Month: February 2011

Charities are a type of organization that I believe can thrive with utilizing social media, such as YouTube and Mobile Apps.  The YouTube Nonprofit Program is a helpful tool suitable to low budget organizations in providing an effective video message used for fundraising.

This could be paired with creating a mobile app that can intervene in the awareness and through third party conversion, lead to conversion for the charity.  What I mean by this is:

1.       Awareness- providing quick facts relevant to your charity every x days to educate people.

2.       Third party conversion: through agreement and partnering with third party retailers, you can send push notifications on location specific promotions and coupons to the consumer.

3.       Conversion: through helping the consumer save money on such things as groceries or entertainment, you have provided them with a benefit in which they may repay the charity through donations.  Another strategy could be for the charity to take a portion of the sales through the coupon redemption (like Groupons) so to bypass the stage of eliciting donations.

Mobile web utilized by “forward-thinking retailers…to address each stage in the consumer purchase funnel- awareness, engagement, consideration, conversion and loyalty.”  In essence, the plan should further the company in some way or another by opening up opportunities in a consumer’s process to purchasing.  An example that the article provided is: to receive sale alters (awareness), look for better prices ad product reviews (consideration) and redeem coupons (conversion).  Sephora has done a great job on mobile web.

I think a mobile strategy could be useful to grocery stores.

1.       To send a text or offer an app with a promotions section about a crowd pleasing recipe of the day that students and parents can make in a hurry.  They can include the ingredients and costs with the message.  This would act as an opportunity window for the awareness stage.

2.       To take a step further, barcodes could be provided by each produce giving suggestions of how to serve that vegetable and the nutritional value it contains (consideration).  On top of this, you may even allow consumers to have input on this stage, allowing them to get involved as well, such as making suggestions.

3.       Lastly, coupons may be given on certain ingredients off of the recipe of the day to play a role in conversion.  These are tangible, relevant offers that include limited-time offers.

Paul Verna is the writer of “Social Gaming: Marketers Make Their Move,” recognizes the potential for marketers in the “faster growth track” of all forms of gaming- social gaming.  Paul brings attention to the fact that contrary to the console gaming industry, the majority of social gaming audience is of an older age category and slightly skewered towards the female population (quite a surprise to me).  Perhaps the reason for the popularity in older population is because this group of audience is of the owing credit card age.  Therefore, their interest in such games and continual playing is furthered by the use of a credit card for virtual goods.

Social gaming is a mode of advertising that levels the playing field if “the right fit among[st] the brand, the game and the demographics of the playing audience” is considered.  Small companies may still make great games or be incorporated into a game if it fits the three aspects listed by Paul.  No matter how much a big company invests in a game, if it the product placement does not suit the brand, game or demographic, it will be ineffective.  Therefore, success in social gaming is not all about budgets, but about suitability and fit as well (a good thing)!