Think Facebook is just a tool for your kids in college to organize parties?

Think again.

HubSpot's new State of Facebook for Business report, released today, shows that brand- and product-focused pages represent 39% of all pages. The brand/product category is the largest single category of Facebook pages. Pages for local organizations and public figures each represent about 30% of the total Facebook pages.

Despite Dominos' negative experience with social media earlier this year, which involved the explosion of a YouTube video showing two employees doing repulsive things with Dominos ingredients, the brand is now embracing the channel to promote its brand with its new Pizza Turnaround campaign.

For a brand, one advantage of social media involvement is the opportunity to generate instant customer feedback.  Dominos' new strategy is a great example of a company using social media to listen to and react to its customers in order to solve a problem.

Let's take a look at what they're doing.

The Problem

Dominos has had the same pizza recipe since they launched 50 years ago, and while it finished first in pizza delivery and value according to a 2009 Brand Keys survey of national restaurant chains, it also finished dead last in consumers' taste preference.  With pizza deliveries down 6% compared to last year according to USA Today, Dominos knew it needed to make a change.

The Solution

Dominos decided to completely change its pizza recipe, hoping to reinvent its brand and change its reputation for taste.  Based on two years of research involving customer taste tests of 50 blends of seasonings, 15 sauces and dozens of cheeses, Dominos launched its new recipe to customers yesterday, featuring a sweeter sauce, a newly seasoned crust and a different blend of cheeses.

The Strategy 

To launch its "turnaround," Dominos has created a new website, www.pizzaturnaround.com, which features a new video documentary on YouTube (see above) that uses real Dominos employees to tell the story of how Dominos listened to its critics and is changing its pizza recipe for the better.  The site also includes a Twitter stream showing people's reactions to the new recipe (via the hashtag #newpizza).

Dominos is encouraging consumers to try the new pizza and offer feedback via social media like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.  Perhaps an even bolder approach, the brand is also reaching out to food bloggers who have previously made negative comments about the pizza's taste, asking them to publicly review the new recipe.

What Dominos is Doing Right

We can respect Dominos' campaign for a number of reasons.  For one thing, they're doing a great job of taking advantage of multiple social media channels (e.g. YouTube, Twitter, Facebook) to accomplish their goal.  Secondly, they're actually listening to what their customers are saying in order to improve their brand and their customers' experiences.  They're also being extremely transparent in their approach by asking their customers and critics to offer their feedback, whether positive or negative.

While it's too soon to tell if the company is benefiting financially from its new reinvention, Dominos' marketing approach is definitely admirable and unique.  In the very least, it's certainly generating some initial buzz and curiosity.

What do you think of Dominos' new campaign?  Has it tempted you to try the new recipe?

Video: How to Use Social Media to Attract More Customers

Learn how to use social media to attract more customers. Download the free video and learn how to generate more business using social media.

Today, I received a YellowBook on my doorstep.

I just barely remember a time when I would have taken that YellowBook inside and given it a loving home in the closet next to my mom’s cookbooks, extra light bulbs, and flashlight. Now, it’s propping up my snow shovel so it doesn’t tip over. For me, this visual is a strong reminder of the risk traditional marketers are taking when they don't look to the future and react to the marketplace.

It’s impossible to tell you exactly what will happen next year or even 5 years from now, but I do know this: outbound tactics that worked well-enough in 2009 for your business will not work 5 years later in 2014. Companies must continue to evolve with the marketplace or face extinction.

As Augie Ray, Sr. Social Computing Analyst at Forrester points out, “2009 we witnessed the most profound evolution the marketing world has seen in fifty years or more.  The pace of change is not going to lessen in 2010.  Core elements that have driven marketing practices for decades--such as messaging strategy, mass media, PR, advertising, and others--will continue to change rapidly.”

Could this be the year when Inbound Marketing crosses the chasm? It very well could be. The signs are all there: Big Brands like Pepsi and Dominos have traded in million-dollar advertisements and PR campaigns for online communities and social media. Fortune 500 CEOs are warning vendors that Outbound Marketing is annoying. Small Businesses are blowing their competition out of the water by 55%, simply because they blog.

To prepare you for the rapid changes that are sure to come, I’ve asked some members of HubSpot’s marketing team and even Brian Halligan, CEO of HubSpot, to share their 2010 marketing predictions.

2010 Will Be the Year of Integrated Inbound Marketing.

The euphoria of social media marketing will turn into a hangover, followed by the epiphany that social media is just one tool, and the path to success is paved with a comprehensive inbound marketing strategy, not using individual tools. (@MVolpe)

Press Release Services Will Experience a Decline in Business.

As more companies adopt social media marketing practices and find more (free) ways to disseminate their news via social sites/networks, fewer will turn to press releases to distribute news and press release wire services will experience a decline in business. (@Pamelump)

Business Blogging Will Continue to Rise, Encouraged By Increased Awareness About Social Media

As PPC costs continue to rise, companies will begin to hunt actively for other, organic ways to boost ROI and target attractive keywords, eventually settling on blogging as a way to generate more organic leads. Social media will also help accelerate interest in business blogging next year. A recent report on Social Media Usage by the Center for Marketing research says that 44% of the Inc's fastest growing companies that do not currently maintain a blog, plan to start a business blog in 2010. Interestingly enough, in the same study, a whopping 91% of respondents also claimed that they use at least 1 social networking site for their business. I believe as companies begin to experience success using social networking tools, their desire to share and create their own content for these mediums will increase. (@shaxxon)

Inbound Marketing Will "Cross the Chasm"

2.  Consumers will get even better at blocking out advertisements, email blasts, and cold calls.
3.  Consumers will get even better at finding what they want in Google, blogs, and social media sites.
4.  Google's growth will stall as Adwords becomes an "efficient" market.
5.  Traditional advertising (tv, newspaper, radio) will shrink faster than in 2009.
6.  PR & Advertising firms will either transform or start to go away.
7.  Serious journalists like the NYTimes and Wall Street Journal will shrink, but will remain as relevant as ever.
8.  Companies will start turn their marketing departments into production studios for creating content.
9.  Companies will be even more transparent and even more authentic.
10. The economy will roar (not limp) back (@BHallign)

Google Will Disrupt the Mobile Industry Providing More Opportunities for Marketers.

Rumor has it, that Google will be putting their full force behind direct sales of a handset that works on the wireless network of your choice. They'll then take on Apple with their own Android app store by promoting it heavily. As more Android phones sell, they'll reduce the margins of all of the other maps players by giving away GPS-like maps and directions on your handset. They'll do all of this in order to move more local online advertising dollars to their pockets, leveraging their newly acquired mobile ad network. 

For marketers that don't want to get left behind, you should start building mobile apps and positioning yourself on mobile networks. If you're a local business, you should get yourself in tune with Google's maps and local listing capabilities.(@Pc4Media)

In 2010, Content Director Is King.

The position of Content Director will be critical to any marketing department as they try to leverage existing resources (ie human, digital, content assistants) to communicate with prospects and customers (@JeanneHopkins)

Do you have a 2010 Marketing Prediction you'd like to share? Post it to Twitter with the hashtag #Marketing2010

There's no doubt that the multitude of social media channels encourages us to consume information in various ways, whether it be via video, audio, images, games or, ah yes - the written word. 

But don't undermine the value of that last one.  A new study conducted by the University of San Diego dispels recent rumor that the written word has died due to the rise of the more visually stimulating media like video and images.  In fact, the study finds that the influx of new technologies is causing us to read even more than we used to, revealing that reading has actually tripled between 1980 and 2008.

So while many Internet critics may be quick to claim that the rise of the Web means the death of the written word, the new study stresses the exact opposite.  And although the written word may be knocking at death's door in the world of print publishing, it's certainly alive and thriving on the World Wide Web.   

So what does this mean for you and your business?  True - it can definitely be beneficial to experiment with new media like online video and podcasting in your marketing efforts, but let's not forget about the importance of business blogging as a way to reach your prospects. 

Blogging is one of the oldest forms of new media and inbound marketing, and it's not going anywhere.  So if you want to take advantage of this increased reliability on the online written word by consumers, blogging is the way to do it. 

What we can speculate here is that people are reading now more than ever because technology is making it extremely easy for them to find exactly what they're looking for; the increased ease of search is satisfying their informational needs.  In fact, a study we reported on two months ago also found that most people who use the Internet are emotionally responsive and remembered content that they found by "searching."  Therefore, businesses who are blogging and creating content that appeals to the needs of their target audiences are getting found and taking advantage of the increase in online reading.

So, fellow bloggers, I urge you to keep blogging and fulfilling the informational needs of your prospects.  I have a feeling you'll reap the benefits.

Image via the University of San Diego Global Information Industry Center.

Webinar: Advanced Business Blogging

Learn how to meet the informational needs of your prospects by building your business blog into an inbound marketing machine. Download the free webinar to learn how to create a thriving blog.

Become a Fan on Facebook Get inside info and advance notice of HubSpot's free marketing webinars, ebooks and more. Click here -->

In case you haven't noticed, MTV’s new reality show, Jersey Shore, is creating quite a stir. The latest drama occurred this week when the actual Jersey shore community, Seaside Heights, rejected the show's depiction of the seaside town claiming it portrayed the population as skimpy, rude party goers. Still, even with the controversy, this reality show about 20-something Italian Americans living in a posh beach home continues to thrive in conversation online.

If you have never been to the city of Seaside Heights in the show, it’s hard to imagine the culture being portrayed, so I can see why everyone is so curious (and why many families in the community are concerned). No matter how you feel about the show, Jersey Shore has developed a passionate niche audience and culture which has spawned a boat-load of conversations.

Since I’ve spent time living and working on the Jersey Shore, I felt qualified to share a few good marketing lessons that can be derived from MTV’s Jersey Shore phenomenon.

With that being said, I want to assure you that I don’t have orange skin or six-pack abs. 

Add Some Personality To Your Marketing Mix.

I’ve heard break downs on each cast member of the show, and it didn’t take me long to realize that they stand-out because each person is a character. One even refers to himself as “The Situation."  By having a distinct personality in your marketing mix, your audience will feel like they are interacting with a person, not a faceless company.

Be a Little Controversial.

I doubt anyone thinks that MTV was clueless about possible reactions to their use of the word “guido” and that video of a female cast member being punched. Though it's only been on a short time, Jersey Shore's steady stream of controversial episodes has generated a large amount of press for the show and spread the word far beyond their usual audience. While I don't suggest filming people getting punched to attract a conversation about your business (unless it's 1,000 frames per second with your coworker's permission in controlled conditions), I do think it's important to step out of the box every now and then and drum up some controversy. One of my favorite SEO/Branding bloggers, Lisa Barone of Outspoken Media does a great job of using controversy in a good way.

Capitalize On Buzz-Worthy Conversations.

In the past 3 days, I’ve received a number of emails about the Jersey Shore Name Generator and Alyssa Milano’s “Evolution: Jersey Shore” video (which is a spoof on Jersey Shore AND Dove's Campaign For Real Beauty.) In both cases, the marketing teams at Unlikely Words and Funny Or Die are capitalizing on the buzz around a current event or trend to draw in traffic. Create your own content that references the topic for your own purposes. (*cough, cough*)

Ultimately, it is hard to determine what will grab the attention of your target audience. But, when something shows up on the cultural radar, smart marketers should take a step back and analyze what they can learn from it.

Now it’s time to do more sit-ups.

Inbound Marketing Kit

Learn moreabout inbound marketing and how to combine blogging, SEO and socialmedia for results. Download our inboundmarketing kit.

I was a teenager who kept a journal.

Hiding the journal was essential to keeping it. After all, it kept my thoughts safe from the prying eyes of my mother and sister.  

Over the years, nurtured by the sharing capabilities of the internet, I became less concerned that my parents and sister were going to read my journal. In fact, I left many of them at my house when I went away to college.

What changed? Well, the web allowed me to have more two-way conversations with my family and friends. Plus, by the time I left for college, much of that information in the journal was now grossly out of date or practically public knowledge anyway -- why was I working so hard before to keep it safe? I benefited more by sharing than I ever did by holding my cards close to my chest.

In 2010, Public is the New Default

If you’re company is entering 2010 with the same mentality as a teenager protecting her diary, you’ve come to the wrong decade. I know for some businesses, fear of losing an edge over the competition or fear of backlash prevents them truly embracing the spirit of the age. Earlier today, Eric Schonfield of TechCrunch wrote about this change saying it “represents a major shift in the social fabric, and it is only now just getting started. If you thought there was a lot of hair-pulling over privacy in 2009, just wait until 2010. Facebook’s new privacy policies which favor more public sharing, will be a big driver of this shift, as will the continued adoption of Twitter, which by its very design makes personal utterances public. Then there are startups like Blippy that go even further by turning every single purchase into a public statement."

Though Eric (and Techcrunch) have a tendency to makes this shift sound a massive headache, I am optimistic about the evolution of the web. It's transformed from a dark, Batcave like lair where you weren’t sure who Batman really is or what side he works for – into a transparent universe where information flows more freely. On the 2010 web, we know who Batman is – he’s Bruce Wayne - and he blogs and tweets about his adventures daily.

Become a Leader in Business Transparency in Your Industry

As your business enters the new decade, consider your options. Instead of simply following along, work on becoming the leader in business transparency for your industry. You could encourage customers to share their ideas and write about their experience with your brand in a public forum. Shoot videos that give an intimate glimpse into the way your company operates like this video about the importance of gluten-free equipment by allergen-free food maker Kinnikinnick Foods. Allow your employees to blog, build public relationships, and share their ideas about your industry with the world. Provide a way for your customers (and everyone, really) to peek in and see how your software is performing. You can even keep a Twitter list of your employees and encourage them to share their personality and represent your brand daily.
 
Or, you could continue to wait for a different world. Either way, we are definitely headed toward a new wave of transparency in 2010 –  many of the social networks we’ve talked about this year have moved far and away from a private default (choosing to make some things public) to a public default (pre-selecting the things we want to make private).

Will your business be a window or a wall in 2010?  One thing I do know – it’s way easier for your prospects to climb in through a window. 

photo by phil h

Webinar: The Science of Social Media Marketing

Become a Fan on Facebook Get inside info and advance notice of HubSpot's free marketing webinars, ebooks and more. Click here -->