Marina Maher Communications

MMC’s Social Media Team Dresses as Twitter for Halloween 2009

Happy Birthday Twitter!

In its five years, Twitter has changed the way marketers plan and execute campaigns, as it gives the “little guy” a voice that can be heard across the Internet 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  It’s a powerful tool that connects us to our key audiences, including brand advocates, and those who just want to vent.  Today, many of our clients have  community managers that are responsible for engaging with consumers on Twitter, as well as other Social platforms like Facebook and YouTube.  In the next five years, I’d predict that brands will be hiring multiple managers for these platforms, or integrating Twitter management into Customer Service strategy plans – if they aren’t already.

As someone who’s been an advocate for Twitter for several years, I’m excited to celebrate this exciting birthday with the brand!  While there are some critics who still feel that Twitter is for narcissists only interested in sharing what they ate for lunch, I’d argue that Twitter has great value in its ability to connect people with common interests and share news.

See for yourself how others, including celebrities and politicians, use Twitter on a new site called Discover Twitter, launched yesterday to celebrate its birthday.

And if you want to know my personal reasons for using Twitter, check them out below!

• Follow Breaking News: Thanks to Twitter, we were provided with a play-by-play of the protests in Egypt earlier this year.  Even after the Egyptian government attempted to block all external communications, Twitter was still abuzz.  Those who were on Twitter in 2009 learned of Michael Jackson’s untimely death before any other media outlet; twitter was so overwhelmed by the number of visitors that it temporarily shut down.

• Connect with Celebrities, Journalists and More: Everyone and their mother is on Twitter – including the moms, or “mominees” of Oscar nominated actors and actresses, who live-Tweeted the Academy Awards this February.  If you want to know when your favorite musician, Snoop Dogg, is launching his next album, make sure you’re following him on Twitter.  For the latest in world news, follow George Stephanopoulos.  And yes, Charlie Sheen is on Twitter, too – but you knew that!

• Go Anywhere, Without Leaving Your Computer: I didn’t have the pleasure of attending SXSW, but I was able to follow the show on Twitter and hear key insights from Internet friends, no matter what time of day it was, by simply following the Twitter hashtag, #SXSW.

• Get in Touch with Like-minded People: I’m a foodie, both on and offline, and have met some amazing people with delicious recipes they’re always willing to share.  A few I’d like to plug include @HeyYumSugar, @BGSK and @citymama.

• Bond with Beloved Brands and Media Outlets: Want to learn more about your favorite makeup?  Tweet with COVERGIRL* and its community manager, Sara, will share tips and tricks to help you get the look. Missed the TODAY Show this morning?  There’s no need to miss a moment, as you can follow along on Twitter.

For even more insights on Twitter and its latest birthday, check out Brian Solis’ look at Twitter growth by the numbers, which includes some great statistics about how the service has changed over the years.

*COVERGIRL is an MMC Client

Our second Meet The Media interview is with Audrey McClelland who, along with her sister and mother, writes for Mom Generations.  She’s also the Beauty & Style Editor of Lifetime Moms and Fashion Editor of Blissfully Domestic.

Audrey, along with Vera Sweeney from I’m Not Obsessed, launched Getting Gorgeous in 2010.  Together they host events that give moms easy, doable and practical fashion and beauty advice.

Audrey was named a “Power Pack Mom” in Nielsen’s 2009 Online Power Moms list.   To us, Audrey has always been a “leader of the pack,” so we’re excited to share the below interview we conducted with her.

As a parenting influencer, you cover a broad spectrum of topics.  What’s your favorite topic to write about and why?

My favorite topics to write about are mom fashion and mom beauty… I feel it’s so much fun to mix together the mom factor with my loves of fashion and beauty.  Moms are always looking for doable, easy and practical fashion and beauty tips, so I love to be able to deliver.  As a mom of 4 little boys, I know that the time factor and the affordability factor comes into play heavily.  I love to be able to find great tips and good pieces of advice to pass along to my readers.  It excites me!  Feeling beautiful is something every woman should feel, regardless of money, time and circumstances in their life.  And sometimes feeling beautiful just comes down to finding the perfect lipstick!

What categories, types of products, trends, etc. are you sick of hearing about?

I’m sick of hearing about the jeggings!  Enough already!

What still excites you?

I always love hearing about makeup trends.  I love knowing what colors are hot and trendy.  I love knowing what kind of eye makeup is going to be the hit of the season.  I love love love lip colors, so it’s always exciting for me to see the latest must-haves of the season!

What do you think drives consumers, or your readers in particular, to purchase products you endorse on your site?

I truly believe it all comes down to having a real opinion and a true authentic voice.  I think it’s so important to share information, mom-to-mom.  We don’t have time to read magazines anymore.  We don’t have time to watch our celebrity shows.  It all comes down to quick pieces of information, and I really try and have my blog be a space like that.

You have four boys that are six years of age and younger.  How do you manage taking care of them AND maintaining such an active online presence?

LOL… I have no idea!  I’m kidding.  I have an amazing husband who works with me on MomGenerations.com and helps me with the boys.  We don’t have any outside help, it’s all us.  There are days when I just write a huge to-do list and know that I need to bang through it before I go to bed at night, no questions about it.  I love what I do… so I just know that I need to make it work, not only for myself, but for my family.  I always have my iPhone on me, so that makes it very easy, too.

You had a career in fashion before you became a mother, how did that help you develop your sites?

It’s funny, when I started at Donna Karan, I was fresh out of college.  I was a 20-something, young girl living in the City completely thinking I was Carrie Bradshaw.  When I left Donna Karan, I was a mom of 1 and pregnant with my 2nd son.  I had a better understanding of fashion and beauty.  I saw the business side and the creative side. It just fascinated me.  When I left Donna Karan, our family moved back to Rhode Island, I knew I needed to work, but I just wasn’t sure what I was going to do.  What I ended up doing was going online searching for mom fashion blogs, but there weren’t any!  I knew this was something I loved and I knew it was something I had an expertise in, so I merged the two!  I have loved every single second!

Will you ever slow down?  What’s the next big thing for Audrey McClelland?

Well, my book The Digital Mom Handbook that I wrote with my friend Colleen Padilla of ClassyMommy.com will be out in August!  We are SO EXCITED.  I also would love to keep pursuing creating videos, for me… this is exactly what I love to do and truthfully where my passion is.

This Sunday, MMC-ers will have yet another reason to be glued to the television for the award season’s biggest show – The Academy Awards.  Beyond our love of pop-culture and fanaticism about movies, MMC-ers will also have the opportunity to donate to a cause of their choice through MMC’s  “MMC for a Cause” program.  MMC-ers who participate will submit a completed ballot and $3.  The funds collected will be donated to a non-profit organization of the winner’s choice.  Now that’s a way to up the ante on your Oscar predictions!

Update: Earlier today I live-blogged “The Big Shift:  Brands, Media and Consumers in a Real-Time World” session, as part of Social Media Week 2011.  One of the key takeaways from the session, in my opinion, is that we need to be “in it, to win it” – meaning that we need to be putting out a steady stream of relevant content for consumers and looking for the best ways to share that information with them in real-time, all the time.

What does that mean for us?  None of us can be lazy, we need to play in the online playgrounds our potential consumers are already playing in and always be on the lookout for “what’s next?”

See below for the stream of updates I shared this afternoon for additional insights.

• Ann Shoket, EIC of Seventeen, is discussing how Seventeen leverages its own reader’s Social Networks to spread it’s message.  They even have a panel of real teenage boys who go on Tweet-dates
• Adam Lavelle, CSO of iCrossing, talks about engaging with your audience.  Creating content to engage with your audience can be a daunting thing to do, which is why research companies are important, as they can help brands create engaging materials
• Adam recommends checking out Best Buy’s ON – they recently put out their own tech blog that competes with a Gizmodo or Engadget.  ON gives Best Buy’s customer service team another outlet to engage with its customers
• Ann says that consumers are smart – they can tell the difference between editorial and advertorial pieces – but at the end of the day, they don’t care, they just want GOOD content.  Just think about how your content will benefit your consumers
• Soraya Darabi, Co-Founder of Foodspotting, says that there’s been a huge shift in how she works.  She used to pitch Foodspotting to other Social Companies, but now companies are coming to her.  Companies need to start thinking about non-traditional partnerships to gain exposure to new audiences
• Ann discusses how Seventeen’s contest to put a “real girl” on the cover of Seventeen will largely play out on Twitter and Facebook.  They thought about how these Social components would play together from the very beginning, Facebook wasn’t a “second thought”
• Adam says that new technologies just give brands better ways to talk to their audiences, these technologies will continue to evolve and we all need to work with them
• Ann says that Seventeen’s goal is to be where its readers are, before they get there.  Teens live online, in particular on their mobile phones, so we need to be able to talk to them where they are, when they are
• Adam says that Hearst has a massive content creation studio, there’s a digital photography lab, freelancers and more, which gives iCrossing the opportunity to pull what’s relevant to create compelling content.  It’s not just about how to Tweet or optimize for SEO, it’s all about creating the right content!
• The panelists are discussing editorial coverage of their advertisers on their online properties – Seventeen feels that there’s a way to do this without duping its readers – the messages just have to be authentic and original
• Foodspotting’s mobile application was born out of a trip to Japan in which the editor saw tons of people taking pictures of their sushi and other dishes.  This is where they got the idea to have consumers taking and sharing photos of their food in real-time, paired with online food reviews.  As a result, Foodspotting was named a Wired Magazine top application in 2010!
• We all need to start thinking about ways to make our content and services mobile – this is the big shift – consumers are on their mobile devices more than they’re on their desktop computers, so think about how we can make content portable
• Seventeen says that you can never be too careful in the world of Social Media; however, you can’t let that keep you from sharing anything.   You need to be out there in the moment, but use your best judgment
• When picking the person to manage your brand’s identity online, just be sure you pick someone who is web-literate.  The youngest person in the room isn’t always the most digitally savvy, but it could be
• Ann says that Seventeen’s online platforms only strengthen the brand that is Seventeen Magazine.  And as the magazine gets stronger, it enables the online platforms to grow as well.  In essence, they work together

The trend of beauty and fashion magazines embracing online influencers is gaining momentum, today Glamour.com launched its “Young & Posh” Blogger Network, which will feature articles from a variety of personal style influencers in one place, including Jeannine from Beauty Sweet Spot.  We learned from Jeannine that she’ll be writing for Glamour.com 2-3 times a week, and that Glamour will include her content both online and in-book.

Lucky Magazine recently launched its Lucky Style Collective, which will kick-off with a Fashion and Beauty Blogger (FABB) Conference on Tuesday, February 8^th, as part of New York’s Social Media Week.

What does this mean for Marketers?  The influencers that we’re already working with are becoming even more influential, as they have an extended platform beyond the sites they currently write for.  We’re excited to see how this trend will continue to evolve!

Industry Insiders, including Mashable, are already talking about New York Fashion Week, and Tumblr (a Social sharing site) is giving us a great way to stay up-to-date given the enormous amount of coverage we typically see from the tents.

This year Tumblr  is sponsoring approximately 20 fashion-specific online influencers at New York Fashion Week, many of whom have never attended Fashion Weeks in the past.   The goal of this initiative is to help build awareness of the fashion community on Tumblr, and to give the Fashion Industry a peek at these up-and-coming talents.

A steady stream of content will be posted to Tumblr.com/nyfw.  Seems like a great way to build alliances with up-and-coming talent that are extremely eager to get to Fashion Week.  We’re sure that these influencers will promote Tumblr in their posts and disclosure statements and help the platform get additional exposure with a new (huge!) target.