Facebook the Big Phat Social Video Failure

First off I wish to state something because I don't want to sound like a complete jerk. When I normally rail on Facebook, it's specifically for their selectively hyping things that make the site seem more impressive to Brands, Marketers, Agencies, Investors, Media, and Humanity than they actually are all in the name of trying to go IPO and not lose their Mafia Money Investor's shirts.

What Facebook has done is pretty impressive. Having 60 million US consumers log into a site each day is something to be complimented. Even using Nielsen's more believable numbers of 146 million unique visitors for the month of August would have over 40 million US consumers logging in. Very few web properties can say this.

What has me in a huff today is several news stories hyping the fact that Facebook has passed Yahoo into second place for online video views with 250 million in August. 

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I hate aggregation when it makes things sound incredible. Too many of you (especially the Mashable's...ahem..I mean media) sound like that Big Dumb Dog who follows the Little Smart Dog in the cartoon repeating everything the Little Smart Dog says without thinking what you are saying.

But I live in reality!

I know you think wow 250 million views, but we forget this is a worldwide network with supposedly 540 million members. This network claims 55min per day per user spent on Facebook. This network has pretty much conned everyone into this Viral bullshit that really is false. Facebook might help make a You Tube Video go viral, but Twitter, email, and word of mouth in person and on the phone are also part of this.

Using Facebook's own numbers here is the proper perspective:

Every active user watches 0.46 Videos per month. Not even half a video?

Facebook claims 491 million hours per day spent on the network or 14.72 Billion hours of time per month. 

And we all know how many people post videos into the live feed. And all they could get is 250 million views for a whole month?

If I was a Brand or a Marketer I would be saying WTF? How come such a big massive failure when it comes to video? And even using the lame excuse 'Well it's ramping up!' Did you just read what I wrote. 27.5 Hours of time per user per month and each user watched 0.46 Videos? That probably averages about 3 mins out of 27.5 hours spent, are watching video per user. 

I hate to say it Facebook, but your numbers look better using Nielsen's 146 Million unique visitors and 6hrs per month spent per user, than the bullshit your shoveling down peoples throats.

Social Media is a Communications Technology Platform

Remember the nice Wi-Fi Adapters we used to buy so we could connect our laptops? They came in various forms like a Card Slot type or a USB Adpater. They came from various brands like Netgear and Linksys and the Electronics Stores included them in the Sunday Circulars. They were a stand alone device that we bought and added to our computing Ecosystem. Then one day when electronics got small enough and adaption wide enough, you started seeing them included inside the hi end Laptops and eventually all Laptops and now even my Motorola Droid2 has Wi-Fi included in my little phone.

Think of the Laptop as the Media/Communication ecosystem. 

Right now we have Facebook, Twitter, etc. They are Add Ons right now. None of them are integrated into our Laptop or Phone. We have to go to a website, download an App. Just like with early Wi-Fi some of the first movers didn't pan out. They had clumsy solutions, but smart people eventually caught on and took the early work and ran with it. Think today of Motorola Blur, Google Wave as stabs at this.

Within 10 years there will not be a Twitter or Facebook Network as we know them today. The technology will exist. But not as stand alone businesses. We will be integrating Social in every device, and it will be technology to be bought and sold. The winners will be able to craft strategies that cross all platforms and technologies.

Creative's will not just be people who craft messages and make Advertising. Creative's will also include people who dream up new Strategies and Campaigns for their clients to reach their target demographics in ways that reduce wastage/over spend, but make the activity of that engagement much more rewarding and enjoyable for Consumers.

At our finger tips we will have choices. 

And all these choices will have privacy levels that we decide with a voice command or a simple touch stroke who we want to share what with. We can group together in anyway with anyone at any time. And only those we choose will see what we wish to share or participate with. We can include anyone in any communication, to any level of involvement we desire. I know I just scared the shit out of you Marketers but your job will get easier. Trust me. (I have Space Daiquiris if you need to calm your nerves).

Imagine conditioning people with this technology to enhance their buying and sharing experience. 

That they know they can go into a store and opt in with a simple action to see if they have special offers? Maybe a deal that with a simple electronic tag if I share a purchase with my network I get rewarded. And we will all have filters for everything so we only receive relevant communications. These filters get built over time by us blocking similar communications when we receive something we don't care for. So technically a Store or Brand could customize all offers based on an Individual's filters.

Maybe I will ask my friends for help deciding on whether to buy something by sending a digital 3-D image/avatar of me wearing a new shirt and ask if they like it? And the ones I send it too possibly get a rider offer from the Store or Brand?

There will be a two way bargaining of information between Brands and Consumers.

All of this across all Networks and all Providers. It will be woven seamlessly into our Mobile Devices and Networks. And the real players not being Facebook or Twitter, but they will be the Communication Device Manufacturers (CDM's) and Communication Network Providers (CNP's) who make these tasks easy for People, for Marketers, and for Brands. 360 Deg Communications in every way we can imagine. 

This will be the convergence of Social, Digital and Mobile. And it is coming. If you don't think so...what if Motorola Blur was so slick it handled every one of our Social Networks without us every being on a specific network? It would of succeeded right? They were first movers. But don't think they won't be the last. Get ready.

Can Social Media be Scaled for Big Brands?

I recently wrote a post saying that for Big Brands they should think Local.

LINK

I also listened to a great Webinar given by @GregVerdino and @JimStorer on microMarketing. I also linked via my blogpost a discussion on Greg's new book of that title. BTW @PoweredInc is giving that Webinar again and I highly recommend you participate. *correction the Webinar is now in the Powered archives. Its a must view. LINK

LINK to @AaronStrout 's review of microMarketing 

Now I wish to get to scale. I have a client @chunknchip that makes a delicious gourmet artisan ice cream sandwich. I helped them grow their twitter followers from 50 to almost 1000 since May 1, and Facebook Fans from 120 to almost 800. I have also trained an intern to help with Twitter and at some of the events they sell at. They also just recently launched their gourmet BOO-Yah!! Truck which a friend of mine painted to much fanfare and acclaim. They took second place out of 49 Trucks for a Yelp! contest at the OC Foodie Fest for favorite truck the day they debuted.

Chunk-n-Chip is only in Southern California. By communicating and growing their fan base especially via Twitter in combination with a superior product they now have a rabid following. So rabid that it is getting hard for me to manage their twitter traffic and interact with everyone who wants to interact. We have gotten many compliments from varied sources that we do Social different than everyone else. But we are getting to a tipping point. It's harder to keep in touch with the early fans because the stream is now handling 900 accounts we follow.

The question I pose is when volume of interaction exceeds people power, how do you remain genuine and keep the relationships going? We have a ton of brand ambassadors that did not exist before. All need to be fed in some way in terms of ensuring they still feel our attention, thanks etc. We can not #FF all of them and not spam everyone's feed. No automated system could make us stay real. And adding people will reduce the ROI.

Let me first state the Chun-n-Chip Brand Ambassadors drive sales. They tell their friends, they post photos of their BOO-Yahs!! on Twitter, they drive 30+ mins in traffic to have one. Its incredible the power of One! I am amazed at what I helped create. Yes it takes a great product, a great business owner willing to take some risks. But this was all done via microMarketing via Social.

But can this scale to large businesses that will impact sales on a large scale? The fact is Brands can not automate social. It must be people connecting with people, or your fans and followers will leave immediately and find other Brands that give them a personal relationship. Remember Brands are hijacking Social Media. Social Media was not created as a Marketing Platform. In fact we are forcing the square peg into the round hole, and very few are achieving success so far. I don't have answers, just observations. I will end though with a simple reinforcement that these individual relationships are powerful when cultivated. And Greg Verdino is right when he discusses microMarketing*. But can it scale?

* I have not read the book. I did participate in Greg's Webinar. I do have the book and I am looking forward to reading it, thank you to Aaron Strout for sending me a complimentary copy. I have no financial interest vested in Greg's Book, Powered Inc, etc. It just nicely fits into the purpose of this blog post.