We are seeing that the natural catalysts of ego and the relevance has launched companies worldwide into the space of social media in an unorganized fashion. What we are left with in many cases are a plethora of Facebook pages representing every facet of a company. I call this Socialrrhea, and is not limited to Facebook, but that is what we will tackle today. But before you go championing this article as a sign that the times are changing and that there is too much ’social’ in our media, let’s dive in and understand how we can strike a better balance. Continue reading →
03
Jun 10
Check-In’s + Augmented Reality: Social 2.0
I’m an avid Trailblazers fan. As I sit in the stands I am reminiscent of times before check-in’s and tweets—how did I see everyone in the stands before? Binoculars I think. I pull out my new iPhone 4G and load Facebook—within seconds I select ‘Ping’ and select ‘Friends’. It is amazing thinking that just last year I loaded a clunky program that only allowed me to check-in—but today with a couple of clicks on my speedy mobile device I am saying hello to everyone in the stands that are within my social network.
I hold up the screen and pan from left to right. The video recorder in the iPhone 4g has fully realized augmented reality and it is delightful. A quick on screen overlay shows beacons above the seats of all of my friends in the stands. Look, it’s Tom—I had no idea he even liked basketball. More importantly, I’m not sure his wife would appreciate him taking another woman to the game. Oh well, for another time. This is really something—this whole Social 2.0.
This is my vision of social media, just around the corner. Take a moment to share your vision with us in the comments below. Thanks for your time socialnauts.
21
May 10
4 Tips for Getting C-Level Social Media Buy-In
Social media is finally making sense to you, your organization, or your clients—and while there seems to be this undeniable itch to jump in head-first you know full-well that the powers that be don’t care about your fancy social networks. With that firmly planted in the back of your mind, you are still rapidly piecing together your ideas, charts, and slides to go to bat for why social media is going to change the way you do business. But like any creative pitch, there is more to it than the medium; there is the nuances of the pitch mixed with the hostility that accompanies early adoption. So let’s ditch early adoption, in favor of early achievement.
06
May 10
Facebook Location to Oust Foursquare: SMB & Retailers
I have always been a fan of Foursquare. What they brought to social media was an exploration into location based social media—testing the waters as to the privacy boundaries, or lack there of, and all issues associated with check-in updates. The adoption rate has been fantastic for this emerging network, and with their ability to strike deals up with European characters Foursquare seemed to be on a roll. In addition the standing offer to be bought out for 100 million+, the writing was on the wall.
Enter Facebook So here we are, about to see Facebook jump into the location-game. Foursquare might have wanted to take that offer after all. They aren’t necessarily out of the game, but we could have seen this coming with the roll-out of a retail storefront sticker campaign that is being tested. Nonetheless, the Internet continues to mature, and I am excited to see it happen.
What does this mean for SMB and Retailers? Continue reading →
30
Apr 10
In the Footsteps of the Giant: LinkedIn follows Facebook
Profiles, lists, pages, badges, mayors. The feature-set of social networks continues to evolve, and it is no surprise that the front-runner continues to be Facebook. Let’s not forget that the once ominous Myspace held the coveted best-known-methods of 2006. What we can learn from this is that even though Facebook is in front in 2010 with features and updates, they are also pushing the pace of updates amongst their competitors. Though LinkedIn might not be a direct competitor to Facebook, the hopes that it will have a sustainable offering amidst the giant implies that LinkedIn must adapt and adopt.
What’s New with LinkedIn? Looking to adopt the vernacular that Twitter lists and Facebook communities/pages has set forth, LinkedIn has pushed out a Company Follow feature where followers can customize the rate, method and type of information they automatically receive about the companies they want to keep track of. This is a great way to keep track of trends in personnel at an organization such as a hiring/firing, as well as understand what kind of interaction a company is having on LinkedIn-connected networks.
What can you do with this feature? Continue reading →
28
Apr 10
SMB + Facebook
For quite some time now we have been talking to clients [clients of Quango Interaction Design] about the immidiate impact that the SMB audience can see when utilizing social media channels; prodominantly Facebook. As if 50+% of the online population in the US wasn’t enough to captivate marketing manager imaginations, Facebook has taken it upon itself to push the subject.
SMB Facebook Window Decals!
23
Apr 10
Facebook 'Like'—SEO/Traffic and Brand Evolution
Tuesday afternoon, Richard Rosen and I continued to prepare for our DMA 2010 Though-Leadership lecture. Working with Richard is fun, to say he knows his stuff when it comes to Direct Marketing is an understatement—and as a Creative Director of Quango Interaction Design, a proven Social Media agency—I find that we often try and tackle subjects over a glass of wine or a mug of coffee, that are far beyond the how-to implementation and BKM’s of marketing.
Even though we feel like we might have hit-gold on how to give Direct Marketers at the DMA Annual a model that ties in their marketing wisdom with the medium of today, what interests us most is the evolution of the Facebook like button, and what it means. Continue reading →
12
Mar 10
Why Foursquare Will Win
I’m not a gambler, and I certainly do not have a crystal ball. However it is becoming pretty evident that location based social networking will continue to grow. Simply put, a higher degree of mobile device integration by some big players [Google: desktops will be replaced, Intel: showing their hand towards mobile , Apple: the iPhone was successful, what if we made it bigger? ] continues to cater to the demand for continuous connectivity—and more importantly, support for seamless real-time-location interactions.
This is not a new principle—but if we were talking about social networks as a whole, in human-development they would just be entering into adolescence. They are hormonally challenged, seeking an identity, loose with their privacy, frenetic, and awkward—all while having a great deal of potential. To boot, they have a look that they all will be ashamed of in 10 years.
So what does this mean for Foursquare?
23
Feb 10
Visibility versus Viability
While reading mashable.com this morning I stumbled across an article by Shiv Singh, the VP and Global Social Media Lead for Razorfish—a reputable agency of which I have watched evolve over the years. What Shiv brings to our attention is an algorithm which he champions as the SIM Score.
It is no mystery that clients are demanding, and should continue to demand, more and more detailed analytics into their social media endeavors. I have been saying it to my clients and readers as much as possible—the days of friends and followers were limited, frenetic, and are now nonsensical. With that said, I first applaud Shiv for taking a crack at the indexing of influence on social media. Shiv uses simple math, and in my opinion simple is best for communicating business objectives.
Here is where it falls short though: Continue reading →
11
Feb 10
B2B and Social Media—3 tips to keep the lights on in 2010
Social media has really been the hot topic this past year between my clients and my agency—there is a good chance that those of you reading this are still chomping at the bit to figure out how social media can make your weekly PowerPoint status-slide sing.
A couple of years ago, it seemed that I couldn’t get a marketing manager to even fathom the idea that Facebook had any amount of relevance to their target audiences. All things social media, even as recent as a couple of months ago, were vocalized to me as fringe and fleeting fads that the youth and their hippity-hop cultures waste-away on—not what sophisticated business people spend time reading.