25 New Social Articles on Business 2 Community |
- Twitter Announces Further Slaughter of The Developers That Laid Their Golden Tweety Bird Eggs
- Is Klout the Future of Clout?
- Can There Be A “Facebook Killer” With The Big 3 Networks Taking All The Air Out Of The Room?
- Tweet-A-Tab: A Unique Treasure Hunt By Reliance On Social Media
- When Humor Goes Wrong in Social Media #DigitalSplash
- Should Your Company’s Social Media Be Run By Someone Over or Under A Certain Age?
- 5 Reasons Why Social Media Marketing Is 100% Pointless
- Facebook Hotel Booking Engines: Why OTAs Hate Social Media
- 5 Things To Look For When Choosing A Social Media Agency Or Consultant
- The Most Liked Brand Posts On Facebook
- Pinterest “Follow All” Button…Pinners Beware!
- What Did You Find? New Social Tools = New Business Rules
- Twitter Tightens API Guidelines
- Fear And The Terrifying World Of Social Media
- Five Ways to Avoid the $10,000 Tweet
- Facebook Now Second for Videos, Still has Serious Problems
- What is SEO and Why Do I Need It?
- Ambush Marketing At The Olympics: Driven By Social Media And Online Video
- 8 Reasons Why Content Is King In Social Media
- Social Workflow + Social Enterprise = The Future Of BPM (And Work!)
- CopyBlogger On Inspiring Blog Posts (Infographic)
- A Glimpse Into Google’s Search Engine of the Future
- Why Social Media Strategy Should Not Start With a Drive for Facebook Fans
- In Social Media, No One Cares Unless You Care
- Is Tumblr Doomed?
| Twitter Announces Further Slaughter of The Developers That Laid Their Golden Tweety Bird Eggs Posted: 20 Aug 2012 03:20 PM PDT
Twitter announced on their blog on August 16th, a severe tightening of the slow moving noose its had on third party developers over the last few years. On one hand I understand Twitter's dilemma, to control the future of its mobile apps and advertising. On the other hand its handing an ugly betrayal to developers who made Twitter's plain vanilla service in its early years, the success it is today. I remember joining Twitter in 2008. Twitter was boring and confusing and not much has changed. Thanks to 3rd party developers they made seemingly endless innovations and cool apps that made Twitter fun and interesting. It was exciting to see all the new apps that just kept making it better and better. Twitter helped fund a whole industry whose job it was to make it both interesting and popular. It taught other startups that the key to potential success was to get a developer API out as soon as possible. It also started an industry of Social Media Consultants who helped guide and market business' on Twitter. All the while Twitter has stayed fairly one dimensional and plain, lacking exciting innovations internally, other than advances for Advertisers. While Twitter is walling off its garden, Google+ and Facebook are becoming more open and public. Facebook's App Center is seeing record traffic for developer apps. Its interesting to me that Twitter is seemingly trending backwards and closing off. Developers are eagerly waiting for a solid API from Google+. Rejected developers have swarmed to App.net. While developers have been slowly sent packing, Social Media Consultants that promote Twitter to their clients dont realize THEY are ALSO under attack. Twitter has quietly rolled out its own competition emails offering cheap advertising to companies. You can now advertise on Twitter for as little as a few dollars with Twitter offering inexpensive ads and Follower promotions. Most Social Media consultants are asleep as Twitter is now moving into their business and directly after their clients they put on Twitter in the first place. What happens when no one is interested in promoting Twitter? While I realize Twitter has to make money somewhere, what happens when it kills off the Developers and Consultants industry that makes Twitter relevant and effectively works to promote it? Ask Digg.com. Years ago after sending top users and promoters packing they moved to Twitter and the rest is history. Twitter has stayed one dimensional opting to see itself as a news service. What happens when no one promotes Twitter, except for Twitter? What happens when the cooler bells, toys and whistles are innovated by developers for Facebook, Google+ and new networks? Does Twitter tell the story or journal of your life? Is it a great place to share pictures and experiences that are recorded for your family and friends in notes and photos to peruse? No. Other than driving traffic to links, news and being a mass texting service Twitter doesnt have much more to offer in longevity compared to other networks. If I were to pick between Twitter, Facebook and Google+ as to which would likely be abandoned and dis-interesting first…it would be Twitter. I've always loved Twitter and saw a vision of it being much more. One way or another the story unfolding will be interesting to say the least and in the meantime stay tuned…. |
| Posted: 20 Aug 2012 02:20 PM PDT
If you think social media is here to stay, then you probably should understand Klout. No, my spell check has not gone haywire. Klout, a San Francisco-based company started in 2008, helps measure your online influence. It does this by aggregating data from your social networks and then issuing a score ranging from 1 to 100 that is supposed to accurately reflect your influence throughout the Internet. Klout has been criticized by many for its methodology in deriving user scores, as well as its accuracy in reflecting real-world social influence (for example, teen pop star Justin Bieber has a higher Klout score than President Obama). These criticisms, though perhaps valid, miss the larger objective of Klout, which is to curate, classify, and ultimately monetize online influence. HOW IS KLOUT MEASURED? Klout recently updated its algorithm to measure more than 400 signals each day from seven social networks. These signals include things like how often a person's tweets are replied to or how many times his or her content is "Liked" on Facebook. Taken straight from Klout’s website, here are some of the top measurement signals, sorted by network (skip this section if you still don't get why Klout matters):
Google+
foursquare
Klout
Wikipedia
WHY SHOULD I CARE? There are three broad reasons marketers, business persons, and everyone else for that matter should care about their Klout score: 1) Increasingly, everyone else does, 2) it's starting to define real-world clout, and 3) it's worth money. IT TAKES KLOUT CEO Joe Fernandez refers to Klout as a person's social resume; he's not exaggerating. Seth Stevenson wrote a great piece about Klout for Wired in which he retells the story of an experienced marketer recruited for a VP position at a large Toronto marketing agency. Despite his 15 years of experience working with a number of major brands, the candidate was stopped cold in an agency interview when he couldn't recite his Klout score. After the interviewer found out it was a mere 34, he cut the meeting short. In the end, the agency hired someone with a Klout score of 67. Ouch. CLOUT REDEFINED In May, Klout announced a partnership with Cathay Pacific Airways, in which San Francisco International Airport visitors using the Klout for iPhone app need only show a Score of 40 or higher to enter the Cathay Pacific First and Business Class Lounge. Previously, the only way to see the inside of a Cathay Pacific Lounge was by holding a First or Business Class plane ticket. Now, anyone with a mildly-decent score (40 is ok, but not great) can schmooze with the glitterati when travelling through SFO, regardless of whether they are flying Cathay Pacific. So much for the good ol' fashioned clout with a "c" metrics, like money and position, we've come to know and love. This point underscores one of the fundamental drives behind Klout. In the "What is Klout" section of the company's website, right under the banner "EVERYONE HAS INFLUENCE," it says: Previously, people relied almost entirely on radio announcers, TV hosts, and traditional media to shape their opinions. Today, you can drive the conversation, voice your opinion, and connect with people all over the world using social media. Social media has democratized influence. Pip Pip for the democratization of influence. MY KLOUT'S WORTH HOW MUCH? Many people try to pump up their Klout score for the perks-literally. Under the Klout Perks program (in which over 100 companies currently participate), users with certain levels of influence earn real-world stuff, some of which is quite valuable (see info-graphic from the good folks at whattheklout). I never knew Tweeting could be such an enriching experience.
THE BOTTOM LINE Whether or not Klout ultimately lives up to its namesake, brands like Klout are trying to cash in on the ubiquity of social media in our daily lives. With more of us are using social networking as a matter of course on both a personal and business level, it stands to reason that somebody will figure out how to curate, classify, and monetize social influence in a way we'll adhere to. With a catchy name and a growing user base, Klout has a decent head start. To move us over the tipping point of adoption, Klout is relying on the oldest of metrics: human nature. Admittedly, ever since I found out about Klout, I've been eying my score greedily. Forget about the size of your stock portfolio (it'll probably be gone soon anyway), what's your Klout score? At its best, Klout actually does represent a quasi-democratization of influence: virtually anyone with 40 hours and a laptop can improve their online lot. Further, a person's Klout score is out there for everyone to see, which is not true (I hope) of one's stock portfolio. On the other hand, Klout may end up being a (social) canard, another example of online users chasing unicorns and rainbows. Ultimately, the choice is yours. For my money, I'm betting on Klout. This is partly because I hope to be employable for the foreseeable future. More than that, though, I really just want to win free stuff. By the way, have you followed me yet on Twitter? I really want that free Windows phone…  |
| Can There Be A “Facebook Killer” With The Big 3 Networks Taking All The Air Out Of The Room? Posted: 20 Aug 2012 02:20 PM PDT
Back when Google+ launched I could see that it was most likely going to be successful and it began me talking about how with 3 power players, G+, Facebook and Twitter, it took a lot of "air out of the room" for other new social media platforms to rise up. I discussed that it might be impending doom for startups calling themselves the next "Facebook Killer." Right now App.net is claiming it will be the next innovation and future power player. I really wonder. Looking at history people seemed to have formed this idea that social media networks have a set shelf life and we just need to watch for the next innovative upstart. I dont think this is true anymore in this enviroment. In looking at AOL and MySpace both companies started to fail when they were bought out and lost in huge corporations that bogged them down and had little understanding of their operations. They were ahead of their time and I think Social Media has grown up more in its integration in to our society. Mobile has helped make it a "norm." When you look in the past each company that dominated the had little or no strong competition. But once they quit innovating or fumbled, new companies easily rose up and out advanced them. Today, we have something different with 3 major platforms: Facebook, Google+ and Twitter all heavyweights fighting for users. They have cash, users, innovation and are multinational like never before. When I said that I think Google+ will take more air out of the room, making it harder for new companies to come up, players like Status.net, Diaspora, Anybeat, Heello, Chime.in, Unthink, were all being seen as the next "Facebook killer." After a year or so they have failed and even new powerhouses with cash like Microsofts So.cl cant even find air to breathe. The other factor is a mobile and an apps economy that has integrated services into every facet of our lives they are positioned to survive and dominate for a very long time. Even Apple has integrated Twitter and Facebook into its OS as has Google+ in Android. You have to also look at how the "Big 3″ operate. While past companies have gotten lost in middle management bog downs, the Big 3 seem to have avoided those pitfalls. Mark Zuckerberg still owns control of his corporation. Google has let its G+ team operate and innovate. The 3 companies in competition are constantly pushing each other to new levels of innovation like never before. All they have to do is copy one another and try to get ahead. Its great for the consumer, but how does a new startup catch up and compete? Given this environment its gotta be pretty hard and getting harder. One other element is social media user burnout. Users dont want to have to work multiple networks and Facebook has gotten really good at being the place for your family and close friends. They've positioned to be the "journal of your life." Yes people complained about Facebooks mistakes with privacy, selling information and ads, but failed competitors have shown people love the free sell your soul model over having to pay outright dollars for a network. People have a history of complaining, whether they actually do anything about it is another matter. In the end people go with whats comfortable and popular. You have to remember that social media and mobile are only adopted by about 20-25% of the population. Its projected to goto 35%+ in 2 years. Theres still plenty more users to join the social media revolution. The more the Big 3 get, the harder it will be to usurp them. Social media isnt the wild west anymore. Its very well organized and I dont see a "Facebook Killer" coming anytime soon. Most of these companies take years to develop and come into popularity, but most came up with little real competition compared to now. If you really look at all the failures of new companies over the last year, the term "Facebook Killer" just means your next up on the junk pile. Maybe its time we quit using that term? What do you think? |
| Tweet-A-Tab: A Unique Treasure Hunt By Reliance On Social Media Posted: 20 Aug 2012 02:00 PM PDT Reliance Communications has launched a unique treasure hunt for its latest tablet, the V9A in a 5 days-5 cities campaign called 'Tweet-a-Tab' where fans have to locate the tab in a Google Map that zooms in, with the growing number of tweets. This could very well be a story of 'How Reliance got #Reliance3GTabInMumbai to trend' at the top for the major part of the day yesterday. But it is much more than that – It is a beautiful integration of Facebook, Twitter and Google Maps to create a one-of-a-kind engagement through social media. Apart from terming it as wonderful, I would also call it a path-breaking experiment that has been dared on the Indian social media circuit. How it works?At some point in our life, we have all been part of a Treasure hunt group where all of us in the group would guess the clues to a hidden treasure. The better the guess work from the team, the nearer it is to the treasure. Replicating this phenomenon onto social media using Facebook, Twitter and Google Maps, what we get is a derivative called 'Tweet-a-Tab'. The Reliance 3G V9A tablet is hidden somewhere in the city and it can only be won when you unlock its location and that happens with the increasing number of tweets. The location is in a zoomed-out Google map of the city, which keeps zooming in, along with the rise in tweets. The tablet location is finally revealed when the zoom on the Google Map is at 100%! And then starts the offline chase in the city. Yesterday, the chase was in Mumbai, today it will be at Kolkata. Make sure you carry a copy of the tweet and your ID proof to claim the tab. About Tweet-a-Tab app on FacebookThe Facebook app is a massive dashboard with some cool layout and design. The four tabs listed on the top are self-explanatory: How to play, Live Action, Winners and T&C. Check out the 'How to play' and T&C before you proceed onto 'Live Action'.
Make sure you follow the brand's Twitter handle and like their Facebook page, prior to joining the hunt. Next you got to be creative with your answers to 'How far would you go to win the all new Reliance 3G Tab V9A?" and tweet these with the hashtag '#Reliance3GTabInMumbai'. The city will change as per the campaign location. Continue tweeting using the 'Click to tweet' button and with the rising momentum in tweets, the map zooms in, to ultimately reveal the location at 100% zoom level. Tweet Counter is a live display of the number of tweets. The zoom bar shows you the zoom percentage. You can use the 'Share' and 'Invite friends' option. A live update of the tweets keeps streaming by in the 'Live Tweets' section. How cool is Tweet-a-Tab?From an awesome concept to a well-crafted campaign that marries the online with the offline, Tweet-a-Tab is a beautiful integration of Facebook, Twitter and Google Maps. But then, there are many things that have been taken care of too, that together form a significant difference to the entire user experience and the campaign virality. And the best part for the winning fan other than the tab – a special feature on radio! I liked the fact that it was a 'like' campaign, this factor will surely build the fan count but how relevant would this community be is a question brands need to ask themselves. There is a constant flow of live updates from the contest on the Facebook wall that builds the required excitement for its 932K fans. Also, the Facebook share and invite features help spread the word. But above everything is the usage of Twitter to create a buzz as well as increase its followers. Tweet-a-Tab had all the ingredients required for trending unlike #sstweetstore, though at some point the hashtag #Reliance3GTabInMumbai was severely criticised of creating spam. Apart from the regular treasure hunt, there was a creative contest running on Twitter too, that helped build the momentum. |
| When Humor Goes Wrong in Social Media #DigitalSplash Posted: 20 Aug 2012 01:30 PM PDT Just today someone posted on Facebook to me "A little humor goes a long way." My response, depends on if the humor offends. When Brands Offend – Who Loses?
At least a colleague from same brand called them out for it. When is Humor Subjective?
For those who would tell me, Michele you are not in Pabst target market – so of course their humor does not resonate with you. Hang on there pardner! Even in Texas ( where we have one crazy ass Governor) – we know bad taste when we see it. This is BAD Taste!Who said women are not drinkers of Pabst CanadaBetter yet … Who said disrespecting women, whether they are your target market or not is smart business?What does this make you think or feel about any brand, when you see this type of behavior? Would you think twice about buying Pabst from either Canada or Pabst Blue Ribbon in the US? Is it really ok to add a comment saying – we are just posting this "we just saw this we don't preach this" is equivalent to saying "just kidding" after telling someone they are ugly in front of the whole school. Who believes it. And now you say – no offense re-examining posting guidelines?????????
There seems to be a lack of understanding in how to hire those who execute your social media this summer. Have you really talked to experienced professionals who "get social communication and the PR implications?" Yeah, shaking my head as I prepare another slide for our Social Sales Breakthrough group coaching program, where we talk about the importance of putting the right person in charge of your social media communications. I am determined small business does not have to make these stupid mistakes that big brands do. Another great lesson for those who think you have to have a big budget to do social media correctly. This one just took some common sense. Now where is a beer – and not one from this brand…I have had a long Monday. SLAMMING the social media door on another brand's face. |
| Should Your Company’s Social Media Be Run By Someone Over or Under A Certain Age? Posted: 20 Aug 2012 01:20 PM PDT
There have been 2 articles that caught my eye, both firing seemingly at each other over the right age to hire a social media consultant to represent your company. One article talks about "Why Every Social Media Manager Should Be Under 25″ and the other "11 Reasons a 23-Year-Old Shouldn't Run Your Social Media" (See links below). Honestly both articles have some good points but when it comes down to hiring anyone for your business, regardless of age it should be based on maturity, professionalism, experience and knowledge. Being a lifelong employer I've found "stupid" and lack of maturity comes in all ages. "You cant fix stupid." -Ron White. I dont think you can pin an exact age on who should run your social media marketing. We all go through different experiences in life that shape us individually and while maturity is a factor, its hard to put an number on it. We all "grow up" differently. Social Media concepts are still new and growing but what companies DO need to do is start taking it seriously and investing well in it. I still see too much of the "hire someone on the cheap" mentality that most business' wouldnt dare do with other positions in their company. That needs to stop. You are hiring someone to be the "face" of your company in representing you. Unless your business is a Clown Company, your companies reputation shouldn't be taken lightly or cheaply. Companies should heavily interview and check the maturity level of the person they hire like any other job. They should inspect thoroughly how the prospective hire handles their personal communications and behavior on social media. Social Media is a great background checker on how someone might represent your company. You can look at their accounts and see how and what they do. For myself I dont publish a list of our clients or make it known who I represent. It works in two ways where the information is proprietary and also that what I publish personally doesn't reflect off my clients. Even then I'm still wary of what I publish online as clients and prospective clients are watching. Marketing and PR are important in experience. Hiring someone who only knows how to setup profiles and use Social Media will likely be a mistake. They've got to understand marketing and know how to apply it professionally. They need to know how to sell and handle PR issues. I would only hire someone who has marketing experience. Social media falls under the Marketing Department. There should also be experienced oversight and monitoring of people using the accounts. A company should also look at how their accounts are handled and what the "exit" procedure is in a quit/fire situation. They should control passwords and they should inspect how the person has professionally responded as employers have sent them packing. I've seen many a nasty exits where unprofessional social media marketers get ugly on their Facebook and Twitter and its sad. Some people think social media is a place to air dirty laundry but in certain contexts its unprofessional. I've see a few people that consistently get ugly when an employer sends them packing and wonder why no one wants to work with them anymore. With my firm we've found clients that leave come back 90% of the time after trying the competition and exits have to be handled professionally if you expect to get them to come back. You hopefully aren't sloppy about your business, so don't be about your social media reputation either. Hire well. In the end, interview and background check thoroughly. Look for the same general qualities you'd look for in any other job in your business. I dont think age can measure what you need to hire for a business. Like any other position it comes down to maturity, professionalism, experience, knowledge and who is a good fit for your company. Putting extra work into vetting and hiring well goes a very long way. References: 11 Reasons a 23-Year-Old Shouldn't Run Your Social Media |
| 5 Reasons Why Social Media Marketing Is 100% Pointless Posted: 20 Aug 2012 01:10 PM PDT Social media this. Social media that. What is all the fuss about? I’ve grown so tired of hearing people lauding social media marketing that I’ve decided to set the record straight once and for all. I could write a thousand reasons why using social networking sites and platforms is a waste of effort but I’ll save your time and mine by condensing down to the five most relevant and important ones. 5. Connect With CustomersSocial media allows you to connect with customers but in the traditional way, instead on a much more personal and informal level. Social media allows you to talk to your audience in the same way normal people talk to each other. That’s a pretty scary though. What business wants to make a personal connection with their customers? Sounds like a lot of trouble to me and it is! 4. Spread Your BrandBy being vocal and interactive on social networking sites you are able to spread your brand, therefore raising awareness of your company or group and being able to show people what you’re about. Every businessman worth their salt knows that spreading your brand is the worst thing you can do, it means you stand out from the competition and have individuality. 3. Create Brand LoyaltyWhat company do you feel more loyal towards – the company that is transparent and communicates freely with their customers or the company that talks via press releases and faceless quotes? Well by using social media, you'll able to conduct visible, transparent discussion with your customers and they'll love you for it. So it's best to avoid social media at all costs. 2. Real Market ResearchSocial networks aren’t regulated so you end up getting very honest feedback and comments on your business, the sort of feedback that most businesses would spend a lot of money on to gather. But with social media sites all of that feedback is 100% free and best of all, because it isn’t intended as feedback, it is usually truthful criticism you can receive. 1. Spy on CompetitionFinally, one last reason to avoid social media at all costs (as if you needed another one), you can actually spy on competitors who also use social networking sites. You can find out all the tactics and tricks they’re using to try and connect with their customers. So not only can you keep tabs on them, you can also imitate any successful ideas they have. DISCLAIMER – Please read this post with a huge pinch of salt. |
| Facebook Hotel Booking Engines: Why OTAs Hate Social Media Posted: 20 Aug 2012 12:20 PM PDT
Until recently, OTAs were rising in popularity for hotels too. They provided an obvious opportunity for promotion and a way to generate bookings without having to do your own online promotion. But things are starting to change. A recent report by Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne and RateTiger suggests that hotels are refocusing on direct sales. It found that OTAs generate the majority of hotel bookings at 35% at the moment. However, the same hotels also reported their intention to move away from OTAs in favor of direct bookings. Hotels Are Moving Away From OTAsThis apparent change in marketing strategy comes on the back of increased competition amongst OTAs and a greater need to reduce costs among hotels. This should lead hotels towards greater use of social media and tools like Facebook Hotel Booking Engines. One of the key challenges for hotels highlighted in the report is the need to reduce costs. Using social media above OTAs has obvious advantages in this area. Social media offers zero or low cost, engagement, interaction and brand awareness. Hotels who use social media effectively create direct interest in their own websites, generating commission free bookings in the process. Social media provides the ideal opportunity for hotels to build awareness. Social media is all about interaction and engagement. Businesses who are successful on social media place their brand within conversations potential customers are already having. So if you run a ski lodge, getting involved in social media groups that discuss skiing is bound to generate interest. The advantage this gives a hotel over OTAs is that it allows the hotel to move up one step in a prospective clients planning process. With an OTA, clients go there when they've already decided when and where they want to go on holiday and are looking to fill in the details. With social media, a hotel can get into a prospective clients thinking before any particular holiday plan has been made. Going back to the ski lodge example. Imagine a prospect is considering a holiday and looking at options, while on a social network they notice a post about your hotel. They see that hotel has been 'liked' by a friend. They already have trusted reason to consider your location and your hotel first, before other decisions have even been considered. Facebook Hotel Booking Engines Provide an Extra AdvantageOnce your social media interaction has generated that interest, the key is getting the client to follow through and make the booking. This area is where OTAs regularly succeed, because when someone is on an OTA site a booking is what they want. But Facebook hotel booking engines give the advantage back to social media. As you may have guessed from the name, these tools allow Facebook users to book the hotel directly through the social network. This provides a number of advantages for a hotel. In our ski example, a regular skier books through your Facebook hotel booking engine and the booking is posted to their timeline. Their ski enthusiast friends will see your hotel, endorsed by a trusted source, before they've even considered a holiday themselves. Or if they are considering a holiday, they are just a few clicks away from completing a booking. That early involvement in the process is something OTAs can never reach. Effective use of social media could mean your hotel can gather its business, long before your prospects have looked at OTAs. RateTigers research found that the majority of hotels, 31%, expect to focus on social media in the future. With tools like Facebook hotel booking engines, it's easy to see why social media stands out above OTA. Do you want to begin promoting your hotel on Facebook, but need some advice on how to do this? A Hotel's Guide to Facebook – will give you some suggestions. Download our free white paper on a hotel’s guide to facebook. Click here to download. |
| 5 Things To Look For When Choosing A Social Media Agency Or Consultant Posted: 20 Aug 2012 12:05 PM PDT In my last post I talked about how to determine whether you should manage your own social media efforts or hire some help. In most cases, it benefits you to have a little help regardless of what that help looks like. So let's talk a bit about how to choose the right agency or consultant if you're ready to make that investment. Standard disclaimer: I do manage a social media/creative agency and I'd be lying if I didn't say that my time spent writing articles like these hopefully indirectly sends business are way, but I'd also be the first person to tell you if we weren't a good fit for your needs as well. One size does not fit all so be sure to be thinking about these 5 critical areas before hiring someone. 1. Experience – It goes without saying that you should never hire a consultant or agency with little to no experience. You get what you pay for. Now that doesn't mean you have to hire the most expensive option out there, but at the very least, demand to see real world examples of work that has been done, and the results that came from those efforts. Look beyond Facebook Likes and Twitter Followers. Did they increase engagement? And if so, what tactics did they use that were specific to each client? How did their social media strategies align with their client's business goals and objectives? Did they increase sales or leads? 2. Walking The Talk – One tell tale sign of whether an agency is the right one for you is to take a look at their own social media efforts. Do they do a stand up job for themselves? It's surprising to me to often see agencies tout their social media offerings yet fail miserably at doing it for themselves. Don't necessarily look for huge social followings here. The reality is most agencies won't have that. Look for whether they post unique content frequently, and have a consistent voice and effort in these areas. Also look for helpful content. Agencies that make a commitment to being resourceful, transparent and engaging in a public way is a good sign. 3. One Size Does Not Fit All – Avoid boilerplate proposals and strategies at all costs. Every company/organizations' needs are different and the right agency knows that. The strategies and tactics that make sense for you, while similar, will have unique needs and a good agency will provide you with a game plan that recognizes this. If their suggestions and documentation they provide feel like they were copied/pasted, look the other way. You deserve better. 4. Wow'ing You With Likes/Followers! – We have actually lost contracts to other firms who lead with glorious promises of thousands of likes and followers within weeks! Quite honestly, we'd prefer to not do business with most businesses that fall prey to these sorts of delusions of grandeur. While growing your reach is certainly a part of an overall social media strategy, it is not the be all end all. Don't fall for the shiny new toys and make sure you align yourself with an agency that has done their homework and delivered you an overall strategic plan that goes well beyond reach. 5. The Gut Check – Everyone has the gut check. Everyone has that inner sense of whether a situation just feels right or not. No matter what, make sure you are able to have meaningful conversations with your potential agency/consultant. Bottom line…do you like them? It sounds silly, but it's important because these are folks you will work with regularly. Do they communicate well? Do they seem genuinely excited about what you do, and the work they would do for you? Trust your instinct. If you're in a position to hire someone to do this type of work, then chances are you have the chops to make the right call. When you hire the right people, great things can happen for you and your social media efforts. I'm very lucky to have a fantastic team, and if you're in the market, we'd love to have a shot at showing you what we can do. Regardless, the above should help you navigate through your search for the right agency/consultant. Good luck! |
| The Most Liked Brand Posts On Facebook Posted: 20 Aug 2012 11:44 AM PDT The July news cycle may have been all about Olympic spirit, heat waves and 4th of July national pride, but you wouldn't know it judging from the most Liked posts by Brands on Facebook. Track Social, a leading social media analytics platform and consultancy, tracks more than 10,000 brands across hundreds of metrics in near real time. Of the hundreds of thousands of posts tracked during the month of July, ten stood above the rest and drove massive amounts of Likes. It turns out that America's favorite hero last month wasn't an Olympian. It was UPS driver Kenneth Donleycott who found a missing Alzheimer's patient. With 878,313 Likes, this was one of the most Liked posts of all time. This single post received more than twice the number of Likes as the actual UPS Facebook page. Clearly Facebook loves a hometown hero. Facebook also Likes pictures. 9 of the top 10 posts were photo-based. This is in line with Track Social's recently released white paper findings showing significantly higher engagement across the board when brands post photos rather than videos or statuses. Disney took 3 spots in the Top 10 by pulling at our heartstrings with nostalgic imagery and a birthday salute to the happiest place on earth. And finally, proving that some rivalries never get old, New York Yankees make a double appearance in the Top 10, twice taking a swing at perennial adversary Boston Red Sox. The Track Social Top 10 Facebook Posts for July 2012:
Happy Birthday to the Happiest Place on Earth!
Sport's Greatest Rivalry Continues
Track Social, a leading social media analytics platform and consultancy, offers enterprise clients the ability to analyze and optimize their social media presence across all major social platforms. For more information, and to apply for a free assessment of your brand's social performance, go here. |
| Pinterest “Follow All” Button…Pinners Beware! Posted: 20 Aug 2012 11:40 AM PDT I am an avid Pinterest user. I have become a better cook as result of finding great recipes, and have also found some very useful business information that I have been able to apply at work through shared infographics and blog posts that I come across on Pinterest. This past week I learned a really valuable lesson about the "Follow All" button. It's that button you see when you come across a user that you are not currently following and have taken a liking to some of their shared pins. It may seem like the "Easy" button at first glance, but take heed…
My typical, in a hurry, modus operandi has been to click that easy red "Follow All" button when I come across someone I want to follow. Up until just recently I never gave it a second thought. Probably because nothing out of the ordinary showed up in my stream… until recently. When I first joined Pinterest I followed only people I knew personally, because I knew what kind of content they would pin. Well I thought that was the case. These are all professionals after all, who mostly make a living on social media – so they know the importance of giving careful consideration to any content they may post… right? This past week I was on Pinterest, to pull up one of my favorite recipes, Cajun Mac N Cheese – YUM! When I opened up Pinterest, I noticed it was full of naked pictures! My 7 and 8 year old sons were running around, and I have a VERY large screen at home, so these images showed in quite a grand scale. I could not close my screen down fast enough! This is the first time I have seen content of this nature on Pinterest, and it really caught me off guard. I thought, who the heck did I follow that is posting that content? As soon the coast was clear I went back to figure out which boards/people I needed to unfollow. To my surprise, it was a professional colleague who I know personally, that had created a board and was pinning images publicly that… well… I honestly have no words for. My philosophy about social media (and this is just my opinion) is that I choose to be transparent about who I am, so I connect with both personal and professional connections on all of my social profiles. I know not everybody believes that is the right thing to do. But I also don't drink, don't party, and pretty much live a tame existence. There is nothing I would post that would worry me if a professional colleague saw it. I guess that's the way I look at it. I would never link to, or post, something obscene or bordering on questionable to any of my profiles, in fact, I won't even share a photo I really like if the original source link name has profanity it in. (If I really like it a post like that, I will download it and re-post it myself because I don't want f**k on my Facebook wall for any reason.) It's not that I'm a prude, because trust me when I tell you I used to swear like a truck driver. I just don't need it stamped in eternity – attached to my name – on the Internet. The last thing I want when someone Googles my name, is for a first impression search result to be inappropriate.What has this taught me? When I follow folks on Pinterest, I need to take a careful look at their boards (all of them)and either choose only the ones I want to follow (I will never So as you are getting connected across Pinterest, I encourage you to consider carefully how you use that Follow All button. Even at the time you review their profile, if they unknowingly add a new board, it will show in your stream… Just something to keep in mind. Happy Pinning! |
| What Did You Find? New Social Tools = New Business Rules Posted: 20 Aug 2012 10:05 AM PDT
These technologies provide a single platform for intra-office collaboration: multiple communication modes, file sharing, collaborative editing and in-depth staff directories and profiles available at single online location. Once integrated into Microsoft's ubiquitous enterprise Office suite, your cubical life will be changed forever. Even senior executives won't be able to ignore this shift. Let's take a closer look at the intra-office behavior changes already occurring. The biggest shift is immediate (communications) gratification in the workplace. Most of us are accustomed to working with some time delays, especially in global organizations. Send an email, wait the polite amount of time based on the nature of the need or interaction, and if no response is forthcoming, call or resend the message. If you have the chutzpah – or the genuine need — mark it "Urgent." Time is ticking and bosses or clients are waiting. Phone tag? IM? What to try next? With internal social platforms such as Yammer, the waiting employee can give a virtual "tap on the shoulder" not only to the desired individual, but that individual's co-located co-workers. Consider this oh-so-common example: Hey Pete! Is Maria in her office? I sent her a message and *need* to talk to her. Do you see her in there?" "Does anyone have a functionality matrix I can use? Client meeting in 4 hours and this all-nighter is killing me. Thanks Ravi. I owe ya!" All these capabilities have been available for some time, but not in a single seamlessly integrated application which can effectively replace both email and traditional document repositories. This is very powerful, and is already changing the communication patterns in many organizations. However, firms to understand the impact this will have on behavior and the unintended consequences of those behavior changes. Many managers do not realize that all the discussions, instant messages and file sharing taking place on tools like Yammer are, in fact, discoverable – in both the technical and legal sense. On one hand, this is great news. We can transfer the knowledge in people's heads and on their desktops to more accessible locations where it can be leveraged by anyone within the organization who needs it. The ROI for internal collaboration tools can be extremely high. For example, one of our clients used a Yammer installation just for their (global) in-house legal team. Through effective knowledge sharing, they were able to reduce their spending on outside counsel significantly by posting the questions and answers outside counsel had already answered. Avoiding redundant answers saved serious cash. But on the other hand, with great power comes the burden of responsibility. That sidebar conversation — gossipy, snarky and maybe a bit disparaging about a colleague? It's saved on a server somewhere. Yes. Really. Forever. You can stop blushing now. Smart organizations will educate their staff and help them understand when to use email and when to use IM. For example, email is best for detailed exchanges, and documents that require a high degree of accountability. IM is best suited for rapid exchanges and in-the-moment information requests. Develop and teach good practices so they are widely known and accepted throughout the organization. Consider developing an internal social network policy or including one in the firm's larger social media policies and guidelines documentation. There's a social business revolution going on both outside and inside the organization's virtual borders. It's an exciting time; the changes are accelerating and will be lasting. The challenge will be to help people make the most of the new social tools to benefit their company and themselves. |
| Twitter Tightens API Guidelines Posted: 20 Aug 2012 09:50 AM PDT Twitter APIs are up in arms about Twitter' new Rules of the Road for APIs. Essentially, the company has tightened the grip on similar apps that rival its branded one. Though many people are upset, even beginning an #OccupyTwitter protest forum, some are understanding of the limitations. One of these is the CEO of TweetBot, Paul Haddad said, "The sky is not falling," explaining that though he wishes there was no cap, that the "current cap is pretty huge." Here are the two major takeaways from the new API guidelines: 1. Stay user-centric. Many of the guidelines discuss not misusing Twitter content, spamming users or "surprising users." 2. Be a good partner to Twitter (e.g. don't break the rules, do not take Twitter's ideas and pass them off as your own). These guidelines seem more than fair and aim to protect the parties involved (especially the user). Furthermore, it seems that they will limit the amount of marketing spam that people will receive in these apps, leaving room for the more earnest digital marketer to be seen and heard. Please feel free to disagree with me in the comments. Apps like Storify were given as examples of what Twitter would like to see moving forward. In other words, an app that mimics Twitter's exact function is not as valuable as an app that takes the content on Twitter, filters for relevance and aggregates content in a new and innovative way. |
| Fear And The Terrifying World Of Social Media Posted: 20 Aug 2012 09:45 AM PDT
Anyone who tells you anything different doesn't have a firm understanding (As firm of an understanding that the average user can have) about what social media is. Those are likely the same people who would stand at the edge of the Grand Canyon and scoff at its overwhelming vastness. It's terrifying, but not terrifying in the way that jumping off a cliff into unknown waters is, but more terrifying in the way a very sharp knife is: necessarily dangerous, but deserving a great amount of respect. The day you forget that and stop giving it respect or get careless, is the day you get cut – or worse. This is the fear that those who are new to the social media game feel, even if they don't know it. The good news is, fear can be conquered. My Dad told me growing up that fear is simply an acronym to remind us to ignore fear. Fear is Future Events Appearing Real, and this is the source of fear for most people.
These "What If"'s (or Wifs, as I call them) are a part of every single decision made that moves you into uncharted waters. Entrepreneurs know this. Parents know this. Heck, I get the Wifs when I am trying to choose lunch at the food court. Fear keeps it real, but should never hold you back from something that can help you reach your full potential. Face Fear With Ambitious StrategyIf you're anything like me, you like improvisation. I like the idea of being able to show up and do whatever it is I need to do very well with minimal preparation. If you're not anything like me, you plan everything. You want to make sure that you are always prepared, and that nothing goes down without your knowledge and foresight. Or maybe you fall somewhere in between. Regardless of your situation, the less and less you know about something, the more and more power of will it takes to overcome the fear you will inevitably face. There is one sure-fire counter to this. Fear's kryptonite: Ambition. There is no room for fear to take control when you are ambitious. It will still be there, but proper ambition will have it sitting in the corner making snarky remarks. When I'm scared of something like social media (or tweeting at my social media savvy and influential co-workers, or writing blog for my company's website) I make an ambitious plan of action. Sometimes it is nearly unachievable, but I try to adhere to as much as possible. I don't worry If it's overly ambitious, because if I don't happen to complete everything on that list, I've probably made some significant accomplishments, but I still have room to improve. With a clear goal, and a solid direction, opting to foray into the mysterious unknown only gets easier. Make Mistakes UnashamedlyHand-in-hand with using ambition to counter fear, is unashamedly making mistakes in the realm of social. As much as individual tweets have come back to negatively impact many influential brands, everyone makes mistakes and in social, and nothing is set in stone. Along with the leap of faith that some see social media as, comes a safety net for those keep a level head. More often than not creative and well-handled mistake management garners more respect and notability than a harmless social media blunder. Sometimes good solutions even go viral! So even if your ambition causes a mistake or two, you're only a tweet away from fixing it. With social comes forgiveness, because we're all human (except for the bots) and most wounds heal eventually. Boldly GoSo chalk up those Wifs as prudent caution, accept the reasons why you may be afraid, and wade into those uncharted waters with a plan of action. Social media is nothing to be actually afraid of, it's simply the newest (deadly) weapon available to someone who wants to bolster their marketing arsenal. Don't allow the possible future to cloud the actual present, and don't let apparent reality hold you back from achieving something that can really benefit you. Because what a shame it would be if no ever took any chances. Thoughts? image: cyclops-photo |
| Five Ways to Avoid the $10,000 Tweet Posted: 20 Aug 2012 09:00 AM PDT
"They're just a troll." "They're not an influencer. They're nobody." "If we wait long enough, it will all die down eventually." "Why don't they call customer service like they are supposed to?" "We don't monitor that channel regularly so sometimes we miss things." Sound familiar? Have you or someone in your company ever said one of these phrases or something like them? These kinds of expressions are indicative of the mindsets that some companies have when it comes to dealing with stakeholders via social media. I say "stakeholder" because they could be a current or potential customer, a partner, a friend, an employee, an influencer, or an advocate. Increasingly, stakeholders are engaging with companies via social media and expect the same in return. Sometimes those stakeholders are using social media to reach out to organizations for information, support, or, increasingly, to raise an issue in the hopes that publicly outing a company using social media will generate a crisis of sufficient proportions to garner a response. Often times during such social media crises, internal operations come to a screeching halt. Key staff get caught up in a flurry of emails, and possibly phone calls, trying to get a handle on the seriousness of the situation, potential actions to take, who needs to be informed or involved, who needs to act, and ultimately confirming who has the authority to approve what action is taken. That sounds like an organized process, but in reality it can be absolute chaos. People get stressed as they watch the situation escalate and they worry that it will spiral out of control. Without a predefined approach, organizations can waste time, resources, and cycles unnecessarily. Time and resources come at a cost. It is not unusual for organizations to involve people from key internal areas as well as outside advisors such as lawyers or consultants. When you tally up the cost for all involved, it can easily climb into the thousands of dollars for the development of a response in the form of a tweet, a Facebook post, a video response, or a series of some or all of them. How do organizations ensure that they don't succumb to the chaos? How can they reduce the number of people that need to be involved? How can they empower the right people to handle the situation through to resolution? Well, the following should provide some answers to those questions. Here are five ways that can help organizations take a proactive approach to social media crises and reputational management. MonitorMany brands and organizations are monitoring social media in order to gauge sentiment, find influencers, and manage their reputation. Monitoring is critical to identifying the who, the what, and the where of emerging issues. Early detection helps avoid issues getting out of hand and may allow for quick resolution. On the positive side, monitoring can also help illuminate your advocates, supportive community members, and even potential customers who have expressed interest in your product or service or more direct purchasing intentions in social media. GovernanceAccording to Wikipedia: Governance is the act of governing. It relates to decisions that define expectations, grant power, or verify performance. This sounds like a more serious word than may be necessary, but it is still the right word to use when it comes to social media. Well developed and articulated social media policies and guidelines will also go a long way in supporting governance. As organizations expand their use of social media, it is critical that they develop a governance model for social media oversight and decision-making. Roles, responsibilities, and authority must be defined, clarified, and communicated—maybe even over-communicated. The better people know their roles and responsibilities, the better the process will flow. Over time, the effectiveness of the model must be regularly reviewed and adjusted if necessary. ReviewAs a crisis presents itself, staff need to have the aforementioned process in place to deal with it. The Altimeter Group talked about a triage approach to a social media crisis where a number of related variables are considered, such as the source, the validity of what is being said, potential actions that could be considered, and the risks if no action is taken. Once the review is completed and a plan of action is chosen, then everyone will know what is going to happen and what their role will be. PrepareEvery situation will be different to some degree, but that does not mean that you can't prepare in advance. Document and publish your policies and procedures so that everyone is on the same page in terms of the organization's stance on particular issues and predefined escalation procedures. Run a few fire drills or scenario planning sessions to help anticipate potential issues and devise potential responses to avoid delays in the midst of a real crisis. Regularly test your preparedness to ensure that something has not been overlooked. ProcessMap the process from monitoring, issue identification, routing to or notification of predefined staff members, decision flow for determining what type of response, if any, to make. Identify escalation procedures where necessary, defined approval/veto power, and continue to monitor any issues to ensure the response has successfully resolved the it or to see if the issue resurfaces. Make sure to properly communicate the process to all stakeholders. In fact, some aspects of your process can even be shared publicly through your social media channels. It doesn't hurt to explain to your community how your social media accounts are run and what kind of interaction they can expect. For example, if an account or accounts are used for client care or technical support, then the hours of operations and expected response times should be published and regularly posted. A well-informed community member is a happy one. Furthermore, proactively informing your community will actually lower the likelihood of an issue being escalated. Those are my five suggestions for avoiding the $10,000 tweet and other social media crisis management issues, but I would love to hear from folks in the social media trenches. What are your thoughts? What approaches have you taken? What has worked and what hasn't? |
| Facebook Now Second for Videos, Still has Serious Problems Posted: 20 Aug 2012 08:25 AM PDT
Once again, the week's news begins with Facebook. Expect it to be continually making news throughout the week as well. However, the social networking site of 900-plus million users actually has some good news today. Of course, there's a lot more bad news out there (and to come), but let's take a look at the good news first. Facebook Beats YahooYesterday, Mashable reported, "Facebook has overtaken Yahoo as the Internet's most popular site for viewing video last month." In terms of numbers, it wasn't a dominating victory, but moving to second place in the market is always better than remaining stuck or falling. Facebook clocked in "a bit more than 53 million unique viewers throughout July, compared to Yahoo's less than 49 million." Ultimately, Google holds a commanding lead in the online video market, thanks to YouTube. Google had close to 157 million unique viewers for July. Even though less videos for less time were watched on Facebook, it's still important that the company managed to get more unique viewers. What Facebook does with this information remains to be seen. The company isn't exactly known for its ability to promote advertising on its video platform. With a potential market of 900 million users, one would think more of a push would be made to implement ads or some sort of revenue-generating function to Facebook's videos. As of now, I'm unaware of anything like this. Of course, this just plays back into the rough few weeks Facebook has had. Unfortunately, bad news is likely to plague the company this week as well. Facebook Stock FailingFacebook's stock ended Friday at half of its original value during its IPO—down to $19 from $38. Wall Street and other investors are getting so concerned that some discussion is even being made about firing Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's founder and inventor. Swartz and Martin, with USA Today, report the precedent is that "Apple and Yahoo eventually pushed aside founders in favor of adult supervision before bringing their founders back." But it remains likely that Zuckerberg will stay on. He and other executives are reported to have been finally addressing the employees at Facebook about the issue. Ryan Tate, with Wired, writes that Facebook "has had to let go of the fantasy that it could take Wall Street's money and not pay attention to Wall Street." Now the company is left with "an uncomfortable choice between accepting those costs or trying to impress investors by getting more aggressive with its advertising." Bumpy Road AheadFacebook definitely has to tread carefully during the next few weeks and months. There's no reason that their stock cannot fall lower. It certainly can. The company is not financially in trouble, just in trouble with Wall Street. On top of all of this, a judge recently rejected a settlement in a case based on its use of sponsored stories. This is another setback for the company. Facebook still has plenty of opportunity to improve its ability to advertise to its huge user-base. It's just a matter of them figuring out what works best for their platform. Until then, expect to see the company go through many ups and downs, especially with regards to Wall Street. Do you think Facebook will weather this rough patch? Do you think advertising on Facebook is worth it? |
| What is SEO and Why Do I Need It? Posted: 20 Aug 2012 08:20 AM PDT The web is always changing and as such, websites are moving up and down in the Google listings for certain search terms. While you might not think this is down to anything specific, it is all down to the algorithm in place at the search engine giants and the site's position in the listings is as a result of a number of technical issues and how the aforementioned algorithm views them. The way that sites can be placed in the best possible location in the rankings is via a process known as search engine optimization, or as it is commonly abbreviated, SEO. This is the structuring of a web page or site so that it is found, read and indexed by the search engines meeting all of the necessary requirements, which are, on the whole, a big secret – making the process really challenging for those in the profession. Due to it being such a secret it can be difficult for those looking at SEO services today to do it themselves or even to choose which specialist firm to work with. But what makes it so important? Obviously you want your site to be as high up in the rankings as possible, particularly if you have something to sell, otherwise your customers will go to the ones with the better rankings and the most visibility while you lose out. Think of it as opening a store, doing all the flyers to announce your grand opening, only to realise that you didn't include your address or contact details so nobody can find you. The common mistake made by site owners is that purely because you have a webpage all about, using an example, motorbike clothing, you'll be in the first few results when people type those words into a search engine and hit return. Unfortunately it isn't that simple, and that is where SEO comes in. The search engine 'crawlers' will browse the site and go through its contents, indexing the pages and adding them to a huge database. Then it's down to the search engine operators to release the odd piece of information, coupled with substantial research by SEO professionals, in sorting out what techniques should be put in place to help move a site up the rankings, optimizing it for the search engines – SEO. These techniques can involve a number of things. From updating the content displayed on the site itself, to the backlinks – the sites linking to your page – and the meta. The problems arise when "SEO professionals" implement strategies which go against the preferences of the search engines. These can include 'stuffing' the page with keywords, hidden links and other treachery aimed at reaching the top of the rankings. All of which are known as 'black hat' techniques and the site can actually be penalized by the engines, moving them further down as opposed to up where you want it to be. So getting SEO right is essential in the success of your online campaign, whether it's in making sales, converting leads into customers or just increasing traffic to your blog. |
| Ambush Marketing At The Olympics: Driven By Social Media And Online Video Posted: 20 Aug 2012 06:25 AM PDT During the 2012 Olympics in London, between online streams of Gabby Douglas' brilliant gymnastics performances, Kayla Harrison winning the US first-ever gold medal in Judo, and Usain Bolt's blisteringly-fast 100m and 200m wins, web audiences were also wowed by clever marketing campaigns from Nike, Pepsi, Burger King, and Google. Consumers voted the four companies among their top 15 favorite Olympic brands, sharply illustrating the success of traditional event sponsorship. Or does it? Besides these four companies not actually being Olympic sponsors, there was one other thing they all had in common: They all used social media or online video heavily, and often both. In Nike's case, more viewers identified them as the primary shoe sponsor than the actual one, Adidas. Their Find Your Greatness campaign cleverly avoided mentioning the games while instilling a sense that it was all about the Olympics. The campaign may even have yielded the best sports ad ever, The Jogger: Google was used to drive a ton of searches, video views and statistics on YouTube, which caused online viewers to suspect they had something to do with the games. The Google Doodles on their search page, which were mini-games where players could play basketball, hurdles, or whitewater slalom, may also have helped. Pepsi managed to be associated with the games by not even trying, but instead by running social campaigns focused on their summer music events through their partnership with Twitter. They did get a boost from Olympics fans who sought to defy the Olympic organizing committee's ban on non-official shoes and shirts. Burger King ran ads in Brazil that were clearly meant to associate with the games, and was called onto the carpet by official sponsor McDonald's. Other companies used similar 'ambush' campaigns to raise their profile and associate themselves with the games. Headphone maker Dr Dre managed to get Olympic athletes to wear their headphones while appearing on television. UK-based news publisher The Guardian re-created several events in a series of videos called "Brick by Brick", using Legos, including Usain Bolt's 100 meter win. Beyond the success of online video and social media, all this successful hijacking of Olympic advertising proves something else: the emerging dominance of tablet and mobile channels for imbibing mass media. Google reports that 44% of viewers used a mobile device while watching the games as a primary or second screen. Of course, the official Olympic sponsors themselves used social media and online video to great effect, in addition to traditional television spots and printed media and swag. This sort of thing has been done before, notably by T-Mobile's royal wedding video, even though they were not an official sponsor (wait, does a royal wedding have official sponsors? Monarchic protocol escapes me). So What Are The Lessons?
There is no question that future events will be memejacked or ambushed by smart brand marketers, and the campaigns will use social media, online video, and a handful of other tactics to associate a company with the event. The possibilities are endless, and we'll be seeing it with music concerts, sports events, Mars rover landings, royal weddings, and just about anything you can think of. Ready, set, ambush! |
| 8 Reasons Why Content Is King In Social Media Posted: 20 Aug 2012 06:11 AM PDT  Content is King – what kind of content rules? Social Media Marketing is strongly related to content. When starting with social media for business one of the first tips you get is: „Content is King". That sounds easy enough, but to be honest it is not: content is not necessarily good content, and a lot of content out there in the social networks simply is not king!The easiest way to figure out, what kind of content will rule in the end, you have to understand what you want to achieve with the really good content and what makes content king. Here are our 8 reasons why „Content is King." 1. You cannot show expertise in a slogan. Have you ever tried to put all your knowledge and wit, all your character and personality, all your experience and customer feedback into one short, crisp sentence? What did your audience say to this? Did they believe you? The right kind of diversified, intelligent, helpful, knowledgeable and entertaining content will prove your expertise and inspire loyalty. However hard you try – a witty slogan will not serve this purpose. This is why, "Content is King." 2. A reputation is not built by simply claiming expertise. Trust, reputation and standing out from the masses need times to develop. You cannot claim these attributes without producing consistently strong material and building a following in different social media channels. (It is hard work to achieve these followers – maybe you want to follow me?) Constantly contributing insightful, entertaining and knowledgeable content – spiced with some (subtle) customer opinions and moderate praise – can prove your expertise far more thoroughly than any of your lofty claims. That is why "Content is King." 3. People block out promotion. Let us be honest, in the end we all want the same thing: to spread the word about our products and services. The problem we face is that no one likes to be bombarded with advertisements and sales messages; in today's world, people block out or ban promotions. The way out of this dilemma is to provide insight in an unobtrusive and helpful way. To get people to listen to your valuable content, they have to have a desire to consume your message. This is why "Content is King." 4. People do not share advertisements. To gain the best possible results in social media, you need more than your followers, friends and contacts to listen to you. In order for your message to truly spread, you need the help of members from their networks, too. You need other people to be exposed to, share and spread what you have to say. They will not do so just to promote your business. Give them content they will happily share. This kind of content is not advertisements; it is valuable, helpful, entertaining, personal and humanistic. This is why "Content is King." 5. People do not connect to shouters. To make your content spread, you need an audience. You need people to connect to you – to read your posts what you have to say. DO YOU WANT TO CONNECT TO SHOUTERS?! Or would you rather involve yourself in networks where you are exposed to meaningful content, presented in a thoughtful way? While you might also connect to strictly entertainers – in the end, it is the helpful and engaging information we crave in business. This is why "Content is King." 6. People do not follow advertising channels. Imagine you are watching your favorite TV program. (Assuming you don't have TiVo) what do you do, when the commercials come on? Hang on to every word of the commercials? Or rather switch channels, visit the bathroom or fetch a beer/glass of wine? In your own marketing broadcast, don't be the invasive commercial breaks. Your audience will tune out and visit another station. Present content that makes your audience eager to listen, and turn to you as an information source. This is why "Content is King." 7. Slogan creativity is limited. Have you ever had a brainstorming session for inventing slogans around your company and products? This is actually fun. But at some point, you run out of crisp and witty ideas. The possibilities for creating entertaining and informative content are virtually endless, when you expand beyond the slogan. Think you are stuck? Explore the content from leading marketers in your industry and let them inspire you or look around some content of people who do not even realize that they are using content marketing. The more you get into your content strategy and the more people you involve in the content creation process, the more ideas will arise. That is why "Content is King." 8. Ads make you an entertainer; content makes you a thought leader. A really strong advertisement entertains. It might even spread because it is fantastically funny, cute or insane. Are these the attributes you want to be connected to your business and your professional life? If they are, by all means… proceed. As a content marketer of a B2B company, I would aim for helpful, knowledgeable, informative and engaging … all of these summing up to thought leadership. A general rule of thumb would be to hold off on the pet pics, and spread your knowledge and wit. This is why "Content is King." Looking forward to your Kingly Content! (This post was originally published on exploreB2B) |
| Social Workflow + Social Enterprise = The Future Of BPM (And Work!) Posted: 20 Aug 2012 05:25 AM PDT
I've been tracking a number of social based task management solutions recently; Do.com, Asana, Sparqlight, TidalWaveApp to name drop a few, each do things in a social context and have their own slant on how workflow should behave in the social enterprise. And while they're not hardcore business process management or case management engines that we know and loathe what they do represent is the future of where this industry as a whole needs to go. We are still mired in building extremely complex solutions and applications to cater for every process eventuality that we are no longer as agile as we should be, and with the thrust of social now really upon us it's time to look at how we've built those solutions and practices and really start with a blank sheet. Sure, these fledglings don't actually consider themselves BPM or Case in any sense, just collaborative task tools, but it's no stretch to make them into something enterprise scale that could rival or challenge jurassic BPMS dominance. There is the predilection to still use email as a communication mechanism for some of these applications but this will disappear overtime as something new will be born from the ashes of corporate spam. With an open marketplace that mirrors the Apple App Store concept and allows developers to create extensions to these workflow tools this could really be explosive. Analytics, workflow, activity streams, projects (cases!), views….the core is already there. Instead of naval gazing at Gamification and trying to add another buzz word to the BPM stack just make work more engaging and involving. Social workflow does that without the need for badges (whenever I see this it reminds me of the mexican bandito in The Treasure of Sierra Madre – "Badges!? We don't need no badges!") because it engages the employee collective out of the box in the right way because it's been designed for them in mind. I have to smile at the lack of foresight in this space at times, it's human nature to quickly embrace a fun method of working but then as equally quickly to tire and bore of it once you've figured out the mechanics and for the clever of us, manipulate the scores. Gamification will collapse as a viable employee engagement method in a BPM context very quickly. I wrote some time ago about the need for a socio-based methodology for the social enterprise and this really shouldn't be ignored because when used in combination with the above you will truly have the fluid and adaptive organisation you've been craving for. Leave resource utilisation charts for the dinosaurs and concentrate on bringing everyone to the party because internal information brokerage and mining to find the real experts of your business will become far more important than who is the fastest typist.
BPM methods need updating and fast and the only way it's going to grow up (or drag itself out of the past) is to start embracing the new breed of workflow software and learn and adapt method around the social enterprise concepts. To ignore it is to ignore the future of work. The future of BPM and indeed work based software and method itself doesn't lie in continually adding onto the bloated software product stack from the latest analyst twitterings, or jumping onto the darling buzzword for this week, the future lies in being able to step back and accept a piece of humble pie and admitting that we have been wrong. I'm not suggesting we ignore everything that has come before but equally we can't blindly keep following the same mechanics that have served for decades. If we do, we'll continue to keep getting it wrong. We owe those enterprises to do things differently now. |
| CopyBlogger On Inspiring Blog Posts (Infographic) Posted: 20 Aug 2012 05:17 AM PDT Infographics are becoming increasingly more popular and common, and to be honest most of the time they are so jam-packed with useless information I don't even bother digging into them. As with anything where there is a glut of new content created, there is a mix of both good and bad, and as they so often say "the creme rises to the top". I like this infographic as a daily reminder, something you can refer to, that includes many of the tips & tricks I recommend to my social media coaching clients at Social Sparkle & Shine. I recently blogged about the challenge faced by many business owners, job seekers and committees when faced with the task of populating a blog and social communities with content > finding inspiration within yourself to produce content that you feel will help or entertain them. My post included a short video of Jon Sinden, social media lead for Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, sharing his thoughts on finding inspiration for new sports bloggers.
Personally, I get unending inspiration from my obsession: media! Watching TV, reading magazines and observing advertising in my everyday life, brings a flood of ideas and examples of the content & layout that audience (target group) segments are most drawn to, and even identifies what content they would be willing to pay for. Then, when I go for a walk, practice yoga or bike ride (anything that stimulates both sides of your body and brain), the ideas start to line up into a format. As long as I take the time to enjoy sitting down to blog it, when it's ready (cured and sorted, in my brain), it gets posted and shared with my audience. As an example, if you're starting a fresh blog, literally rip out the table of contents from your favorite industry or trade magazine that serves the same audience you hope will read your blog. You can see a feature interview, quizzes, event reviews, and series articles that bring readers coming back every month. You can set up your blog content and categories in a similar way. Once you've started publishing blog posts, all the advertisers within the magazine are also potential advertisers on your blog! Are there any others tricks you use that you find work? Want me to attend your event, review your infographic ideas or social media strategy? Email me at debbie@theSparkleAgency.com or request to join my Wednesday 8pm weekly meetup on Google+ Hangouts on Air by sending me a message at debbie.horovitch@gmail.com |
| A Glimpse Into Google’s Search Engine of the Future Posted: 20 Aug 2012 05:15 AM PDT Google is constantly tweaking and evolving its search engine to continue to be relevant on a fast moving and evolving web. The search giant has realized that the user experience is vital and speed of the results and delivering up content that users want includes personalized, recent and unique content. Recently Google announced a new step towards building the "search engine of the future". Integrating Gmail results into their search results page. Currently this is still considered a field trial, and English speaking gmail users can sign up to test this feature out. If the results are positive and Google chooses to permanently integrate Gmail results into personalized SERP's, what does this mean for SEO's? Another piece of prime SERP (Search Engine Result Page) real estate will soon be available for visibility. Gmail results will be above ads and other knowledge graph results, making this a valuable location for increased clicks to your site. Only shopping or maps results will appear on top of the Gmail results. If you target keywords that don't have map or shopping results, you can appear on the top right without having to pay for those clicks. Email SEO: What can be involved?Google's ranking algorithm for their emails is heavily focused on displaying the most recent results. If there is an email in your inbox that was sent to you within the last 60 days, and it contains an exact match of the email, it will be displayed in your SERP's, with the newest ones ranking on top.
Google will show anywhere between 1 – 5 results, based on how many emails are found using that keyword. Regardless of keyword density or where the keyword is mentioned (From, Title, Body), the newest emails are shown at the top. Oldest emails simply don't appear after there are five new emails with exact match keywords. In the example below you can see 5 test emails, with a variety of test factors:
Regardless of the keyword integration, newest emails were ranked on top.
Email rankings are almost real time, and will appear within 2 minutes of being received. Google highlights the keyword in the email, showing that they are definitely mapping query to keyword in the email, whether it's the from, subject, or body. Exact match is important, they are not using semantic analysis and are not even displaying singular vs plural – only exact matches. What does this mean for your Search Marketing Campaign?Keyword research is now an important aspect of email marketing. Your email marketing team has to coordinate with your SEO team to make sure that emails contain your target keywords. Here's an example of an Email SEO process:
It's impossible to know for sure if or when Google will make this feature available to all users. Until this features becomes mainstream you can start by focusing on growing your list of email subscribers, as this will have dual benefits. If, and when, Google rolls this feature to the public, you will be poised to rank in the Google personalized SERP's. If this trial is rolled out into reality, then email marketing will become mandatory part of your marketing if it isn't already. Image: Big Stock Photo |
| Why Social Media Strategy Should Not Start With a Drive for Facebook Fans Posted: 20 Aug 2012 04:00 AM PDT
Why does every social media strategy seemingly start with a company cajoling people to come "like" their Facebook page? This post will explain why that is usually a bad strategy if you are aiming at creating long-term, loyal customers. I've been honored to be selected to help judge a global company's internal social media competition. Entries were submitted from all over the country as their locations put forward their best shots at social media gold. There were some interesting entries, even some very good ones, but they all had one thing in common. In the "objectives" section, every single organization stated something like this: "Our goal is to enter the conversation with our customers and engage with them on our Facebook page." Last week I wrote about how our relationships with brands develop over time through many small interactions that create awareness, affection, trust, and eventually a loyal relationship … similar to the way we create friendships in real life. When I was a kid, it took quite a few interactions at school or on the playground before I was invited to go home after school and play at a friend's house. And it would get kind of boring if my friend never came to my house. You expect that kind of reciprocity in a relationship, right? The one thing missing in almost any social media strategy I see is a plan for company representatives to actually go spend some time at the customer's "house" — 100 percent of the effort is usually aimed at the very difficult task of drawing those eyes to THEIR page, their home, every day instead of visiting customers where THEY "live." If the true goal is customer connection, why does it have to start on your own Facebook page? Why is the metric for success always the number of comments or likes you have on your page, rather than the number of likes and comments your company gives away on other pages? Shouldn't the effort be at least equal? This default position of driving people to your page is easy because it is so much simpler measuring your "likes" and comments as a metric of success. It's the popular thing to do, but I'd like you to start questioning if it is the RIGHT thing to do for a long-term strategy. Check out this diagram and see if this makes sense:
Relationships start with small interactions — and you probably have to go to where your customers are at first. As they get interested in you, maybe they will start coming to your site where they may connect in a bigger way, and eventually bring their friends as they turn into fans. If you're sincerely trying to drive people up this curve (and not just "check the Facebook box"), why would you have a strategy that only involves buying likes with coupons and contests? Maybe you need to go visit their house a few times first and get to know them on their terms, too! Of course there are many different ways to be successful on the social web and lots of companies are doing great things on their Facebook pages, but I wanted to introduce the idea that it doesn't necessarily have to start with a "drive for likes" Have you had similar experiences? Do you ever connect with your customers on their home base Facebook page, blog, or LinkedIn account? Top illustration courtesy of Toothpaste for Dinner Mark Schaefer is a marketing consultant, author and college educator who blogs at {grow}. You can also follow him on Twitter: @markwschaefer. |
| In Social Media, No One Cares Unless You Care Posted: 19 Aug 2012 04:00 PM PDT
Depending who you listen to or read in the social media space, the best reason to use social media for your brand varies. It can be for listening; resolving issues; lead generation; focus groups; recruitment; and much, much more. All good reasons. All good value. And yet…. While these are all solid enough reasons to be on social media from a brand's point-of-view, they mean nothing unless you have an audience. Not just an audience, but also one that actually trusts and supports you, and will listen when you speak. Without that, you'll just be another tree in the forest that no-one hears fall. So how do you build that most valued of commodities in social media (and business in general) – identity and trust? Especially in such a crowded space to start with? Thankfully, it's not that hard – but it does take work and stamina. Let's dig in. Step 1: The Message is the KeyThe big mistakes that brands make when jumping into social media is they see their competitors doing it, so think they need to as well. Wrong answer! (Insert buzzer noise here). For sure – social media can (and does) offer a fantastic additional tactic to add to your existing marketing mix. Yet only if it's right for you – so make sure you're doing it for the right reasons and not because of forced impressions. Once you've gotten that out of the way, the most important part comes next – defining what your message is going to be, and how that is going to build the loyalty and brand identity that will define your success in this space. The core points to consider here are:
These are some of the initial questions to ask, and answers to provide. Without these, you'll be floundering pretty quickly and people will move on to the next brand. Don't let that be you. Think about the above questions, and make sure you have the answers (or know who the person is with the answers). And, for the love of God, please make sure you actually know internally what your business stands for before you go outside! Step 2: It Ain't What You Do, It's The Way That You Do ItOnce you have your goals defined, and know exactly what will be said and who will be saying it, you move on to the next most important part – building your brand identity with these components. This, probably more than anything, will be the part of the puzzle that either builds your identity and success, or sees you crash and burn on takeoff (I watched Top Gun again the other night, so forgive the gung-ho analogies!). While it's crucial to have the right people and message defined, it's just as crucial (if not more so) to take it to market properly. What you say, and how you say it, is going to be the difference between you and your competitors. And if there's one thing social media has taught all brands, it's that people are always waiting for you to slip up. To ensure your message is understood in the way you want it to be seen, you need to be consistent across every touchpoint: If you're setting up a blog, make the editorial guidelines clear, both for internal bloggers and guest authors, determine the message from the blog, and make that core across all posts. On social networks, the people that will be the "official" voice of your company need to share communications with each other regularly, and know whose role it is to reply to a certain question or issue. Finally, on social media-led promotions that carry over to the offline space, ensure the same people promoting and answering online are attached to any offline teams as well, to keep the message clear and integrated. These are just some of the ways to ensure the messaging from your brand is consistent and clear. That's one of the first steps to building a true identity online. On top of that, obviously you need to make sure that your brand's look and feel ties into this identity too. The last thing you want to do is confuse people when they visit one of your online outposts (blog, social network, Pinterest board, etc.) and find a different colour scheme or look and feel at each place (unless you're building external resources as a separate part of your brand identity, for SEO or thought leadership reasons). Get the message consistent; get the look consistent; the rest will start to fall into place. Step 3: The Long and Winding RoadOf course, this is all pre-identity stuff. Or, at least, pre-social media identity (you have identified what your brand stands for internally, right?). That's the (relatively) easy part – the hard part is making sure that message is seen and, more importantly, retained time and time again. And that's where many brands fail, by expecting social media to be the quick fix to all that ails them. It's not. Social media is not a fire sale – it's a long-term investment and tactic, strategy, campaign, call it what you wish. If you're expecting your brand to be immediately identifiable through your actions on social media, you'll be sorely disappointed. Instead, it's the consistency of the message and voice that will build your identity, not the speed in which you bring that to market. Customer loyalty isn't something that can be bought – and the brands that identify the most with their customers' needs will be the ones that are rewarded with loyalty, referrals, and word-of-mouth marketing. Social media can enhance the reach of these referring voices to the Nth degree – but you need to make sure you're deserving of it to start with. Get your identity right by planning it and building it up the right way, and the world (social media or otherwise) can truly be your oyster. The choice is yours. This post originally appeared on the Zync blog. |
| Posted: 19 Aug 2012 03:30 PM PDT Tumblr is doing things differently. While Facebook and Twitter constantly load up on new features—many of which premiere to groans from avid users—Tumblr is scaling down and making things simpler in order to foster a positive artistic community. Tumblr also stands out by refusing to employ traditional digital-advertising methods. With more than 64 million blogs and 15 billion monthly page views, Tumblr could easily make millions through display, banner or video ads. But founder David Karp is sticking to his guns and rejecting anything he deems counter-creative. Instead he is focusing on a more holistic, integrated form of advertising wherein the brands involved must create great content on Tumblr. But given that the platform hosts edgy content (most recently, the disturbing "Holmies" sect) and is still largely pigeonholed as a place for fanatics and fanatical sharers, is this just wishful thinking? The Tumblr user demographic includes species such as The Fanboy, The Photographer and The Culture Blogger. It even includes some big brands, like Huggies and IBM, which are fostering new communities by publishing and curating content well—content that they have sufficient authority to publish in the first place. But then there are users whom no brand would ever wish to attract or choose to endorse, such as the Holmies, an alarming new group of Tumblr users who express love and support for Aurora, Colorado, murder suspect James Holmes on the platform through photos, GIFs and messages. It is easy to dismiss these people as some of the crazies ever-present on the outskirts of society, but their highly publicized story is now linked inextricably to the story of Tumblr. Their presence casts a shadow on the platform. Attracting Real Advertising Revenue A few months ago, Karp and company introduced Storyboard, an editors' daily selection of the best blogs and stories on Tumblr that has included such brand sponsors as New York Magazine. It's not a new feature so much as it is a popular new Tumblr blog that happens to have been created and to be curated by the platform bosses—a reflection of Karp's integrated vision for advertising. So far they've created video, photo and text content that's on a par with that of the best print publications. We are all for storytelling, and this effort seems to be a solid step for brands that have the right interests at heart, that encourage sharing and positivity; to prevent negative sentiment and spam, which would distract from the content, Tumblr's pages (Storyboard included) do not even offer comment sections. The Storyboard homepage serves to ground wayward users, and it succeeds in catching some of the essence of the platform's activity. So is Storyboard the best place for Tumblr advertisements?
The answer, for now, is yes. Karp once denounced advertising as sickening, but he is now more open to another form of moneymaking —a type of advertising that is "intended to make you feel something for the brand." To foster creativity among the community, Karp's platform will give brands "a spot on the Tumblr dashboard generally used to highlight the company's picks for the coolest stuff happening in its network will include occasional content from paid sponsors," writes Rob Walker in a spotlight in The New York Times Magazine. Thereby, Tumblr allows brands to be featured on the platform but still forces them to compete with average users for eyeballs. While Tumblr editors are putting in the time and paying the attention necessary to make Storyboard compelling, brands will have to create their own amazing content to grab the user's attention. Inane couponing or cut-and-paste advertising will not thrive on this platform. To succeed in the Tumblr arena, brands must create artistic, cool, brand-authentic content. Consider IBM's tumbling on science and technology and Huggies' coverage of mom-related matters. Karp has come up with a great plan for featuring brands while still maintaining the creative nature of the platform. And because its ad plan sticks to the platform's roots, Tumblr's diehard user base will play along. The question is, will brands bite? Will the Holmies and other weirdos scare them off, or will the possibility of a new audience entice them? Is Multichannel the Answer? Let's take the example of another fringe brand, one that managed to thrive through advertising and expansion. Vice Media started as a little indie magazine in Montreal and has blossomed into an international company with wide appeal and financial success. Vice's success stems from a multichannel approach that includes websites, live events, a magazine and three "verticals" for art, music and technology, notably the Creators Project, a close partnering with Intel. By segmenting itself and dealing separately with tamer new projects, the company is able to offer brands the benefits of being associated with Vice—its reputation as the edgy, authentic voice of cutting-edge youth culture is undeniable—without all the potential for blowback or risk that comes with certain channels, like the notorious Vice Magazine. Will Tumblr embrace this model and segment itself into subcommunities under one umbrella in which brands play a key role in the creation process? Probably not, from what we know about David Karp's staunchly minimalist approach. But perhaps the appeal of the Storyboard model—sponsorship of authentic editorial content—will be enough for brands who are willing to ignore the risks and focus on the large, carefully cultivated, unique audience at stake. What do you think? Will brands embrace Tumblr and Karp's plan? Or is the platform, by its very nature, a dead end for brand marketers? |
Online Travel Agents or OTAs have become a common step in the process of booking a holiday. They provide convenience for the user because they allow you to search hotels in a trusted environment with plenty of variety and detail on each 
$1.2 Billion for a social network platform – yowza! Or rather, Yammer! Online community and collaboration tools have come a very long way since IRCs, usenet and Delphi ruled the Internet. As important as Yammer's recent acquisition by Microsoft might be to the Wall Street crowd, the impact of this platform and similar tools on the business culture of organizations will be even greater.
Social media is terrifying.
"We don't need to respond."
I'm going to go out on a limb here but then when don't I ?!
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