Yelp’s Just Not That Into You

You know what they say… the best way to get over someone is to get under someone. But what if you just want to be by your lonesome? Yelpers get very creative when it comes to finding those spots in the city to avoid the ex.

First, you need to get off the beaten path. Flora Grubb is a nursery and café that masquerades as an urban garden, and Rob B is just thrilled to be able to enjoy his “Ritual coffee without dealing with the herds of Valencia Street hipsters.” The Dogpatch Saloon is good for crying into your beer with the rest of the regulars: “2 hipster dates, 1 lesbian date, 2 drunks and Miss Lonely Hearts, a middle-aged redhead with a mountain of curls and a lifetime of trouble.” Beth S assures us, “These are my people.” [...]

Or, a few weeks back:

Pho in Love with Yelp

So you think you’ve found the most pho-nomenal pho in town? Yelpers can tell you just where to plunk down that hard-earned $6 for the most slurp-worthy meal in the city,   pho realz.

New to the pho scene? Valeria R lost her pho-ginity at Golden Star, but was lucky to have a friend give her a lesson on, amongst other things, “how to dress the bowl with basil, sprouts and lemon juice.” And while said friend failed to inform her that “it’s not a good idea for a beginner to wear a white shirt while eating pho, the collateral damage was completely worth it.” You might say Ryan V is more of a pho hoochie; he prefers it hot, cheap and easy at Pho Tan Hoa, where the steaming dish comes with plenty of “large, tender, slightly bloody tendons.” Yum!? [...]

Yes, a bit cutesy, but I love it. The bloggy, gossipy style is a perfect way to reward engaged users while drawing unengaged subscribers deep into the site.

If you live in or near a big American city, I totally recommend subscribing — even if you aren’t into Yelp itself, it’s a great overview of what  people are talking about in your city. (And fellow White Whalers, you’re all covered: the East Bay, San Francisco, Portland, Chicago, and New York.)

At the far end of this spectrum is the new Skittles.com. For a brief time last week, the Skittles homepage was nothing but a little Skittles navigation widget with a twitter search for “Skittles” in the background. Everything any twitter user had to say about Skittles was up there in real-time. Now, the homepage jumps between Wikipedia’s Skittles entry, the YouTube Skittles Channel, and the Skittles Facebook page. “Pics” links to a Flickr search for “skittles”, and the Twitter search is still under “chatter”.

Now, we know you’re not selling candy. And unlike Skittles you probably don’t have the benefit of total brand recognition. But there’s an important lesson there.

Your audience can spot “marketing” miles away. And they tune it out. Your message is still important and we’ll help you get that across in the right way (it’s classic “show, don’t tell”)–but you’re going to need to sprinkle some student voices around. First-person is in. Total control is out. Authenticity is the new black.

It’s really the perfect commercial, and its biggest strengths are the very reason it’s on YouTube and not during the commercial break of Lost. The strongest statements are those that relate only tangentially to Trader Joe’s corporate goals and messaging–yoga moms, tons of unread signage, cases of water next to the exit–or even negative ones–paper bags that rip, the sold-out bakery sections, repeated gripes about discontinued items.

I don’t often shop at Trader Joe’s. But these are all things that give me a flash of recognition. And the line about the overcrowded parking lot doesn’t make me feel like I should go somewhere else and avoid the hassle–it makes me feel like I’m somehow part of a Trader Joe’s community that has shared this same experience. It creates an emotional connection. And it actually makes me want to shop there more.

The first bit of advice we usually give to our clients is “first-person narratives.” And there’s a slew of reasons that you should have your students and faculty blogging on your website, from the practical (they’ll create content for you!) to the slick (consider your demographics!). But perhaps the biggest reason is that people relate to genuine, warts-and-all messages far more than they do to a catchy slogan that some outside consultants dreamed up.

I can tell you first-hand what messages I respond to as an alum. And–not to be callous–it’s not the emails about providing financial aid or building new facilities that get me. It’s when I’m reminded of what a mixed blessing the meal plan actually was. Or about that required class I spent half the semester hating. Or New England winters. There’s plenty of effective messaging about all the great stuff, too–but without the complete picture, those messages fall flat.

This is not to say that you should write on your website that your dining hall sucks. But you might be surprised at what your community has to say about all those little annoyances. These quirks are an important part of the shared experience that differentiates you from your peer institutions. And presenting that full experience will help your audience–from prospective to alumni and staff–identify with and feel emotionally connected to your school.

Our first effort, a screencast of LiveWhale’s news system, leaves much to be desired; it’s clear that we’re new at this.  It’s hard to figure out the right tone of voice (how much humor?  how fast?  etc.), and it took several takes to get through it without messing anything up.  (And we still had to edit the final product a bit.)  I’m sure it’s something we’ll continue to refine and improve as we continue developing LiveWhale’s documentation.

All of this is to say that I  just watched the most effective screencast demo I’ve seen in a long time, if not ever.

Google has just added video chat to its Gmail service.  This is a big deal— not only is it a potential Skype-killer, it opens up the possibility that video chat will become a part of life for all computer users the way it is for Mac people.  (Video chat has been deeply integrated into the Mac for years now; I know several people who have bought their parents Macs solely because it’s so easy to do long-distance videochats.)

Anyway, the video demo is sublime, wonderful, perfect: