A Quick Look at O.C.D. Experience

O.C.D. Experience was founded by Justin Klosky in 2008. From a young age, Klosky suffered from obsessive compulsive disorder. After taking up acting for a few years, Justin decided to go the entrepreneurial route. By creating O.C.D. Experience, Klosky wanted a way to channel his disorder and use it to teach others the benefits of not only having an organized home, but an organized life.

Justin Klosky, founder of O.C.D. Experience

The acronym O.C.D. in O.C.D. Experience stands for Organize & Create Discipline. It’s a way for people to change their lives through organization. The company currently offers in-home and virtual consulting services. Consultants go into customers’ homes and organize the problem area. Additionally, they also offer virtual consultations for customers who are outside their three main service areas of California, Florida, and New York.  In addition to the consulting, Justin and O.C.D. Experience are publishing a book that is set to release in late 2013. They also sell a wallet and offer a smartphone app geared towards parents. Finally, Justin makes numerous local and national television appearances to promote the brand.

The target audience of O.C.D. Experience is primarily women. I would put their age anywhere between early 20’s to late 50’s. The idea is geared towards women who manage and organize the household. I would expect both parents and those without children to find value in the services. At the end of the day, everyone lives in some type of space that requires some type of organization. So the product may have appeal to the masses.

Back in 2010, a Forbes article stated, “The industry is evolving, and anyone who wants to keep pace has no choice but to reach across traditional boundaries and start tearing down silos.” O.C.D. Experience should adopt an integrated marketing campaign (I.M.C.) to streamline their marketing efforts, maximize their reach, and differentiate themselves from competitors. It’s no secret that Justin has a great energy and presence. By creating a consistent brand voice and projecting Justin’s personality across all of the marketing channels, I believe the O.C.D. Experience can reach new levels. A few top strategies include:

·      Promoting Justin Klosky as the face of the brand

·      Actively pushing release of the upcoming book

·      Introducing more consumer and search friendly blog posts and videos

·      Revamping the social media content

·      Introducing new marketing channels to maximize brand exposure

The company will be able to reach a larger audience, increase website traffic, boost sales, and become the leading organization company.

Event Marketing: ISPA Conference

Last week, the International Spa Association (ISPA) held its annual conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. To hype the event, the ISPA took to social media before, during, and after the event. Below is a short analysis of what they did to promote this national event.

Instagram

The ISPA did a fantastic job on Instagram before and during the event. Before the show, they teased everything from themes to conference badges and gift bags. They really did a great job leading up to the event. They successfully integrated their “Grow” theme into their content and encouraged users to use the hashtag as well. During the show they had great pictures of events, book signings, auctions, and more. My main complaint about their Instagram strategy is their lack of post-event content. On the day following the conference, their messaging abruptly stopped. For having less than 250 followers, I thought they were getting a decent amount of engagement. I was sorry to see they stopped creating content after the conference ended.

ISPA Instagram Post

Facebook

Like Instagram, the ISPA did a great job on Facebook. Leading up to the event, they had plenty of information for attendees. Some of their content included registration, events, sponsors information, and more. They had a variety of content including links, text, and photos. During the show they informed followers of events and happenings at the conference. They successfully used their hashtags on Facebook as well. After the event, they thanked their sponsors and even asked attendees to email the ISPA with any feedback or stories they may have. It’s a great way to leverage social media to gain insights about the event. They even posted that they might use the content in a future blog. What a great way to create new content!

ISPA Facebook Post

Twitter

From my perspective, the ISPA truly shined on Twitter. They created a lot of content before, during, and after the event using multiple Twitter accounts. They even had a dedicated account for the event (@ISPAConference). They responded to tweets and retweeted attendees and sponsors alike. It may be simple, but it was an effective way to recognize their sponsors. They could have included more photos, but I appreciate the amount of content they created on Twitter and the scope of their accounts. 

Sample Tweets

YouTube

YouTube was largely neglected during the conference. They did post one video of a speaker on October 17 leading up to the event. He teased some interesting information about the conference; however, I could not take this video seriously. The video was right next to one that was over a month old and featured the same man, in the same location, and in the same clothing. That was a large red flag that the content was pre-recorded. I really wish they would have created more videos during the show to let people get a feel for the event.

The culprit videos on YouTube

Final Thoughts

The Good

Hashtags

The ISPA did a fantastic job integrating hashtags into their marketing plan. Whether you went to Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, you could easily search for their content. Judging by the activity, attendees were also using the hashtag as well. All of this helped raise awareness of the event on social media.

Consistent Message

The ISPA kept their brand messaging consistent across all of their social media platforms. No matter what medium I received their message on, it felt like a consistent experience. 

Great Website
I really enjoyed the devoted event website for ISPA 2013. It has a ton of content about the event including social links, sponsors, event information, and more. 

ISPA Conference Website

The Bad

Content Variety

My biggest critique with the marketing of the show was the lack of content variety. While using the same content on all of their social media platforms created a consistent theme and integrated marketing campaign, it seemed a little stale to me. Posting the same content on all platforms doesn’t encourage users to follow a brand on more than one platform. On Twitter, the ISPA was able to curate content from other’s and respond to tweets. I think that is why that channel was so successful. Facebook and Instagram suffered because of so much shared content.

No Video

I believe they missed a large opportunity by leaving YouTube out of their event marketing. They could have easily leveraged Vine or Instagram video to generate some video content. I believe videos would have allowed people who were unable to attend to get a better idea of the event. If they immersed viewers in the experience, that could make the event look appealing enough to attend the next year.

Lack of Email
Their website could have used an email sign-up. If visitors were not social media users, it would have been great if they could keep up-to-date about the event through a newsletter that centered around conference content.


Overall, the ISPA Conference appeared to be a hit. While there were a few missed opportunities, they successfully used their channels in appropriate manners. It's a refreshing change to examine event marketing. I look forward to applying these lessons down the road!

An Unfiltered Look at Instagram

“Images have the ability to connect people from all backgrounds, languages and cultures.” – Kevin Systrom, Co-founder of Instagram

Instagram's Instagram

Origins

In 2010, Kevin Systrom was a young and energetic entrepreneur. His original idea was to come up with an app that could compete with Foursquare. He debuted Burbn, an app which allowed users to check-in, share their plans for the day, and post photos. A short time later, Michel Krieger joined Systrom and they sat down to examine the trends on Burbn. They discovered that more than anything, users were sharing photos on Burbn. Systrom and Krieger started studying photo apps and tried to figure out where they could fit in the crowded space. While there were a bunch of photo apps, none of them succeeded in the social sphere.

Enter Instagram. The two men created an application that could combine the fun of editing photos with the social aspects of Facebook. After months of trial and error, Instagram launched on October 6, 2010.

Krieger (left) and Systrom (right)

Growth

Staring out, Instagram was only available to iPhone users and they did not have any web-based features. It wasn’t until a year and a half later that Instagram launched its app for Android. On its first day, Instagram garnered over 1 million downloads. A mere week later on April 9, 2012, Facebook announced it would acquire Instagram for over 1 billion in cash and stock options. After the announcement, Instagram took off. Shortly after the acquisition, Instagram had over 50 million users after 19 months on the market. A short nine months later, the user base had doubled to 100 million users. The most recent numbers for September 2013 puts Instagram around 150 million users.

Instagram growth through June, 2013

About the App

Instagram is social network centered around photo sharing. At this time, the full Instagram experience is only available on Apple and Android smartphones. With the rising use of smartphones, their decision to be primarily mobile makes sense. We always have our phones on us and can instantly capture a moment when it happens. By my count, Instagram offers 19 different filters for users to edit their photos.  Additionally, hashtags offer a popular way for to categorize photos for easy searching.

Since day one, Instagram has been integrated with other social networks. In a recent interview, Systrom explains the motive behind this. They wanted users to be able to share their Instagram creations with all of their friends, regardless of the social network. This would allow Instagram to get its name and photos out in the open. A closed-ecosystem app would have never allowed Instagram to get the massive exposure it garnered. Eventually, enough people would join Instagram that users no longer felt the need to share outside of the app.

It wasn’t until June 2012 that Instagram made its way on to the web. While the website experience isn’t as robust as the app, it does allow easy URL sharing of profiles and content. Brands and individuals can easily share their content anywhere on the Internet.

In the summer of 2013, Instagram introduced video capabilities into their application. Users can upload 15 seconds of video and apply the same filters as it does for photos. Many believe the introduction of video was due in part to increased competition from other video sharing apps like Twitter's Vine. It seems to be a success because on the first day video was available, over 5 million were created. 

Instagram's Video Announcement

The Future of Instagram

To this day, Instagram has not made a profit. After the Facebook acquisition, Instagram made a very public mistake by changing their terms of use in December of 2012. Essentially Instagram announced that user photos could be bought and used in advertising as a way for Instagram to make money. The outcry was overwhelmingly negative and Instagram later retracted their proposed changes.

Instagram's blog after the outcry

Nearly a year later, Instagram and Facebook are ready to take another shot at generating revenue. Instagram recently announced that they would be rolling out advertisements by the end of year. Advertisers will be able to pay to have photos and videos appear in the feed of all users. Personally, I don’t think ads will be too disruptive on Instagram. The filters of Instagram help keep the photos consistent and brands will be able to easily blend into the feed. Ads on Facebook tend to be disruptive and take up a lot of space. Conversely, brands will have to fit into the mold of Instagram. Furthermore, the true value of the ads remains to be seen for advertisers. Will these advertisements link to websites? Will there be limits on the amount of text in an ad? Only time will tell how Instagram will integrate ads and how businesses can benefit.

Instagram just passed its third birthday and it will be around for many more. The recent introduction of video shows that they can quickly adapt to competition and the evolving social space. Also, by allowing advertisements, the social network will finally be able to generate revenue, and hopefully a profit. 

What do you think or hope Instagram has in store for the future?

    

For a more visual story check out this Prezi!

How WWE, Home Depot, and Starbucks Manage Cross-Social Communication

With so many social media sites coming and going, it can be hard for a marketer to keep up. Below is an analysis of three companies and how they leverage what I will call cross-social communication.

WWE

Facebook - Twitter - Instagram - Google+ - Pinterest

The WWE is huge on social media. They actively promote their social media sites during their weekly programs to keep people engaged while their shows are off-air. They keep a strong consistent brand across all of their profiles and update content often. Currently, they are promoting Breast Cancer Awareness Month and their social profiles all have similar imagery.  The standout of their social media is definitely Instagram. They give users exclusive backstage images that you can’t find on any of their other social media sites. The WWE also doesn’t really cross-promote their social media platforms. Instead, a majority of their content sends users back to their website.

While they have a strong overall presence, they do have some weak spots. The ugly duckling of their offering is Google+. They post often, about four times a day; however, there is no content variety. WWE only posts links on Google+, that’s it. They haven’t even updated their cover photo to match the rest of their social profiles for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Additionally, the WWE doesn’t use hashtags properly. Usually when they use hashtags, they only use them on branded words like #WWE or #RAW. While this works for their branded searches, it’s not doing much to expose WWE content to new users. They use hashtags on Facebook and Twitter, but are leaving Google+ out of the mix.

WWE Facebook

WWE Twitter

WWE Google+

Home Depot

Facebook - Twitter - Instagram - Google+ - YouTube

Home Depot has a large social media footprint. Most of their content is centered around home improvement and products they sell. Additionally, they are currently a sponsor of ESPN’s College GameDay and some of their recent content promotes the weekly event. Their content is current and has a lot of photos and videos in the messaging. While much of their content is similar across their sites, each one has some different content. Instagram especially shines at being different and YouTube is full of great homeowner tips and how-tos.

Home Depot uses a lot of hashtags. Let me rephrase that. Home Depot uses a ton of hashtags. One Instagram post I found had 11 hashtags. The number of hashtags probably helps their visibility in search, but it can be overwhelming and distracting to a user. They should consider cutting back on the amount they use.

Another area Home Depot is lacking is their cross-channel promoting. They do a good job intertwining Google+ and YouTube. However, instead of posting their YouTube videos to Facebook, they upload the videos to Facebook’s video platform. Personally, I think this is a missed opportunity. Having YouTube videos in a Facebook post opens up the opportunity for users to engage with more of their content. If a consumer can find content easier, there is a better chance they will consume it.

Home Depot Instagram Post (11 Hashtags)

Home Depot Google+ Post (9 Hashtags)

Starbucks

Facebook - Twitter - Instagram - Google+ - Pinterest

Starbucks does a fantastic job of creating a consistent brand experience across their different social media profiles. Instead of sharing the same images across all sites, Starbucks posts images from the same scene but from different angles or different scenarios. It’s a creative way to keep the images consistent, yet different. All of their profiles are up-to-date and they use hashtags consistently across their platforms. Starbucks also encourages their fans to visit their other social profiles. For example, they use one of their Facebook tabs to prominently promote their Pinterest page. Additionally, they are also linking to their Pinterest content from their Google+ and Twitter profiles. (It almost appears like they’re in the middle of a Pinterest campaign.) Instagram content is on Twitter and Facebook as well. They’ve created a nice social media ecosystem for themselves.

I’ve always had great respect for the Starbucks brand. They know how to immerse their customers in an experience and think outside the box while staying true to their brand identity. If you need a good example of an integrated marketing campaign, look no further than Starbucks. They know how to impress.

Starbucks on Google+

Starbucks on Facebook

Starbucks on Instagram

What brands standout to you on social media?