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Big Developments In The Like Economy [Google, LinkedIn, Facebook]

By on December 1, 2010 in Social Media Strategy

The Like Economy

Some big stories (and rumors) in the last 24 hours that highlight the trend shaping online attention, is the “Like Economy”.

Google changed the web when 2 college students realised that when someone added a link to another website on their own site it was an endorsement, a way of passing on authority and thereby making the site that was being linked to more of an authority. That was back in the good one days when webmasters were pretty much the only ones who could create links, now through Social Media, people power links.

The rise of Social Media sites like Twitter and especially Facebook has seen a big shift in the way traffic and attention on the web are directed. In March this year Facebook passed Google for monthly traffic. Which in a round about way means you are more likely to discover my webpage via one of your friends sharing it on Facebook then you searching for it in Google.

So What Is The “Like Economy”?

 

The “Like Economy” is discovery of online content directed by the other people clicking a Facebook Like button, sharing it on Twitter or LinkedIn or similar social network. “Like” data is already being incorporated into Search Engine Results, however the technology is evolving very rapidly. All the major platforms are making big moves in the last quarter of 2010 in an effort to win market share of your online attention. In 2011 expect a “Taste Graph” to start influencing the online content you consume, that is people who have similar interests to you are likely to determine the content you are served on Social Media sites and on Search Engines.

Google Me a Facebook Killer, Maybe?

 

Google has been adding social elements to many of it’s services for some time now. For example Google Hotpot adds social recommendations to Google Maps. Rumors have been circulating that Google is building a Facebook Killer. Overnight Mashable reports that Google Me may launch in April or May 2011. Will it be the Facebook Killer? If there is any company that has the resources to pull it off it’s Google. However at the moment Facebook has a huge advantage and has plenty of developments of it’s own, e.g. Facebook Messages, Facebook Places, and Facebook Deals

LinkedIn Adds A Share Button For Your Website

 

LinkedIn is a powerful Social Network for business professionals. Their recent announcement of a LinkedIn like button for publishers means that you can easily connect your website to the LinkedIn ecosytem. More connection, more relevance and more data for the “Like Economy”.

Here is an example of the Like Button in action, expect to see these popping up all over the web as well.

So How Do I Take Advantage Of The “Like Economy”?

 

This is a big topic and one that I will cover more in the coming weeks and months, however here are a couple of action items to start with.

  • If you haven’t already, sign up for LinkedIn and Twitter and create a Facebook Business page as a minimum.
  • Find the thought leaders in your niche or industry and start connecting with them. These people will become your “taste graph”, your trusted filters. Like their Facebook Pages, add them as connections on LinkedIn, follow them on Twitter, etc
  • Enable Social Sharing on your website. Lots of platforms have this built in, if not maybe shift your website to WordPress
  • Find some quality content in your areas of interest and start sharing it on LinkedIn, Twitter, and your Facebook Page

Oh and if you don’t mind, could you please like and share this page ;-)

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Facebook Pages Administrators Now Have Insight Data On Posts

By on November 25, 2010 in Facebook Marketing

So you have created a Facebook Page for your business, nice move!

You have been experimenting with posting different content on the wall of your Facebook Business Page. Sometimes one liners, sometimes longer pieces, sometimes photos or videos and all the time trying to crack the code for an avalanche of comments and likes. However other you can find yourself posting in silence, never really sure how far your content reaches.

Today that has all changed.

Facebook Insights for Page Admins

Today if you’re a Facebook Page Admin (you created the page or you manage it) when you visit your page you will notice some stats. Just above the comments and live box will be a figure telling you how many times your post has been served (this includes visits to your page and impressions on the feeds of people who have liked your page) and feedback (comments and likes) expressed as a percentage.

This is handy data. Now you know how many people are looking at your content and what percentage of them are interested enough to respond. Hopefully this feedback will encourage you to post thoughtful content, that is valuable to your audience and moves them to that lovely feeling of epiphany, where they feel compelled to respond. Perhaps it might encourage you to share more often or less often, to try different types of posts.

Now is a great time to think about your Facebook Content Strategy. 2010 is closing out, 2011 is almost here.

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Rapportive Replaces Gmail Ads With Helpful Social Media Contact Info

By on November 5, 2010 in Social Media Strategy

Rapportive- Social CRM inside Gmail

Connecting via Social Media is a great way to build rapport with your prospects, but how do you do this without be chained to your computer?

There has always been the option to take an email enquiry or connection and search Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn etc with the name and email address of the sender as a method for finding your new contact’s social profiles.

Very Labour Intensive!

There are services like Flowtown and Salesforce who tackle the business of Social CRM in a more comprehensive manner. However for the small business and solo entrepreneur who are growing lists, these solutions may be cost prohibitive.

Enter Rapportive, Social CRM for the Masses.

Rapportive shows you everything about your contacts right inside your inbox. You can immediately see what people look like, where they’re based, and what they do. You can establish rapport by mentioning shared interests. You can grow your network by connecting on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and more. And you can record thoughts for later by leaving notes. Imagine relationship management built into your email. For free. (source: http://rapportive.com/about)

Look who’s investing in Rapportive.

Aside from some otherwise big name investors (Y Combinator, Gary Vaynerchuk),  Paul Buchheit, the creator of Gmail and founder of Friendfeed is onboard. Now that’s a very food sign that Rapportive is likely to float to the top.

Get started

Add Rapportive to Gmail

Free add-on for Firefox, Safari, Mailplane, and Chrome.

Hat Tip to Brent Purves for shining the light on Rapportive

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Google Local Trailing New Format For Metro Searches

By on November 4, 2010 in Social Media Strategy

Many business owners are now familiar with Google’s Local Search function. If you conduct a Google Search for a service (e.g. plumber, hotel, chinese restaurant, etc) and use a geographic modifier (technical term for a location e.g. Byron Bay or Brisbane), so something like “Plumber Byron Bay”, Google serves up a page with a map and 7 featured listings.

google local result

Naturally if you have a business that services a local market e.g. trades, health professionals, business services being discovered in the featured list has a significant advantage. Also optimising your listing by adding videos and other details is a great way to connect with prospects.

However it appears that Google is testing new formats for serving up these Google Local Searches. Below are two screenshots; one for “Plumber Byron Bay” (which has returned a fairly classic result) and one for “Plumber Brisbane” which reveals what is potentially going to be the new format.

Google Local Still The Same For Regional Searches

Google Local Trailing New Format For Metro Searches

It seems sensible that Google would test the new format in larger metro centres before pushing the changes wider, and there is a variation across browsers. These screenshots are from Google Chrome, however Safari and Firefox returned different results.

Bottom Line On Changes To Google Local

While it’s not apparent exactly what the changes will be, it appears changes are in the wind. It’s hard to miss the coincidence that Facebook announced a number of changes to it’s platform today including a Deals function to compliment Facebook Places and a potential competitor for Google Local. However when a platform changes there are always opportunities for new leaders, if you don’t have a listing for your business on Google Places head over and get started.

If you would like help with getting your profile optimised please contact us at Byron New Media.

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Smart Social Media Marketing Content Anchors Emotion

By on December 2, 2009 in Social Media Strategy

Lately at Byron New Media, we have been writing and thinking a lot about the content we create and our clients create as part of Social Media Marketing campaigns. I created a Cinchcast Social Media Content for Brands, 3 Purposes outlining three major themes for the content marketers create for Social Media;

  • Core Content – this is regular, consistent content that serves your community and reinforces brand image and values
  • Community or Conversational Content – this is content that will demonstrate that you are listening and that you have empathy with your community
  • Creative Content – this is high content and or high emotional value content that moves viewers to share

The video above is a great piece of branding. Highly emotional content that it NLP terms anchors positive emotion to the Robbins Brothers brand. I might be a softy, but I can imagine lot’s of people sharing this video with their friends. At the end of this “experience” people are reminded that this romance was brought to by Robbins Brothers, perceptually linking all those positive emotions to  Robbins Brothers.

The take home message. Be clear about your brand and invest in high concept, high touch content that reinforce Brand Image and Brand Values.

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A Facebook Roadmap, what does it mean for Businesses?

By on October 29, 2009 in Social Media Strategy

Facebooks Roadmap to the platform for Developers

Facebook's Roadmap to the platform for Developers

Earlier today Facebook announced details of a roadmap for releasing more details of the intricacies of the Facebook platform for Developers. Ok again in English, because plenty of people will be discussing this news for the more technically minded. I want to make sure that business people understand how important this development is.

Facebook, the most inhabited Social Media network on the planet (more than 390,000,000 users spent between somewhere between 15 and 19 minutes a day on the site). Has since 2006 opened up parts of the pipes, bells and whistles that make Facebook work, to third party developers. This has increasing meant that savvy brands and small businesses have been able to create presences inside Facebook and to provide their regular website visitors with the opportunity to interact with their friends on Facebook.

Who cares you might say. However imagine this, imagine your business is a pool shop, summer is approaching you have crafted a series of articles about maintaining a clean pool. You start to share these articles via a Facebook page carefully crafted for your business which is building you a little bit of a fan base. Next you order a pallet of bags of a special salt for conditioning pools and announce a special on your website. Using Facebook Connect (code for some of those special pipes and whisltes) people placing their orders on your regular pool shop website with click of a button can let all of their friends on Facebook know about your Super Salt Special.

Now whether you run a pool shop, a restaurant, a golf resort, or a massage clinic I’ll bet you pounds to peanuts that people don’t spend an average of 15 minutes a day on your site. Not only that but the architecture and culture of Facebook is all about friends sharing with friends so, when that customer comes to your website and orders that Super Salt Special you bet that they want to share this kind of information with their friends.

A Facebook Page for your business is a great way to position your brand.

A Facebook Page for your business is a great way to position your brand.

First, a huge caveat on this example, it’s super simplified, it requires a certain amount of technical dexterity to “connect the bells and whistles” and develop the kind of brand presence required on Facebook to have serious credibility. Lastly discounting is the simplest strategy in the book but it can seriously undermine your brand. It’s a strategy we all understand and makes for an easy example however your Social Media Marketing strategy need to be a component of your overall Marketing strategy (an increasingly important component) but not an add-on.

Second, back to that Facebook announcement. The roadmap means that more of Facebook‘s bells, pipes and whistles are being opened up to developers. That means more and more opportunity for smart companies and brands to develop a sophisticated presence in Facebook and to cross-pollinate with their own proprietary Facebook application and linkages between their own web properties and Facebook.

It means that if you don’t have a Facebook presence for your business now is the time to start, and if you do now is the time to innovate to ensure your Facebook presence and integration tightly matching your brand and business values, culture and objectives. Why, because 6, 8, 9 months ago having a Facebook page for your business was innovation, that is changing now and in the not too distant future it will be the rule rather than the exception.

If you would like to find out more about how Byron New Media can assist you develop Facebook presence for your business, please contact us.

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Social Media is subtle like Elvis.

By on August 11, 2009 in Social Media Strategy

Social Media can be a very direct medium, it’s quite intimate. Social Media Marketing is subtle, it can become direct but it starts more obtuse.  As someone wanting to market in the personal space of Social Media it is far more engaging to have a good time and allow other sot do the same.

The video above is brilliant touch in subtly, and watching it I found myself have a pretty good time. It will no doubt position BB&A (the company that posted it on Youtube) as being capable and great to work with. At no stage do they attempt to broadcast their brilliance but instead show themselves getting the job done.  I had a feeling when I met Mark and Gideon (founders of BB&A) on Twitter about a month ago, that here was a company and a couple of guys who really get Social Media and who will do well leveraging it to benefit their business. Tip of the hat lads! Social Media subtle like well … Elvis???

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How a Business starting with Social Media is like Teen Sex.

By on July 23, 2009 in Social Media Strategy

For most business people getting started in Social Media is … well tricky. Where to start? What resources should you commit? How do you make an impact right from the start? Will all those Social Media types talk to you tomorrow?

Sound familiar? Marta Kagan is the marketing genius who gave us What the F**K Is Social Media? (a cheeky but mind bending look at the world of Social Media as it relates to Business and Marketing) and the Social Media Serenity Prayer:

“Lord grant me the courage to thoroughly explore the world of social media on behalf of myself and my customers before plundering ahead like a bull in a china shop; the strength to accept [and admit] the fact that I might not know what the f**k I’m doing; and the wisdom to know when to ask for help. Amen.”

2 years on (I know the presentation says 1 but it is 2 years since the last presentation) Marta is diving back in for another look. This time she compares starting Social Media with Teen Sex!

I know she knows how to swear and get your attention. Behind her sassy bravado is a well researched carefully crafted look at Social Media in Business content, you really don’t need to her anymore from me, so here is the F**king Slideshow (I wouldn’t normally swear on this blog, but for some reason it seems ok today).

View more documents from Marta Kagan.
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The First Pillar of Social Media Strategy – Listen

By on July 4, 2009 in Social Media Strategy

This is video two in a series of five Developing a Social Media Strategy for Your Business or Brand. If you would like to be notified when the remaining 3 videos in the series become available, register at Social Media Kit- Developing a Social Media Strategy for Your Business or Brand.

Now you can go to Social Media Kit- Developing a Social Media Strategy for Your Business or Brand and register to receive all 5 videos and a free Social Media Strategy template.

Leave us a comment below, let us know how the video helped you or what we left out and what you would like to know more about.

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Byron New Media Social Bookmarking Tags – via Delicious

By on June 26, 2009 in Social Media Strategy

Byron New Media- Social Bookmarking via Delicious

Byron New Media- Social Bookmarking via Delicious

Social Bookmarking is a powerful way to rapidly share content with your tribe or target audience. When combined with a smart aggregation service like Friendfeed you can share valuable content to a number of touchpoints (Social Media Outposts) with one or two clicks. This is a great way to streamline your Social Media Workflow.

A word of warning to those looking for short cuts. Most tools can be used for good or bad, if you are not mixing your Social Bookmarking with other original content, your output will soon become quite bland. Promoting the good work of others is an important component of Social Media Strategy, however demonstrating no original thought reeks of a robot. So think balance and you’ll be fine.

You can make your won Word Cloud at Wordle.

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