FireFox Download Day: Killer Social Media Marketing
Firefox 3 is out today and I downloaded it along with millions of other smart, sensible web users (;)). We’re trying to set the world record for most software downloads in a single day and so far, it looks like we’re gonna pull it off. I’ve been using the beta for months, and in addition to loving FF3, I have to say that I’m thoroughly impressed by Mozilla’s marketing efforts. If you go to wakoopa.com/downloadday, you’ll see a live update of number of users who downloaded FF3. As I write this post (about 12 hours into DL day), it’s currently at 4,932,609. Incredible!
Mozilla’s Download Day initiative is a true example of killer social media marketing. The site SpreadFireFox.com has an easy-to-navigate layout and clearly invites visitors to be part of a greater *community* initiative. It’s not a team of employees who are making it happen; it’s an entire web community who believe in their product.
What they did right:
- Incorporated dynamic content on their main page. Successful websites today need to take on a life of their own. This is done by the community or site visitors who act like oxygen, breathing air into a site with their content and conversation. On sharefirefox.com, there are elements like a forum, live comments, and a photo stream that reflect this.
- Initiated and engaged in community-based conversation. The creation of a forum completely invites users to talk amongst each other as well as interact with actual peeps from FF. Props to the Mozilla team for having the sense to be responsive to the discourse and maintain a fairly updated FAQ.
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Invited users to help. The beauty of social media marketing is that once you give users the tools, they go out and do all the legwork. Check out all the ways Firefox users could help spread the word about download day: Host in-person download day parties, share on sites like facebook, bebo, and myspace, and post badges onto blogs via affiliate codes. They even created a Twitter account! I predict we’re totally going to set the world record as a result of these efforts. I’m ecstatic because I am such a FF fangirl. Some folks like IE, but every time I engage in a conversation about the better web browser, I liken the conversation to arguments I had in Middle School:
12 Year-Old Alexa’s Conversation
Me: “Nsync is so the better boyband.”
Random teenybopper: “Nu-uh. Like, Backstreet Boys ALL THE WAY!”
Me: “Who’s your favorite member?”
Random teenybopper: “Nick Carter”
Me: “We can’t be friends.”
21 Year-Old Alexa’s Conversation:
Me: “Firefox is SO the better web browser.”
Random person: “Nu-uh. IE FTW!”
Me: “No way. What version are you running?”
Random geek: “IE6.”
Me: “We can’t be friends.”
(Seriously IE6 folk… Why?! I can’t believe I’ve evolved into this big of a geekette that I’m blogging about a web browser, even worse that I’m comparing web browsers to boy bands, but that’s me.
A few notes about the browser itself: I’ve used FF3 on both Windows (Vista and XP) and right now on my Mac. Surfing the web is fast and friendly. Little nuances make the entire experience better, like the way url’s are cached as well as the cute little star in the address bar that serves as a bookmark icon. All my extensions are upgraded and work fine (web developer, tiny url, piclens, bettergmail, delicious, etc.).
If you haven’t downloaded FF3 already, DO EEET!!!! If not for the browser features, do it because Mozilla’s marketing efforts should be rewarded! Oh, and also because FF3 totally gives new meaning to the Justin Timberlake song, “SexyBack“:
Your Offline Presence: What really matters when looking for a job in a web 2.0 world
I’m making a trip up to Boston again for the second time this month. Why? I’m looking for a job in the area, specifically a job working in social media.
I had a friend ask me, “Why do you have to go all the way up there just to talk to people about potential jobs? Aren’t these dudes like always online? Just send them an email with your resume.”
I wish it were that easy, but it’s not. Yeah “these dudes” aka social media folk are always online, but they’re not as accessible as you think. I’ve found that social media professionals today have networks and InBoxes that are saturated with surface-level connections and far too many friend requests, to the point where they can’t even manage them properly. If you want to get noticed, you need to make yourself recognizable beyond an avatar. In my case, this means sitting on a bus for 5 hours to attend the PopSignal party for the night.
Earlier this month, Bryan Person held one of his Social Media Breakfasts, which was appropriately centered around “hiring and getting hired in the Web 2.0 world.” A summary of what the panelists said that day:
- “Think of social media as a thin slice way to build a relationship and also to increase your brand and presence. Engage people in the beginning of a conversation (online via social network) and then take it offline to really deepen the relationship.” – Stever Robbins aka Get-It-Done Guy
- “No resumes. I don’t want to see any paper. I don’t want to see the school you went to…the last 5 jobs…I don’t want you to email me because I know that the people I want to hire live and breath social media (use twitter linkedin, facebook, etc).” – Aaron Strout, VP of New Media at Mzinga
- “If I don’t already know the person, I question why should I? The people we want to hire are the people we already know…” – Todd Defren, Principal at SHIFT Communications
- “Use these tools….but the tools don’t get the job, you get the job.” – Chris Brogan
There you go. Straight from the folks who know it best.
In my own words, the best advice for anyone who wants to work in the industry: show up and speak up. Find out what events are taking place and who’s going to be there. Go to the event and then make yourself known as a potential hire.
These days, you need to make the extra effort by establishing a presence both online and offline and engage in conversations beyond blog posts and direct messages. That was a lesson I learned at the first SMB I ever attended back in February, which focused on “how twitter changed my life.”
Alright, Boston. Here I come!
