Guaranteed Social Media Success for CNBC

At The Motley Fool, we (the marketing team) watch CNBC constantly. When we moved to our new office last summer, we switched over to their “HD+” channel. It was a little disappointing — I was excited to watch Cramer in all his hi-def glory, but quickly realized their HD feed is actually pathetic standard def with an info sidebar on the right side (see pic).

As you can see, the sidebar is filled with current quotes and historical data — all important information for people following the market. However, if you think about it, it’s a complete waste of space.

The thing is: all the data that is shown on the right hand side of the screen is repetitive. Currency info and indices information is all available on the top of the CNBC screen on a rotating basis. Also, the historical info is something that can be easily found through Google or Yahoo Finance, Bloomberg, or even the iPhone stocks app. In my opinion, it really doesn’t add much value for the amount of space it takes up on the screen.

In a world where information equals profits, CNBC could easily use this space to track what the community is talking about at any given point. They could pull in StockTwits about the companies that are being discussed at that given moment, monitor the #CNBC discussion thread on Twitter or start a Facebook page where (similar to CNN’s coverage of Michael Jackson’s memorial concert or the Inauguration) people could comment in real-time about the market or CNBC’s coverage, or even pull in YouTube videos that viewers create to comment on the day’s events (and put the audio on the SAP channel).

If news organizations are looking for ways to stay relevant, a simple mantra comes to mind: “If you can’t beat them, join them.” Old-school news coverage is quickly being eclipsed by real-time community reporting. With this simple change in its sidebar, CNBC could take a major step toward joining the “new world” while providing more complete and interesting coverage for its viewers. Seems like a much better call then what they have now.

I’m Baaaack!

Yeah — remember when I said that I’m going to write more on this blog? That I had tons of different thoughts, ideas, and rants?

Yeah, looks like I blew that one.

So here I am, trying to get back into blogging. Anybody want to place bets on whether I can maintain any sort of regularity this time?

But, if you’re the one person who reads this blog, then you probably care about marketing — specifically marketing by leveraging an online community.

So you should know about the upcoming Interact show. It’s going to have a ton of people presenting that have really helped shaped this type of marketing.

I’m planning on attending John Bell’s presentation — I’ve been reading his blog for a while and am excited to hear him speak in person (according to his Twitter page, he’s usually at conferences all over the world — and not in DC).

Some Cool Notables:
Large Hadron Rap
Steve Jobs quells fears that he is dead
and…

The Motley Fool has a Twitter page. I’m going to devote an entire post to this, but it’s cool to see how we’re paving the way for how media companies can use these type of sites.

4 Reasons Why I Blog

The other day, someone asked me why I write a blog. As I was thinking about a response to this question, I realized that to outsiders to the blogging world, it might be a little tough to understand. Why would I take time out of an already jam-packed day to voice my opinions to the online world (and really no one in particular)? I’ve compiled a list of 5 reasons why I do it:

1. I have a unique perspective – I am the Fresh Marketer. Throughout the past five years of my career, I kept hearing about my ability to bring a unique perspective to traditional marketing. I would always look to outside the box when considering how to organize a budget for the year. This unique perspective has caused me to ask a lot of questions about things that people generally don’t question. And hey, what’s a better place to ask these questions than an open online forum like a blog?
2. I want to take part in the online conversation - For years, I’ve consumed information through new media: blogs, social communities like Digg, Podcasts, etc and I wanted to provide information back to the community. This new world of social media is all about enabling conversations: between companies and their customers, between members of various groups, and of random people. It’s all about exchanging information and I’ve got information that I can add to the conversation.
3. I am developing my brand - One thing that’s nice about having a home online is that it helps be develop my brand. If you haven’t started thinking about yourself as a brand, you had better start. The way people (coworkers, industry counterparts, etc) feel about you is your very own brand. Having this blog identifies me with the brand attributes that I hope I portray and gives me a vehicle through which to further develop the brand.
4. It returns power to the individual - This point could also be, “It gives me a voice.” Writing for a blog lets me provide my thoughts on anything: a customer service experience that I recently had, a review of a product that I own (or want to own)…anything. By writing a blog, I’m standing out in a crowd from other customers or product owners because whatever I say is uncensored and will be online indefinitely. Not that I’m power-hungry. Promise.

I bring this up because if you haven’t thought about writing a blog before, there’s really nothing stopping you now. Blogging has definitely tipped and it becomes more apparent everyday. (Take a look at what the folks over at Businesspundit have to say about a new Blogger scholarship.) It’s easy to sign up for a free blogging account and get started.

For those of you who blog, I’d love to hear why you do it. Please tell me why in the comments below.

Just Another Way the Motley Fool Rocks…

I love the Motley Fool (based close to me in Alexandria, VA). Actually, when I was first looking to move back to the DC area, I tried and tried and tried to find a position for me to work with them. I really think they outsmoke their competition by totally changing the way that people look at financial advising. They’re an exciting company to keep a watch on.

Seth posted a link about their CAPS feature, which until now, I wasn’t aware of (even after spending a considerable amount of time on their homepage). Perhaps it was because I hadn’t heard about it before and they didn’t have any text on their homepage that drew me to this service. This just goes to show you how important it is to assume your readers online (like in print) don’t know anything. They used their brand-name “CAPS” all over their homepage, but until today, those letters didn’t mean anything to me. I would’ve loved to have some space on their homepage devoted to explaining what “CAPS” is and why I should care about it.

Regardless of how they introduce this online community (links to CAPS site) on their homepage, it’s really exciting to see how an innovative group of thinkers can leverage the power of a community to be successful in advising.