MDE18: Interview with Joakim Nilsson, head of Social Media at Betclic

Joakim Nilsson has been in charge of social media at Betclic Everest Group for over a year and a half.  Previously, he had been with Expekt.com in Malta and has 6 years experience in the online gaming industry.  I met Joakim doing a panel on Social Media Club Internet TV about social media trends (see the show here), along with Frederic Bascanuna, Pamela Poole and Fabrice Epelboin.  In this podcast interview, we discussed the implementation of a social media dashboard, as well as a couple of interesting operational case studies at Betclic  Everest, including how to create an ambassador fan page on Facebook and some outbound customer service activities.

2012 forecast for social media

We finished with a review of Joakim’s forecast for social media in 2012.  Here’s the précis from Joakim (and a greater write-up on his blog):

1. companies will no longer organize for, but around social media
2. organizations will recognize the value of customer influence
3. 2012 will be the breakout year of Google +

http://www.buzzsprout.com/2877/38260-mde18-joakim-nilsson-head-of-social-media-at-betclic-everest

Sites mentioned by Joakim:

• Jeremiah Onyong Web Strategist
• Out of Malta, Alex Grech at StrategyWorks.net
• SethGodin

To find Joakim Nilsson:

• Joakim Nilsson’s Blog: Social Business and Web Strategy
• Follow Joakim on Twitter
• Email joakim.nilsson at hotmail.com

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Further resources for the Minter Dialogue Radio Show:

Meanwhile, you can find my other English-speaking interviews on the Minter Dialogue Radio Show on Buzzsprout or via itunes.  And for the francophones reading this, if you want to get more podcasts, you can also find my radio show en français over at : MinterDial.fr, on Buzzsprout or in iTunes.

The power of digital organization

In this, the last of the 5 posts on the best productivity tools, the focus here is on the power of lists, groups and filters.  Call it your Digital Network Organization (D.N.O.).  Best in class management skills inevitably require being tremendously organized.  In the digital sphere, the skills must be reapplied and reconfigured.  The media and the tools have amplified and evolved.  The notion of organizing one’s digital media takes understanding the beauty of random access memory (RAM), folder hierarchies and diverse distribution options.   At the same time, it is vital to consider carefully one’s network, to know who is who, why, where and how you contact them.  I would classify this as a requisite part of an executive’s ongoing digital education.

Regrouping your digital network

The new social network Google+ provides a superlative feature allowing you to classify your network into circles (and then Facebook quickly reacted to improve their list function, too).  These types of lists enable you to manage better your privacy as well as how you interface with your network.  Similarly, in Twitter, one of the keys to a good Twittexperience is to create lists of the people you follow.  The key to categorizing and organizing your network is to reflect on the shared interests (whether personal or professional), shared origin or location and shared language(s).  Please don’t hesitate to share other good types of categories you use!

Whatever your platform, you must take the time to arrange your D.N.O.  As I like to say, saving time, takes time. All these groups, lists and filters take on a new meaning when well worked into an email platform.  Most modern systems provide some ability to organize your contacts.  As with most of these tools (including outlook, word, powerpoint), we only ever scratch the surface in using the available functionality.  And it’s true that, as soon as we have learned our way around, out comes a new version requiring us to get reacquainted with where is each button…  That said, I would like to suggest with conviction that there is one service that truly has the best user interface and most robust functionality to make your email experience as hygienic and effective as possible…

The uber organizing email system: GMAIL from Google

Whatever your system, you will be able to do some form of organizing.  Whether it is via flags, tags or filters, most services have some.  Having used Outlook for over ten years, and been longtime user of Hotmail, AOL, Mac Mail etc, the one that stands out is GMAIL.  Here are the top four reasons why I prefer GMAIL.

1. Priority Inbox. There are several ways to parameter your incoming mails, so that the key emails don’t get lost in the shuffle.  In the priority box, you need to key in the most important senders.  In addition, there is “Starred,” which I use to identify emails as needing a follow-up action.
2. Groups. The Groups function is related to the Google contacts which works, of course, seamlessly with gmail.  The key point is to take the time to put your contacts into groups (sorted by interests, connection, language, etc…), which allows you to send out mailings to a specific audience with targeted content.  Groups is one way to make sure that you avoid spray & pray mass emails.
3. Labels. Labels are gmail speak for folders.  The labels allow for rapid filing and organizing.  When combined with the robust filtering system, you can have mails directly filed into folders (using the appropriate label), circumnavigating your inbox and avoiding unnecessary clutter.
4. Rapportive.  Rapportive is a free add-on for gmail on Firefox & Chrome (Mac/PC) that effectively brings a social CRM environment down to the individual user.  It links to all the available social data on your email recipient, allowing you to connect and view his/her most recent social interactions.  It’s an absolutely fabulous tool.

As I wrote before, most email services provide a host of functionalities that remain unexploited by the masses.  It takes a little getting used to, possibly hanging out with a gmail nut (like me), and you can get the hang of it very quickly.  (BTW I have to thank Yael for my conversion)

Finally, here is a wrap up of the other 4 of five greatest productivity tools.

1. Dropbox – for sharing your files across multiple users and platforms
2. Evernote – for storing and synchonizing your media & notes
3. Doodle – for setting up meetings
4. Greplin — to search digital media across multiple platforms

Do let me know which is your favorite, or another one you would rather add!

Where’s that file?

As so much of what we do dematerializes into some form of digital matter, the way we organize our digital assets will be as important as the old filing systems we used to hang physical papers in our cabinets.  That said, thanks to random access, the mechanisms are a bit different.  Tagging, naming devices and folders are essential parts of the new digital media filing systems.  Google’s search engine on the www is a thing of magic considering the data it must sort out. The Google desktop search function is powerful on the local level in that it mixes web, mail and desktop in its results; however, it is not particularly Mac friendly (it hasn’t been updated to work on new Mac’s).  In addition, Google Desktop search doesn’t allow you to penetrate into the walled gardens of certain social media sites.  In terms of a pure desktop search, the Apple spotlight remains in a class of its own compared to the impoverished search in the PC environment.

The best solution:  Greplin

The tool that has caught my fancy, that allows you to search across platforms is GREPLIN.  It enables you search with great speed across your computer desktop (PC or Mac), mail, web, calendar and social media applications.  It even has a mobile app to do the same multi-platform search on your smartphone.

As you can see in the screen capture above, Greplin has a sleek interface.  Under the search bar, it lists my upcoming schedule from Google Calendar.  On the left hand are the applications and social media to which I have given Greplin access, including Linkedin, gmail, Dropbox and, last but not least, Facebook.  In the paying version of Greplin, you can connect into an ever larger array of sites, notably Evernote.  Below you can see the options.  The blue sash is for the premium version.  The red sash is “unlockable,” which means that you can get access if you invite someone and they accept.  If anyone reading this wishes to do me a favor, please do click here and accept my invitation!  (Please let me know if you do it and I can follow up and send out thanks!).

The premium version of Greplin is $4.99/month or $49.99 for the year.  This is quite a clever pricing policy.  If you live off of Salesforce or Evernote, I’m thinking that could be a good investment.

If you have not been following this theme on productivity tools, here are the three first productivity tools:

1. Dropbox – for sharing your files across multiple users and platforms
2. Evernote – for storing and synchonizing your media & notes
3. Doodle – for setting up meetings

Do you have any other great productivity tools you would like to let me know about?  What do you think of Greplin?

Which social network to choose?

Social Networking

Everyday these days there is the birth of a new social network — not forgetting the birth of the new and powerful addition of Google+, launched a month ago and which now has 20 million users.  It seems that entrepreneurs around the world, in different languages and sectors, are splicing and dicing to find ways to garner a monetizable social media network. Some initiatives provide new functionalities (e.g. better UI on mobile), others create a vertical segment (e.g. dogster for dog lovers), others yet are just copycats hoping to pick up some of the slack (for example, via a local adaptation).

For marketers, as they approach their digital marketing strategy, the challenge looks like this:

• Go for the big ones, but face the task of having to cut through the noise and inevitably pay higher fees (in line with the volume and growth of those networks)

OR

• Bet on a new social media network where there is not (yet) the critical mass

For the big brands that have more money to burn – and who are typically coming to the game late – the logical answer is to join the “majors”… Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Angry Bird networks.  To cut through the clutter and gain attention (and fans), the all-too-easy answer is to pay for Google and Facebook Ads.  But, as the noise climbs, so too shall the cost of doing business on those networks.  Moreover, the effectiveness of “paid traffic” will likely decline as social and “sticky” content will increasingly have primacy.

The new marketer profile

It takes another type of profile – and style of marketing – to target the smaller, up & comers.  Companies need to identify, hire and groom employees who are plugged in, know what is up and coming, willing to take gambles, and to learn the new ropes.  For this, there is no other recipe than being “out there.”

The “easy” route is hitting the big networks.  This avenue basically takes more material resources.  The secondary route is messier, less robust; but, if the alignment is right (ie the objectives are set correctly and the editorial line is well crafted), it can pay off.

Being social is key to winning the social media game

The first week of “beta” testing of the new Google+ social network is nearly finished and the debate is raging as to whether Google+ will succeed. On the heels of a few interesting conversations and reading up on some posts, I can see that there is a generally positive welcome for the Google+ platform itself. Clearly, there are some improvements to be made which, with good listening skills, Google will figure out, I have no doubt.

Naysayers abound

The naysayers talk mostly about the fact that Google is too late to the game.   The key will be whether or not Google manages to gain the necessary critical mass.  There are also those that point to the prior flops of Google Buzz and Wave. Below, however, is the most damning proof that I have found to say that Google does not have the social fibre that it takes.  If a picture says a thousand words, I think this captures it all–especially when there are 1000′s of friends concerned!

A social snapshot that says so much

In this screen shot taken from SocialStatistics this morning (10a.m. Paris time), you can find the top people on Google’s new Google+ social media network.  There are several stunning thoughts behind this.

• Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of your biggest competitor (Facebook) is number 1 in terms of number of followers.  Talk about walking the talk and operating in real time.*
• Current CEO (and co-founder) Larry Page is #2, some 30% behind in number of followers.
• Coming at #4 in the all-time list is Vic Gundotra, a Google engineer.
• The icing on the cake: all three Googlers have not allowed themselves to friend someone else.  ZERO friends.

Yikes.  Talk about setting a social example.  Where is the Google community manager?

*How cute: MZ has 69 friends.  Another social message?

Another G+ Social Network?

By now you have probably heard about Google’s competitive offer to Facebook: Google+ (you can visit my profile here).  So, you would be excused for thinking that the latest launch of the G+ Social Network also belongs to Google.  Literally, a day before the launch of the Google+ social media network, I received an invitation to join another “community” entitled G+, by Gerson Lehrman (GLG Group based out of NYC, providing vetted human insights and research for companies).  Coincidence?  Bad timing?  It’s all a bit confusing.  The Gerson G+ is more like a business-oriented Quora: questions and answers around business issues.  I have signed up because I am a part of the GLG network.  Its results will appear in Google, so it is “open” to others outside of the network.  Here is the screen capture of the mail I received once had signed up.

G+ from GLG Group

Suggestions for GLG

I’m sure that GLG management are scratching their heads about this.  They will definitely not be able to win the keyword battle!  What could the Community Manager do to make the most of this “coincidence?”  Unless Google clamps down on them for some form of copyright infringement (GLG’s G+ URL is Gplus.com!), here is what I suggest Courtney might want to do:

1. Act in real time and comment about the coincidence to its founding members (so far no news).
2. Integrate Google Plus into G+ immediately to show reactivity.
3. Find ways for the GLG members to create and share specific Google Circles.

Meanwhile, if the Q&A platform on G+ is to work for GLG, it will be important for people to start providing valuable answers to the questions posed.  With Google+ and all these new social network platforms, the challenge will be getting embedded into our daily existence.  Google certainly has a gaping opportunity with Google+ assuming it can find ways to filter out the noise.  G+ on the other hand will need to crystallize its community and show that its answer board is more powerful than via Google search (or Quora for that matter).

GLG: over to you!

Google Plus is a Plus, no doubt

Google+ A real Plus

Google has arrived with a splash on the social media scene — which is what Google Plus or Google+ is.  After the failed attempts with Google Buzz and Google Wave, I believe that Google+ is the real deal.  Having launched +1, an equivalent to the Facebook LIKE button, it is clear that Google has now dropped the gloves with Facebook. And, after a mere 48 hours of existence, I am going to say that Google+ is the real McCoy.  Google will have to work through the kinks, but, bottom line, the functionality looks and feels better than on Facebook in many instances.  With the “invitation only” approach, Google is helping to create a little of its own buzz.  People (like myself) have been chomping at the bit to give it a try.  It’s called Shortage Marketing.

Google Plus has a whole number of spaces to play with including Circles, Huddles, Hangouts, Sparks and Instant Uploads. I won’t cover each of them here, but if you want to know more about a key component, Google Circles, I recommend checking out their video below or you can view a broader presentation on this little Google demo.

What makes this Google Plus initiative a real plus?

1. You start by defining your circles of friends: not all friends are equal and, compared to Facebook, which has made a real mess of sorting friends, Google Circles is a fabulous way to get started.  The truth about social networking is that is not just about who you know, but why and how well you know them.  Your network is a part of your e-reputation and, just as we all know we can’t have more than a handful of profound friends, we also need to communicate with our friends, family and acquaintances differently.  Being able to categorize “friends” is a KEY to making the social media network more effective. I am not sure this functionality is, as yet, enough to run circles around Facebook, but I like this part best.
2. Ipso facto, Google Plus will be a wake-up call for Facebook.  That’s healthy competition.  Since there are only a few players (Microsoft, Apple & Google) able to take on Facebook frontally, I hope this one sticks.  I love the fact that within nano seconds, someone came up with a mirror functionality of Circles for Facebook.  If you are not on Google+ yet, but are on Facebook, I highly recommend trying it out: Circle Hack.
3. Search Plus.  There is a recommendation engine to facilitate sharing of relevant content.  The feature is called SPARKS.
4. Video is central.  A cornerstone element of Google+ is around the video.  There are some neat functionalities to make video chatting in group or one-on-one easy.  The uploading of photos and videos seems to be easier than on Facebook.  One feature I like: you can upload a still within a video too.  Between Google Huddles and Hangouts, you know that the terminology is 100% American (the former, huddles, refers to the pre-action pause in American Football).  Watch out for these words to be banned on French Television soon?
5. Blogs got an automatic +1 on Google Page Rank: which is sort of incidental to the Google Plus project, but I thought it deserved a mention:  Social Search just took another step forward.

Google+ Bells & Whistles: Circles, Huddles, Hangouts & More

Google Plus is still rolling out its invitations.  The early adopters are running all the tests Google needs to find out how well it works for real.  There are certainly some wrinkles that need to be ironed out, specifically, as far as I am concerned, with Circles (to be able to view all the circles at once, sorting of friends via a more robust search mechanism…).  I also have been a little lost without a wall.  But I am sure those are just teething pains.  On the mobile front, Google Plus is up on Android, but is not available on the iPhone yet (funny that).

The online battle is definitely heating up

The confrontation between the online giants looks to have gone to a whole other level.  Microsoft and Apple have been hitting the clouds.  Facebook and Google are going at in social.  Facebook is aligned with Microsoft, which bought Skype, which is going to be embedded into Facebook very soon to allow for in-the-flow video chat.

All said, Google+ seems to be the real deal.  Your thoughts?

Beta Mindset...with a Why!

One of the most revolutionary marketing tools to come to the surface recently is the beta launch.  Essentially, a product is “pre-launched” as a beta version and, as a consequence, errors are to be anticipated and feedback is openly accepted.   It is a great tactic, borne of the software industry (mentality), which carries with it no deadline.  A product can remain in beta phase eternally.  In fact, a beta launch could be just another way of involving the consumer and inviting constant feedback.  Indeed, some products never make it out of the beta phase.

I believe there is something to be learned for all companies.  Taking a page out of Google’s strategy, it is all about launch and iterate.  Launch, learn & improve.  In this vein, I would like to suggest that companies learn to adopt the beta myndset.  What does this entail?

1/ A soft launch: no hard set specific date of launch.  Any PR effort must be considered more of a behind-the-scenes scoop.  Customers “buying” the product are considered ‘insiders’ whose opinion is invited.  For software, this means allowing for automatic bug reports, etc.

2/ Attached to the launch package, there must be plenty of mechanisms to recuperate feedback.

3/ The company must be ready to incorporate the feedback.  Improvements may be incremental.

4/ As the beta launch approach becomes systematic, successive new product initiatives should incorporate learnings: improving, for example, the way that feedback is captured.

Virtual world getting real

5/ This is not just a philosophy that applies to software manufacturers or internet sites.  All types of products and services can be launched and organized with a beta myndset.  Google, the ultimate e-service company, launches oodles of beta products and, among its current list is actually a brick & mortar product: google gulp (pictured right), a low-carb novel drink designed to boost your internal software with a “patented Auto-Drink™ technology…”

A beta myndset is a whole new way of thinking for most companies, which are organized around production schedules and a certain inflexibility when it comes to customer feedback.  I believe that it is an extremely attractive and alternative way of launching — clearly not for everyone.

What do you think of the beta myndset?  Know of any companies that have adopted this as a strategy?

If you haven’t seen social search in action, you might want to check this out.  Perhaps, you are like most of us who only look at the first 3 results at the top of the Google search results.  However, if you scroll down (and are logged in to your Google account), you may find a result that emanates directly from your social network.

Specifically, here is a search I did on Grateful Dead Marketing Lessons (I wrote a blog post on The Myndset about this a couple of weeks ago).  Scrolling down the first page of results, I found this at the bottom of the first page of results on Google :

Google Social Search

I was a little surprised since, for all the time I spend every day on internet, I had not come across social search results — and, yet, the function was put in place last October 2009 (per the Google Blog).  The function is still avowedly in BETA test phase (then, again, most of Google’s applications are as well!).  If I was surprised to see myself at the bottom of this search, it was quite an agreeable sensation (not just because it was my own comment).  Why is this an exciting development?  I can see how the strength and quality of one’s network can have a proven advantage.  If you follow and/or have thought leaders in your network, via social search, you will have the content from your community popping up on the front page.

For some, this might be a bit too much — as in Google knows too much about me.  According to Google’s own Support Pages, here is how Google finds who is in your social circle:

• People in your Gmail (or Google Talk) chat list
• People in your Friends, Family, and Coworkers groups in your Google contacts
• People you’re publicly connected to through social sites, such as Twitter and FriendFeed, that appear on your Google profile or in your public Google Buzz stream.
• People you’re following in Google Reader and Google Buzz
• People who are connections of those in your immediate, public social circle. This means that if you have a friend on Twitter, and he follows five people, those additional five people may also be included in your social circle.

The question for you: How curated is your own network, such that in the future you will be happy to find content directly coming from your social network?  Or does the very thought scare you?

The issue of privacy is a little schizophrenic.  In any event, it is strategic and worldwide in scope as far as developing one’s business online.  We all say we want our privacy, and yet we do not want to be treated as a number.   Yet, for businesses to provide us with customized and relevant offers that make us feel like VIP customers, they need to know our data.  At its core, the issue of privacy is one of trust.

Between Zuckerberg (founder of Facebook, in case anyone does not know who he is) ruling out all notions of privacy and assurances from Eric Schmidt (Google CEO) that our data is not being mined, the only thing you know for sure is that virtually everything in our private sphere is knowable.  The notion of privacy changes between cultures and who is the owner of the data is going to become of strategic importance — not just for business, but in diplomacy and politics.  The battle for China’s internet market will be central to the Sino-American trade relationship.  Google has struggled in China.  Facebook is nowhere in China (with some 75,000 members, dominated by China’s copycat version of FB, renren, which is currently #111 worldwide in Alexa) and, I don’t believe they will make heavy inroads.  Even if Facebook tailors its privacy settings and allows government oversight of the censoring, I do not believe that the Chinese will trust the Facebook organization.

Your Private Life is Totally Under Control (Herald Tribune, October 16, 2010)

For companies trying to implement a social media strategy, privacy is at the heart of the debate as well.  How much does one want an employee leading his/her private life at work?  How far can an enterprise allow or enable its employees to be personal in their daily business?

As loyal readers of this blog will know, I am a proponent for business getting personal.  The trick is knowing where the limit lies between that which is personal and that which is private.  In order for brands to create stronger contacts with their customers and potential clients, they need to provide an environment of trust, first between employer and employee, and then between employee and client.  Trust is an eminently personal issue.  With more trust, we might be less concerned with sharing our personal (not private) activities.  In countries accustomed to invasive state censorship and oversight, the issue is more than sensitive.  Germany’s resistance to Facebook might be a case in point.  If companies — such as Google and Facebook — abuse their access to personal data, then there will be a backlash in all countries.

For now, consumers must be vigilant of what they share overtly, how to set their filters and, more importantly, to gage carefully what they are getting in return for the openness.