LinkedIn a better platform to promote Industry Events?"

Thanks to my network and their replies, I have some good feedback. (The answer was basically -- YES, but...)

1) LinkedIn will allow you to target your audience and industry. There is a higher chance of response when you ask questions or promote your events in LinkedIn groups.

2) Most users on LinkedIn do not check it daily. Do not expect a lot of discussions from a lot of people. Some LinkedIn users login once a week, and check their groups maybe once a month. Facebook however has a lot of traffic, and a lot of people check it daily.

3) LinkedIn allows you to looks at the credential of your audience. When someone asks a question, you get to see his job description. You can also tailor your response depending on your audience.

4) A Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn Hybrid is great. Facebook and Twitter is used to drive traffic to the LinkedIn Group Discussion by posting interesting articles or questions to entice people in the relevant Facebook groups to participate.

As LinkedIn is not used daily, event promotion must be done early, and even after the event, Facebook can be used to upload photos of the events, to keep groups active and engaged till your next event.

Thanks for your great responses.

-- Robin Low

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Cebu Pacific Dance pays off, video gone viral

Cebu Pacific Air has plans to have more airlines featuring the dancing flight attendants.

Their Youtube Video has about 8 million viewers and growing.


The video shows the flight attendants dancing in the A-320 cabin while demonstrating the use of life jackets, oxygen masks and safety belts.

Cebu Pacific has explained that the flight attendants were not forced to dance. They actually “volunteered” and “enjoyed” the dance performance. They also clarified that the formal safety instructions required by Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) was not replaced by the dance routine.

The CAAP believes that the stunt was a promotional and marketing gimmick that has violated international safety standards. It has since initiated an investigation. CAAP already talked to Cebu Pacific officials about their plans of deploying inspectors to watch the dancing flight attendants live.

Still more Cebu Pacific flights will have dancing flight attendants.

If they watched the video
Does it create awareness? -- YES
Do people want to fly Cebu Pacific if it is comparable to other flights? -- YES

I would say that their gamble was indeed a success!

Good job Cebu Pacific!

-- Robin Low