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Transcript of Want a Marketing Boost
Want a marketing boost? Take a ‘selfie’ of
your business
We’ve all done it – some more than others. I try to resist as it does feel a touch narcissistic,
but I succumb from time to time. Just yesterday, for example, I took a selfie with a friend in
front of the Harbour Bridge.
Narcissistic or not, the selfie – a self-portrait photograph that is typically taken with a
smartphone and then uploaded to social media – has moved from a trend to a full-blown
phenomenon.
On Instagram, the hashtag ‘selfie’ has more than 100 million posts, and brands, celebrities
and even charities have been jumping on board the selfie bandwagon.
The popularity of the selfie speaks to the growing dominance of social media and photo
sharing. And a selfie campaign has the potential to be a unique and relevant tactic for
businesses to encourage their audience to engage with their brand.
How can your business leverage the interest surrounding the selfie?
The selfie has opened up interesting opportunities for businesses to market themselves online,
and many big brands and products are currently doing this very successfully.
There are many ways to make use of the selfie and integrate it into your next campaign. The
key is that you need to think outside the bounds of the traditional advertising relationship.
The #nomakeupselfie has been one of the latest selfie campaigns to go viral, with thousands
of women around the world sharing photos of themselves without makeup to raise awareness
of and funding for breast cancer research.
Producers from the popular television series The Walking Dead introduced a branded
application called Dead Yourself, which let fans of the show ‘zombify’ their selfies and share
their images online using the hashtag ‘deadyourself’.
The app also includes a Bite a Friend feature, which lets users turn a friend’s selfie into a
photorealistic zombie. This is a great example of a fun way to engage your audience and
create buzz around your brand.
The creators of the app knew that their target audience was engaged with the television show
and used this to create a product that would resonate with their audience.
Dove recently launched the ‘honest selfie’ campaign, which challenges young girls to upload
an honest selfie and have their mothers do the same.
These photos were then uploaded to a gallery on a website, where viewers were encouraged
to debate what beauty is using the hashtag ‘beautyis’. This is a great example of a business
providing an avenue for users to share their thoughts, feelings and selfies on social media.
Other businesses have held contests that encourage fans and followers to take photos of
themselves with particular products. Users posted these photos on Facebook, Twitter or
Instagram with a particular hashtag, giving the business increased reach across multiple
social media platforms. Some businesses have also offered discounts or rewards for users
who post selfies of them engaging with their products.
Here are some tips on how to run a successful selfie campaign:
Understand your audience
Before beginning any campaign, it is critical to understand your audience. Social media users
post selfies as a fun and convenient means of self expression – if your brand offers something
that fits in with their own interests and desires it is more likely to be successful.
Start by monitoring trends to gauge what your audience is more likely to engage with and
take notice of conversations happening on your social media platforms.
Implement a strategy
From there, it is important to implement a strategy behind the campaign. Think about your
objectives – do you want to generate increased traffic to your website, gain more social media
followers or engage current customers?
A selfie campaign needs to be fun and engaging for users to actually participate. Consider
using your brand advocates – your most loyal and engaged followers – to start the campaign
and ensure their selfies are shared as much as possible across social media.
Develop a relevant hashtag
It is important to create a hashtag for your campaign. This will help build an ongoing
conversation about your campaign, increase the reach of posts on social media channels and
help your business see how many users are actually engaging with your product or brand.
Marketers should always be on the lookout for new trends that can be cleverly leveraged and
with the right planning and strategy, a selfie campaign can be a great way to engage and
connect users with your brand and products.
The Evolution of the Selfie-Obsessed
Generation
Most people think that the rise of the "selfie" coincided with Instagram's popularity, but the
selfie actually predates Instagram — in a way, it predates digital photography. Think about
Van Gogh’s self-portraits, the first self-taken Polaroids, or pixelated flip phone photos. But
selfies have really turned a new leaf in today’s digital, photo-obsessed world.
For marketers, the rise of the selfie indicates that today’s consumer is moving closer and
closer towards imagery as a primary form of self-expression. Platforms like Instagram,
Facebook, and even Twitter are becoming the top channels where people consume and share
visual, personalized content. By looking at the extreme popularity of selfies and photo-
sharing as a preferred communication method, marketers can connect with consumers on a
deeper, more emotional level.
Download our infographic to learn all about the evolution of the selfie, then delve
deeper into today’s selfie-obsessed world with some of the hottest, most sought-after
selfie formats.
The Selfie: Should You Use It In Your
Business?
By now you’ve probably heard that the Oxford Dictionary word of the year for 2013 is
“selfie.”
What Exactly is a Selfie?
A selfie is nothing more than a self-portrait photograph that you share via social media.
Of course, the selfie isn’t new. The black and white photograph above is a selfie of Grand
Duchess Anastasia of the Russian Romanovs (yeah, that Anastasia) from 1914.
Apparently 100 years ago girls were just as into themselves as they are today. They simply
didn’t have Facebook or Instagram to share their selfies on.
But it wasn’t as easy to shoot selfies back then. You had to aim a camera in the mirror to
shoot a selfie in those days.
Today, with ubiquitous camera phones and front-facing cameras on laptops and tablets, it’s
incredibly easy to take a selfie. It’s become a cultural phenomenon and a form of
entertainment.
There have even been a number of quick-to-arrive and quick-to-go fads when it comes to
posing for selfies. “Duck face” is the term used to describe people who pucker their lips for
their selfies (usually young women trying to look like Angelina Jolie). But for those keeping
track, there’s also the sparrow face (wide eyes, lifted brows); the frog face (tongue out); and
the trout face (open trout-like mouth) – among others.
And then you have the weird penchant for taking selfies at funerals — something that Jason
Feifer, a Fast Company editor, chronicled at Selfies at Funerals, a Tumblr site he set up. The
fad prompted this hilarious headline at the Huffington Post, “Funeral Selfies Are The Latest
Evidence Apocalypse Can’t Come Soon Enough.”
And finally, you have three heads of government taking a selfie at a memorial service for the
deceased Nelson Mandela:
Some speculated that First Lady Michelle Obama was angry due to her husband laughing
with the blonde Danish Prime Minister. I think the answer is simpler. Mrs. Obama, with her
dignified demeanor, just had a better sense of decorum. She didn’t look angry to me — just
like she hoped nobody would notice she was with those other three! She was mindful of the
time and place.
As a business owner, when it comes to selfies, it’s also about being mindful of the time and
place, and how others will react to your selfie.
Should You Use The Selfie in Business?
I’m going to go with “No” on this 90% of the time for small businesses.
Let’s face it: most selfies are horrendous — the kind of picture only a teenager’s friends can
appreciate. If you have a traditional small business and are thinking a duck-face selfie of you
as the owner will somehow bring profitable attention to your business, well … it probably
won’t.
However, there are exceptions. Sometimes selfies can be good. So let’s take a look at some
times when selfies makes sense and can help your business:
• Entertainers – If you are a musician or other entertainer-entrepreneur, your fans want to
hear from you and they want to see you. The right kind of selfie can create a closer bond
with your fan base. Go for it.
• Professional personalities – If you are a professional personality like Chris Pirillo, and your
life is your business — consisting of a constant stream of videos taken in your home of you
because you are a figure your audience wants to hear from — then selfies would fit right in.
Just keep in mind that long before the current selfie trend, Pirillo was videoing himself. His
YouTube channel has nearly 6,000 videos — most with him in them. Opening up his personal
life is part of Pirillo’s mystique.
• Professional speakers – If you are a professional speaker, then a tasteful, and I emphasize
tasteful, selfie occasionally can be slipped in. As a professional speaker, you are your
product. So images of your product — you — make sense. In all likelihood you have fans
who want to know more about you as the person. Think creatively on this. Take a selfie
showing you getting set up for your next speech. Or showing the audience over your
shoulder. Just keep the selfie consistent with your image. If you are known as a speaker
with gravitas, then a silly selfie would be out of character and diminish your image.
• Authors – You’ve probably seen authors who encourage readers to submit a headshot of
themselves holding the author’s latest book up. In this case, it’s the reader’s selfie you are
looking for. Each selfie-with-book shows that the reader liked the book. Each selfie-with-
book also serves as an effective way of “advertising” the book without it being an
advertisement.
What if you’re not an entertainer or personality, but run some other kind of traditional small
business? There’s still room for selfies. Here are some ways other types of small businesses
can leverage selfies:
• Contests – Hold a “selfie” contest and encourage customers to submit selfies of themselves
using your product. Give a prize for the best one. This past year saw Jamba Juice leverage
the selfie trend with its #SmoothieSelfie contest (see image above). The contest made sense
because the selfie naturally lends itself to a smoothie product AND the customer’s face while
drinking it.
• Engagement – You don’t even necessarily need to hold a contest. Encourage people to use
and engage with your product, and share a picture of themselves doing so. For example,
those in the beauty business could encourage customers to submit before and after selfies
of themselves showing the difference the product makes. Consider setting up a hashtag and
thread on your Facebook page for sharing their selfies. Be careful if you establish a hashtag
— try not to make it self-laudatory, or it may be hijacked by detractors.
• Human interest – Include some fun selfies of your team on the company blog. Or feature a
customer-of-the-month selfie in your newsletter. People love human interest. It’s why
newspapers and magazines run profiles of individuals or companies, or stories of rescued
puppies and New Year’s births. Used in the right place (such as an informal setting like the
company blog or Facebook page), and at the right time (for light diversion and human
interest), selfies can humanize your business.
For more ideas, see 25 tips on using Instagram – Instagram is ground zero for selfies.
The point is, keep your customers top of mind as to what you think they would want to see
or find interesting. If use of a selfie would be welcome by them, or benefit them, or cause
them to think better of your business interests, then by all means go for it.
As marketing firm Hero Farm says, make sure your use of selfies “goes beyond feeding
egos.” And always remember to be mindful of the time and place when sharing selfies.
What is a Selfie, you may ask?
Definition: A photo of oneself usually taken with a mobile phone and pos
media sites.
2005 to 2008 was dominated by MySpace, the largest social network then who started the
selfie concept by letting users upload a ‘MySpace pic.’
Fast forward to August 28, 2013, when ‘Selfie’ has been officially added to
Dictionary.
All kinds of people from kids to important public figures like
selfies.
The Selfie Phenomenon [INFOGRAPHIC]
A photo of oneself usually taken with a mobile phone and posted online to social
2005 to 2008 was dominated by MySpace, the largest social network then who started the
selfie concept by letting users upload a ‘MySpace pic.’
Fast forward to August 28, 2013, when ‘Selfie’ has been officially added to Oxford
All kinds of people from kids to important public figures like The Pope have starting taking
The Selfie Phenomenon [INFOGRAPHIC]
ted online to social
2005 to 2008 was dominated by MySpace, the largest social network then who started the
Oxford
have starting taking
The Selfie Phenomenon [INFOGRAPHIC]
The Philippines’ Digital Boom: 5 Key
Trends for 2014
By Will Greene on February 16, 2014 in General TMT Trends
Booming digital markets in the Philippines create unprecedented
opportunities for investors and companies of all sizes in 2014, according to Perfect Digital
Storm: Philippines, a new report by Tigercub Digital. The report, which I co-authored,
provides extensive detail about the country’s fast-growing digital, social and mobile markets.
It also includes recommendations for how to capitalize on key trends before the opportunities
close.
The full report is intended primarily for industry stakeholders that require the
most comprehensive, current and reliable data, as well as actionable insights for how to use it.
For those who are only interested in the big picture, this article will share five of the report’s
key takeaways.
(1) Internet Access Is On the Rise–But Still Has Limited Reach
Between 2008 and 2012, internet access in the Philippines grew by over 500%, the fastest
rate in all of Southeast Asia. Over this timeframe, millions of people gained access to the
internet for the first time, while millions of others gained more consistent and better quality
access than ever before. Despite major improvements in the country’s digital infrastructure,
however, internet penetration hovered at only 36% in 2012, and service quality remains
inconsistent across the country.
Growing internet access in the Philippines poses opportunities and challenges for many kinds
of companies. The opportunity is that brands have an increasingly fertile channel for
connecting with consumers, while entirely new markets are opening in a range of internet
sectors, including online retail, gaming, photo sharing, cloud services, music and more.
Companies that get in early will have a fast start on competitors and capture mindshare
before the market gets cluttered with options, but they will also have to face up to the
challenge of operating in immature markets that might not be ready for what they have to
offer.
(2) Mobile Penetration Now Exceeds 100%–But Smartphone Penetration Remains Low
Mobile penetration, defined as the ratio of mobile subscriptions to people in the
country, topped 100% for the first time in 2012, representing strong growth in the mobile
category. Yet smartphone penetration, at 15% in 2013, remains low for Southeast Asia, and
users tend to be less active on their devices than in the region’s more developed countries. On
average, Filipinos spend less time on their smartphones each day than Indonesians, Thais and
Malaysians. They also use tablets less, though tablet penetration is growing too.
As with internet access, low smartphone penetration presents opportunities and challenges to
mobile companies. Since the vast majority of devices in use by Filipinos are basic phones, the
market for mobile apps and many services remains immature, limiting business opportunities
in the short term. On the plus side, however, the Philippines has some of the highest rates of
smartphone sales growth in Southeast Asia, so it’s only a matter of time before market
demand emerges for smartphone-oriented services.
(3) Social Media Usage Rates Are Off the Charts–But This Doesn’t Guarantee Conversions
No matter how you cut it, the Philippines has some of the world’s highest social media
engagement rates across nearly all platforms. 96% of Filipino netizens use social media,
which accounts for a whopping 42% of total screen time in the country, more than any other
country in Southeast Asia. Facebook and Twitter penetration are among the highest in the
world. Instagram and Pinterest are also wildly popular.
These statistics can and should be exciting to companies, but as most digital marketers know,
high social media engagement does not always translate into sales or meaningful branding
opportunities. Any successful social media campaigns will require a detailed understanding
the nuances of Filipino culture, which shares some similarities with other emerging markets
but also has contours that are unique in the region–and the world.
(4) Filipinos Are Brand Friendly and Ready to Buy–But This Won’t Last Long
The Philippines has some of the highest levels of brand openness and engagement in the
world. In the fourth quarter of 2013, the country led Southeast Asia in online brand
engagement across a range of metrics, from social shares to website visits, and across many
content channels, from social networks to blogs and online forums. Mobile users in the
Philippines are more likely to click on mobile ads than in any other Southeast Asian country,
even though they are less likely to see them.
High levels of brand openness and engagement presents amazing branding opportunities for
companies of all types, but the window of opportunity is unlikely to last long. Although this
is not a hard and fast rule, countries tend to grow less brand friendly as they grow more
developed. As Filipinos gain greater experience with digital technologies, the novelty of
online advertising will wear off and many consumers will grow jaded to marketing initiatives.
For many brands, the time to act is now.
(5) Innovative Startups Show Disruptive Potential–But This is No Silicon Valley
It’s a long way from Silicon Valley and a far cry from business-friendly Singapore, but the
Philippines nonetheless plays host to a growing number of innovative startups. Some of these
startups, such as Kalibrr (which provides recruiting software for BPO companies), Rappler
(an innovative online media company) and House of Serafina (an online retailer of statement
and heirloom jewelry), are homegrown and Filipino-owned. Others like Lenddo (a
microlending platform that uses social signals to assess credit worthiness) and PayrollHero (a
cloud-based employee management system) have foreign founders, but made the Philippines
one of their primary markets.
Dubbed a “startup to watch” but the Manila Bulletin, House of Serafina is an online vendor
of statement jewelry in the Philippines. Disclosure: Anthony Cospito, Director of Tigercub
Digital, is a co-founder of House
Oliver Segovia, a leading Filipino entrepreneur who runs e
believes that the Philippines has a unique advantage
markets” and thus “can be a testing ground for solutions that scale across the developing
world.” Despite increasing startup activity, however, the Philippines faces some built
structural challenges to entrepreneurialism and innovation, including
opportunities and access to technology
performance on many indicators of busine
full potential as a hub for innovation in the emerging markets, the country will need to
long list of reforms regarding entrepreneurship and innovation
The “Perfect Digital Storm”
its force to a “perfect digital storm” of increased digital engagement,
and favorable demographics. On the economic front, the country
7.2% in 2013, despite suffering one of the worst natural disasters in the world that year. On
based employee management system) have foreign founders, but made the Philippines
Dubbed a “startup to watch” but the Manila Bulletin, House of Serafina is an online vendor
of statement jewelry in the Philippines. Disclosure: Anthony Cospito, Director of Tigercub
founder of House of Serafina.
Oliver Segovia, a leading Filipino entrepreneur who runs e-commerce startup
the Philippines has a unique advantage of being a “microcosm of emerging
markets” and thus “can be a testing ground for solutions that scale across the developing
Despite increasing startup activity, however, the Philippines faces some built
structural challenges to entrepreneurialism and innovation, including inferior educational
opportunities and access to technology; lack of post-seed stage funding for startups; and
performance on many indicators of business friendliness. For the Philippines to achieve its
full potential as a hub for innovation in the emerging markets, the country will need to
long list of reforms regarding entrepreneurship and innovation that will take time to take root.
The digital boom in the Philippines today owes much of
“perfect digital storm” of increased digital engagement, strong economic growth
and favorable demographics. On the economic front, the country posted GDP growth rates of
, despite suffering one of the worst natural disasters in the world that year. On
based employee management system) have foreign founders, but made the Philippines
Dubbed a “startup to watch” but the Manila Bulletin, House of Serafina is an online vendor
of statement jewelry in the Philippines. Disclosure: Anthony Cospito, Director of Tigercub
commerce startup AVA.ph,
of being a “microcosm of emerging
markets” and thus “can be a testing ground for solutions that scale across the developing
Despite increasing startup activity, however, the Philippines faces some built-in,
inferior educational
for startups; and low
. For the Philippines to achieve its
full potential as a hub for innovation in the emerging markets, the country will need to enact a
that will take time to take root.
The digital boom in the Philippines today owes much of
strong economic growth
posted GDP growth rates of
, despite suffering one of the worst natural disasters in the world that year. On
the demographic front, half the Philippines’ household population under 23, it is also one of
the youngest countries in Asia.
Young people with increasing levels of disposable income are a key target market for many
digital technologies and services, so these demographic factors provide fertile ground for
digital enterprises of all sizes and shapes.
All signs indicate that the Philippines’ strong growth rates will continue in the coming years,
but emerging markets are fragile and prone to mood swings in global capital flows. Some
commentators warn that the country is already in bubble mode, while others contest such
claims as irresponsible alarmism. Ultimately, global macroeconomic conditions almost
always defy prediction, so even though the Philippines presents strong economic
fundamentals, it’s virtually impossible to state what will happen down the line. Tigercub
Digital remains optimistic, however, and rightfully so–barring unexpected catastrophe,
conditions remain ripe for further growth in the country’s digital markets.
The big question is what to make of all this data and how to capitalize on these trends. The
full report provides extensive information and insights for companies, entrepreneurs and
investors that currently operate or have an interest in the Philippines. For more information,
download the free Executive Summary or contact me with any further inquiries.