About Scott Crider

Scott Crider is "a social media wizard."

Jennifer Harper

The Washington Times

Crider is a "social media savant."

Warren Rojas

Roll Call, The Newspaper of Capitol Hill

"Scott Crider is someone you should listen to."

Rob Kelly, CEO

Hot Topic Media

One-Line Bio: A 25-year marketing veteran, Scott Crider is an award winning digital creative director, social media/interactive marketing strategist, and professional blogger living in Gulf Shores, Alabama.

Short Bio: Scott Crider is an award winning digital creative director, social media/interactive marketing strategist, and professional blogger living in Gulf Shores, Alabama. A Web 2.0 pioneer since 2005, Crider's background in social media includes authoring two blogs that have received millions of visitors and massive media attention from virtually all major U.S. news media and many International media outlets. His work was also written about in a book about viral culture. He has also demonstrated acumen in harnessing the power of Facebook community-building and strategic application of social plug-ins to drive narrative across all media channels, online and offline. He co-founded Watchdog Causes, LLC with his wife, Morgan Robinson-Crider, in January, 2012.

Full Bio: A digital creative director, social media strategist, interactive marketing specialist, professional blogger, and professional speaker, Scott Crider lives and works in Gulf Shores, Alabama. In addition to achieving success as an independent blogger and social media pioneer, Crider has also developed many cutting-edge interactive programs for clients large and small. Crider drives the strategy and overall execution of integrated Web 2.0 programs that leverage viral opportunities in social media and related applications. With a proven track record of identifying high-impact opportunities that provide innovative new distribution strategies for clients and brands, Crider focuses on application strategy and technology integration within the Web 2.0 and Social Media space. Crider also has more than 25 years of experience in traditional marketing, advertising and public relations disciplines, including brand development and event management. Crider's social media accomplishments include the development of innovative social media integration applications that consistently exceed clients' expectations, including sales ROI in excess of 1,000% for a Fortune 100 retailer and digital promotions that have garnered tens-of-thousands of new leads for major national and international marketing organizations. Crider is also a successful blogger, having authored two blogs that have received millions of readers. One of these blogs, Dogs Against Romney, has become the very definition of viral, garnering millions of readers around the world and major media features by the likes of Time, CNN, ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, NPR's All Things Considered, MSN, MSNBC, The Rachel Maddow Show, The Ed Show, The Young Turks, major national and international newspapers, and a book by Bill Wasik (editor of WIRED Magazine) titled And Then There's This: How Stories Live and Die in Viral Culture. He co-founded Watchdog Causes, LLC with his wife, Morgan Robinson-Crider, in January, 2012.

Blog: ScottCrider.com
Email: Scott [at] Watchdogcauses [dot] com

Speaking Engagements: Scott Crider is available for public speaking engagements. References for public speaking can be found in the side bar of this site, and at Crider's LinkedIn profile. To arrange for public speaking, e-mail scott [at] watchdogcauses [dot] com

DMMI Presentation, Tunica, MS

Thank you for attending today's session. I hope to see you again soon! Please drop me a note to let me know your thoughts:
E-mail:Scottcrider@ScottCrider.com
Linked In: www.Linkedin.com/in/ScottCrider
Twitter: www.Twitter.com/CScottCrider

Dmmi presentation final

View more presentations from Scott Crider

DMAI e-News: Holy Cr@p! Co-op Marketing and the Social Media Revolution

Here is the text of my article that was published yesterday (9/26/11) in the Destination Marketing Association International (DMAI) e-Newsletter. I'll be speaking on this topic at DMAI's Destination Management & Marketing Institute in Tunica, MS on Nov. 7-9. I hope to see you there!

Holy Cr@p! Co-op Marketing and the Social Media Revolution

By: Scott Crider

Social Media is the hot topic, but has it really opened up quantifiable new opportunities for destination marketers? The short answer to this question is “yes.” The longer answer is, well, longer.

First, some perspective.

Facebook is nothing less than a stunning force in marketing. Founded just 7 years ago in a college dorm room, the site now boasts over 750 million active users worldwide (Source: Wikipedia). In the U.S., the site is projected to boast over 150 million users next year (that’s almost half of all Americans!).

And it’s not all kids.

For more than a year, the fastest growing demographic on Facebook in the U.S. has been adults ages 45-55. Today, seventy-two percent of Facebook’s users are between 25 and 54 - with nearly equal distribution among all consumer age groups (Source: Socialmediatoday).

Are you ready for this jaw-dropper? That means 93% of adult U.S. Internet users are on Facebook (Source: Hubspot).

Not only that, but U.S. consumers aren’t just dabbling around Facebook occasionally. They’re devouring it daily. A study last year showed that half of all Facebook users admitted they check it every day, often multiple times. And the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates the average user spends more than 11 hours per month on the site.

That makes Facebook the biggest “time sink” on the Internet.

According to eMarketer, Facebook continues to entrench itself into consumer’s daily lives through diversification. No longer is the site primarily for keeping up with who is in a relationship with whom. What started as a “play” social network, eMarketer says, “has evolved into an all-purpose destination that is beginning to replace e-mail, instant messaging, video-sharing, gaming, and other activities that were otherwise scattered across unconnected venues.”

Considering these stats, it’s no wonder that around 80% of all businesses have by now created a Facebook page. In fact, a brand new Duke University survey of 249 U.S. Chief Marketing Officers indicated that, on average, they plan to dramatically increase use of social media over the next five years.

At the same time, though, marketing executives remain confused by social media. Many now have performance indicators built around social media metrics (such as growing Facebook “Likes”) but have little idea how to do so in a way that is strategically sound and deliver a discernable return on the investment.

The Duke University survey seems to agree, saying marketers “admitted they have a ways to go toward integrating social media in their strategy.” On a scale of 1-7, with one being “not integrated at all” almost one-quarter of marketing executives selected “one” to describe how well their company's social media is integrated with the firm's overall strategy.

Back to the original question: Has social media really opened up quantifiable new opportunities for destination marketers? You bet it has. And if you get creative, the opportunities can be enormous.

Let’s talk about an emerging trend in co-op marketing.

Virtually all media companies - television stations, radio stations, newspaper and magazine publishers - now have Facebook pages. They are challenged to continually grow “Likes” and provide innovative, fresh content that engages their audiences. Furthermore, they struggle to integrate their Facebook pages with their main programming and content.

DMOs can help media companies solve their “Facebook problem,” as one TV executive I know refers to it, and receive tens-of-thousands of dollars worth of free advertising and hundreds – even thousands – of new, targeted, drive market leads in exchange.

How?

Media companies have hundreds of thousands of viewers, listeners, and readers (even millions, depending on the market). DMO’s have destinations that offer consumers attractive travel opportunities. By using Facebook to tie the two together, amazing results can be achieved.

I know of one case study about a DMO/TV Station/Facebook co-op marketing partnership in which the TV station experienced:

• 40% increase in Facebook fans

• 325% increase in consumer engagement (comments and shares)

• 50% increase in monthly active users

While the DMO received:

• 506 TV spots

• 30 live on-air promotions (news and morning shows)

• 25,000 Web impressions

• Over 800 highly targeted leads

• 1,200% ROI (total advertising & lead value)

It’s a true win-win situation. And this occurred in a small market in which the TV station’s Facebook page had less than 3,000 “Likes” to begin with. In a large market, where TV stations frequently have 50,000 or more “Likers” to begin with, and much more expensive advertising rates, a DMO could receive many, many thousands of high quality leads and many, many thousands of dollars worth of advertising for a very low investment.

In a word: ROI. I’m talking ridiculous, over-the-top, downright gaudy ROI.

The key element in this co-op marketing opportunity is a Facebook app designed to process sweepstakes entries. There are several companies around the U.S. that create and license Facebook apps, and some even provide campaign management and technical support.

Using an app, and some creativity and ingenuity, your DMO can be an early beneficiary of this emerging trend. Put together a win-win co-op promotion with a media partner in a key market, and you’ll gain your destination a huge amount of exposure, tons of high-quality leads, and – best of all - a remarkable return on investment.

Dogs Against Romney: How I Got 1 Million Readers in 10 Days

The 2012 version of Dogs Against Romney is now live, with a the complete story of how I got 1 million readers in just 10 days back during the 2008 election. Enjoy!

Digital Brand Experience Marketing for Political Candidates

I published an article here a while ago about some new things I have learned about the concept of digital brand experience marketing.

For details, you can go read that prior post. In this article, I want to focus on the potential I see for political candidates to benefit from creating digital experiences for supporters and potential supporters.

The concept of "brand experiences" is not new to political candidates. They have long known that the most effective way to engage with voters is to appear and mingle personally with them. That is why you see candidates making the rounds to county and state fairs, BBQ's, dinners, and kissing babies all over the place.

The problem for candidates, especially those running for statewide and national offices, is that attending this endless stream of events can leave them tired. Just look at this photo of Hillary Clinton, taken at a 2008 campaign event - she's obviously exhausted. Tell me how it helped her to have images like this published next to images of a vibrant, well-rested Barack Obama.

On top of that, attending all these events eats up precious resources that would be better spent getting a candidate's message out. As a candidate, imagine the possibilities if you were able to create a digital brand experience "engine" that ran everywhere, 24 hours-per-day, 7 days-per-week. And imagine further that of all the people who experienced your brand online:

• 98% showed increased consideration of you as a candidate
• 97% became more likely to vote for you in the next election; and
• 96% became more likely to recommend to friends that they vote for you, too

That's what we're talking about here, because that is the power of digital brand experience marketing.

Digital Brand Experiences Defined

Digital brand experiences can range widely from passive engagement, such as reading a candidate's blog, to more active engagements such as following a candidate on Twitter or "friending" on Facebook.

It is the more active brand engagements that drive the kinds of results I'm talking about. President Obama's campaign was early to the concept, though most of the reporting about his campaign's use of digital experience marketing focused on how much money was raised, rather than WHY so many people were moved to contribute - many of whom had never been politically active before.

According to The Atlantic, by adding social networking to the online fundraising mix, the Obama campaign raised half a billion dollars. In one month alone, Obama raised $45 million online - without hosting a single fundraiser, attending a single BBQ, or kissing a single baby. See why he was so much more well-rested?

Not only that, but the statistics show that virtually all of the millions of people who engaged with Obama via social networks felt as strong a connection to him as the comparatively few who actually got to meet him!

I believe it was this feeling of connection - the digital brand experience of choosing to "friend" or "follow," combined with the ease of giving online, that led so many to give who had never given before.

Clearly, candidates in future elections will have the opportunity to engage with their constituents in ways not possible before. But they are going to need people who can help them create and manage engaging and meaningful digital brand experiences.

That includes much more than just setting up Facebook pages and Twitter accounts. It involves content creation, choosing the right medium, writing with the correct tone, being able to respond to threats and opportunities with lightning speed, optimizing it for search engines, and releasing it all with the proper timing. In the future, it will include creating widgets, mobile apps and more.

It is the candidates who do this successfully who will have the enormous advantage. They will be able to run more lean campaigns, spend less time on the road, and be able to devote substantially more of their resources on getting their messages out.

And as a bonus, once they win, they will be able to focus less on fundraising for the next election and more on doing the jobs they were elected to do.

Candidates running for office in 2010 should be well into this already. Those planning campaigns for 2012 need to be bringing digital experience and online marketing experts on board now. The social media world will look completely different in three years, and no one knows yet exactly what is going to become big and what isn't. That means you need to be working, testing, and analyzing all potential digital experience engines now.

Those who don't are likely to find themselves paying off campaign debts long after their opponents have taken the oath of office.

Digital Brand Experience Marketing

Over the last few days I've been reading Razorfish's 2009 Digital Brand Experience Report. It's chock full of great data that quantifies something that I think digital marketers have sensed for some time. Online engagement seems to create a closer connection with customers than can be achieved with traditional marketing.

It turns out this is true but what I didn't realize was just how powerful online engagement - what Razorfish calls a "digital brand experience" - really is.

First of all, according to the report, the sheer numbers of people who can be classified as "connected consumers" - those who have the means and disposition to engage with brands online - has finally reached the saturation point, at least from a marketer's perspective.

Razorfish combines its own findings with those of the Pew Internet & American Life Project to determine that roughly 200 million Americans can now be classified as "connected consumers," defined by Razorfish as those who:

• Have broadband access
• Spent at least $150 online in the past 6 months (plane tickets, Amazon, etc.)
• Visited a social networking site, and
• Consumed or created some form of digital media (news, photos, video, music, etc.)

Whether or not the 200 million figure is completely accurate, its safe to say that the mainstream American public is now pretty Internet savvy.

Digital brand experiences include things like participating in an online contest, reading a corporate blog, writing or reading a product review, friending a brand on a social network, following a brand on Twitter, etc.

Here's the really juicy info, though.

First, 65% of consumers report having had a digital brand experience that either positively or negatively changed their opinion of a brand. That's a higher number than was expected - and it will continue to grow exponentially.

Second (and this is the real kicker) of these consumers, 97% say that their digital brand experience influenced whether or not they eventually purchased a product or service from that brand.

Think about that. Clearly, what happens with your brand online matters - a lot.

There is a lot more to digest in this report, but that's the gist of it. It got me thinking about the 2012 election (candidates are brands, after all). By then, its safe to say that even more people will be "connected consumers' and even more of them will be engaging with brands online. Those candidates who focus on creating digital "brand experiences" with themselves for the public could gain a lot at a relatively low cost.

That will be the subject of a future post.

Scott

Social Media Summer Series Part 2

I am honored to have been invited to serve as a subject matter expert on social media by the Consumer Packaged Goods Supergroup on Linked In. The group has over 20,000 Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) industry members and continues to grow rapidly under the leadership of Bill Holland, who invited me to write a series of articles for the members.

Part 2 of the 6-part series I'll be writing is posted below. You can follow it on Linked In and participate in the conversation with CPG executives here.

I hope to see you there!

Social Media Summer Part 2: Social Media is the most expansive communications tool. Ever.

In part 2, I want to talk to you about the truly mind-blowing expansiveness of social media as a communications tool. Like a huge boulder balanced on the peak of a mountaintop, there is an enormous amount of stored in energy in the social networks – at least for the brands that learn how to tap it.

Consider Facebook, in existence for just 6 years, has surpassed 500 million global users this month. That’s an average of 6.9 million new users per month. At its current pace, the social network is projected to reach 1 billion users – roughly 1/6^th of the world’s total population - next year.

The latest research shows that over half of the U.S. population is using social media - and it’s not just kids. 65% of all 25 to 34-year olds and 51% of all 35 to 44-year-olds are in the social networks.

Not only is social media the most widely and rapidly adopted medium of all time, but it’s also among the fastest, most powerful, and (I’d argue) most targeted mediums – ever. What do I mean by this?

Speed of communication – Because social networks are, by nature, social, news and information about your brand can spread via “word of mouth” extremely quickly. With a single click, your customers can share coupons, deals or product information with literally hundreds of people (the average Facebook user has 130 friends). For example, a recent promotion for Kentucky Tourism generated more than 18,000 Facebook status updates seen by over 174,000 people in just 8 days.

Power – For generations, marketers have known that word of mouth is the most powerful form of advertising. The social media have taken word of mouth to an entirely new level. Each “share” in social media is a de-facto word of mouth recommendation. Not only that, but (I’d argue) word of mouth itself is becoming even more powerful than ever before. In the age of information overload, research is beginning to indicate that people are actually using their social networks to screen and evaluate their purchasing decisions. If you sell cake mix, and thousands of moms share a free recipe and coupon for your product with tens of thousands of their friends, what cake mix do you think they are going to be more likely to buy?

Targeting – Also for generations, marketers have followed the rule of thumb that “birds of a feather flock together.” They found that, by and large, individual zip codes contained people of similar economic status and interests. The same is true (I’d argue) of social networks. People in social networks tend to be connected to people similar to themselves. Furthermore, people in these networks are conscious of the type of content they share – they don’t spam their friends. This means that when moms share your hypothetical cake mix recipe and coupon, they share it with other moms who are also your target – and they do it for you for FREE.

Next time, we’ll discuss more about social media for B2C marketing. Until then, please comment with any questions or topics you’d like covered and I will do my best to address them along the way.