I hope you’ll join us on May 9 at 2:00 pm for our upcoming Webinar on “The Convergence of PR and SEO: Harnessing the Power of Content, Social and Search.”
The panelists will include SpeakerBox’s own Elizabeth Shea and Janet Driscoll Miller, President and CEO of Search Mojo.
If you’re a marketing or communications professional interested in improving your PR, content marketing and SEO programs and gaining a better understanding of how these three elements should be coordinated, this is the program for you.
Key topics will include:
- The 3 most important components of SEO and how they converge to drive successful search and PR campaigns
- What is Google authorship and why it’s important for SEO, content and PR
- Targeting and measuring your PR and content marketing efforts for maximum SEO benefit
- Why you should join Google+ and how you should maximize the social network
Please take a minute to register for this informative Webinar. I promise it will be time well-spent.
- Katie Hanusik
Social media can have a large impact for small businesses, but only if they make the time to engage. Small business owners, marketers and other employees are often tasked with many things at once so social media engagement sometimes falls off the radar.
While putting social media on the backburner seems to be the norm, it is a trend that really should change even if the company can’t afford a full time social media person. A small amount of engagement in the right spots can go a long way.
The infographic below (from VerticalResponse) shows how small business are really using social media – how much time they are spending on it, who is engaging and what results they are seeing.
From the results it looks like CEOs are taking on a lot of the work themselves spending 1-5 hours per week on social sites – even though they’d like to spend less time on it. Most small businesses are upping their social game as compared to last year and Facebook is still their main platform.
What I find most interesting is that over half are blogging and making it look easy, spending only 1-3 hours per post.
Check it out and see how you compare.
As companies everywhere dive headfirst into their 2013 marketing plans, I’m sure a social program is included on everyone’s agenda. How do you get your message out effectively, via which social platforms and how do you get your audience engaged in conversation? What should you be tracking and what tools should you be using to make it a success? Whether you’re a beginner or a veteran, social platforms are developing so quickly it can be hard to keep up. Check out the events and conferences coming up in 2013 that could help with your social media endeavors, and feel free to comment with others that we may have missed. After all, it’s about being social, right?
Social Media Marketing World – April 7-9, San Diego, CA
Social Media Marketing World 2013 will combine high-quality 
sessions with an amazing social experience. You’ll rub shoulders with the biggest names and brands in social media, soak up countless tips and new strategies, and enjoy extensive networking opportunities in San Diego, California. Connect face-to-face with top social media marketing experts while breaking bread with like-minded peers from around the globe.
Event Twitter Handle: @smexaminer
Event Hashtag: #SMMW13
BlogWell – April 17, New York, NY
BlogWell features 8 great case studies on the best social media programs at large corporations. This year’s case study presentations will be given by:
- Verizon: Learn how Verizon uses social media to connect with their customers.
- Walgreens: Learn how Walgreens builds internal collaboration and employee relationships through social media.
- ComEd: Learn how ComEd used social media to turn one of the hottest summers ever into the “Coolest Summer Ever” in 2012.
- TD Bank: Learn how TD Bank is becoming a social business by engaging employees and connecting customers with experts.
- Wendy’s: Learn how Wendy’s uses social media listening to make business decisions.
- Corning: Learn how Corning is getting the attention of their fans using social media.
- Sanofi: Learn how the U.S. affiliate of this global pharmaceutical company engages diabetes patients through social media.
- Walmart: Learn how Walmart uses data to build better social media strategies.
Event Hashtag: #blogwell
The Social Media Strategies Summit – April 23-24, Chicago, IL
Social Media Strategies Summit has been designed to apply to a variety of industries. In an effort to meet attendees’ learning objectives, it is built in six tracks, each outlined to focus on a particular industry. Each track includes sessions focused on the following categories: corporate case studies; community engagement and customer service; measurements, including analytics, ROI and tools; sales approach; legal risks & strategies; and marketing strategies & tactics.
Event Twitter Handle: @GSMIonline
Event Hashtag: #smssummit
iStrategy Global Digital and Social Media Conference – April 23-24, Miami, FL
Join North America's most forward-thinking digital marketers, social media mavens and online experts as they converge on Miami in April 2013 to discuss the future of digital marketing and share strategies for improving customer engagement, driving conversions and developing campaigns that positively ring with authenticity, relevancy and significance. Speakers, panelists and workshops will be lead on the following topics:
- Social media
- Mobile marketing and applications
- Display advertising
- Search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC)
- Email marketing, database marketing and customer relationship management (CRM)
- Web analytics
- E-commerce
- Content strategy including video, viral and blogs
Event Twitter Handle: @iStratBuzz
Event Hashtag: #iStrategy
The Social Media Strategies Summit June 12-13, New York, New York
Social Media Strategies Summit has been designed to apply to a variety of industries. In an effort to meet attendees’ learning objectives, it is built in six tracks, each outlined to focus on a particular industry. Each track includes sessions focused on the following categories: corporate case studies; community engagement and customer service; measurements, including analytics, ROI and tools; sales approach; legal risks & strategies; and marketing strategies & tactics.
Event Twitter Handle: @GMSIonline
Event Hashtag: #smssummit
Pivot Conference – October 15-16, New York, New York
Pivot is not a social media conference, or even a traditional conference at all. Pivot is as close to a true social community of powerful leaders as a physical gathering can be. In our incisive on-stage conversations, the speakers contribute to the audience, the audience contributes to the speakers and everyone contributes to one another. All Pivot’s participants are leaders of social initiatives from major brands and the organizations that serve them. The result is a singularity that defines the heart of social for the year ahead.
Event Twitter Handle: @pivotcon
Event Hashtag: #pivotcon
Yesterday, Potomac Tech Wire held their Social Media Outlook 2013 at the Gannett/USA TODAY Corporate Headquarters in McLean, VA. The event consisted of a keynote, panel and three speaker presentations all focused on bringing us expert viewpoints and analysis of where things stand with social media and where they’re expected to go in the upcoming year. You can check out the recap of the keynote, posted by my colleague Jennifer Edgerly here and get all the details from the panel below. Panelists hit on everything from Facebook to Tumblr and told us about the coolest social media campaigns they’ve seen this year. The panel was moderated by Potomac Tech Wire’s Paul Sherman and included the following industry thought-leaders:
- Leigh George – Director of Digital Strategy, R2integrated
- Rohit Bhargava (also the keynote
speaker!) – Founding member of the 360 Digital Influence Group at Ogilvy and author of the best selling book “Likeonomics: The Unexpected Truth Behind Earning Trust, Influencing Behavior, and Inspring Action”
- Jodi Gersh - Director/Social Media & Engagement at Gannett
- Shashi Bellamkonda – Social Swami (otherwise known as Sr. Director, Social Media) at Web.com and Adjunct Marketing Professor at Georgetown University
Q: What’s going on with Facebook? I’ve heard that Facebook is losing its “cool” for younger generations.
According to panelist Leigh George, Facebook is now a mass media that has reached every demographic. She stated that the only real area of growth for the major social media platform is with baby boomers, which may be why it seems like it is losing its “cool” amongst the younger generations. Bhargava agrees, saying that one drawback to Facebook is that once your parents are on it, it may not be cool anymore. That said, he doesn’t think people will be fleeing the platform. He also noted, Facebook is the only way he is connected with many people and to ditch his account would mean to lose those connections.
Q: How are you advising clients to use Facebook right now?
George also weighed in on this topic, stating that Facebook is not a sales platform, if you want to engage with people here, as a company, you have to reach them through what people are talking about. Ads on Facebook are viewed as intrusive – you need to talk about topics like community involvement or recruiting, and not try to buy your way in. She says you must add value to your audience.
Jodi Gersh noted that the newest challenge with Facebook comes from their ad- ranking algorithm, which places a higher value on engagement than likes. This gives companies the new goal of not simply attracting more likes to their page, but getting those who like their page to engage with their content. She admitted to currently having a love/hate relationship with the platform. Bellamkonda stated that Facebook is the easiest publishing platform and it isn’t going anywhere. He noted that people will share content that provides them with value and recommends people holding social giveaways on fan pages that give away the companies’ own products.
Q: Startups used to have Facebook at their core, but now they appear to have more of an “at arms length” relationship with the platform. Is Facebook losing its “cool” with startups?
There was a time when you had an ecommerce site that you had to display openly that it was VeriSign secure, or people would be nervous to purchase. But, over time, everyone had one so sites didn’t feel the need to put it in the limelight – it was just expected that sites had it, explained Rohit Bhargava. He goes on to say that this is similar to the relationship between Facebook and startups, which used to have the platform front and center. But now, everyone just knows they are there. Continuing with the similes, he also compared Facebook to plumbing, saying that you don’t miss it until it’s gone.
George agreed that his analogy between the plumbing and Facebook was spot on. Hitting back on the younger demographic, she notes that the 18-24 demographic is really involved with the more visual social networks like Pinterest, Tumblr and Instagram, and Facebook is the plumbing for all of them (meaning they are all interconnected and you can log in to these various platforms via your Facebook account). Most of these platforms are mobile and she thinks they will eventually catch on with the older demographics.
Shashi Bellamkonda added that as companies and startups integrate into mobile, whoever makes plugging-in easiest will be the most successful, and right now, integrating with Facebook is the easiest way to do that. Bhargava agreed the Facebook platform was simple, but also noted that the interface is looking pretty old and almost compares to that of craigslist. He’s super excited about the new MySpace platform, though, noting its horizontal scrolling.
Speaking of interface makeovers, have you checked out the new USA TODAY web page? Gersh says the new web page is super visual and almost “Pinteresty” with a new cover view option. I’m not going to lie, it looks pretty sharp!
Q: What campaigns/strategies have wowed you this past year and why?
Panelist: Leigh George
Campaign: Coca-Cola
Reason: Leigh is fascinated by Coca-Cola’s embracement of becoming a social company. Last summer, they released their content strategy and people thought they were crazy for giving out their secret sauce. Leigh disagrees, stating that she thinks transparency is intelligent. Coca-Cola is also embracing social business, Leigh explains. They co-create content with their consumers via social by getting them to talk about their concept of “Opening Happiness.” Check out their “Happiness Is…” campaign on Tumblr.
Panelist: Rohit Bhargava
Campaigns: Toyota 100 Cars for Good and McDonalds “Ask Anything” Twitter Campaign
Reason: Rohit mentioned the cleverness of the Toyota 100 Cars campaign, which allowed social media users to select which charities received the free cars from Toyota. But he gave most of his praise to McDonalds, who challenged its customers to ask any question on Twitter and they would answer it. He noted this was the perfect way to engage people when they think you are “BSing” them. Check out some of the results.
Panelist: Jodi Gersh
Campaign: Oreo
Reason: Jodi gave kudos to Oreo’s recent Facebook campaign, in which they post photos regularly of Oreos that have been carved to look like different things. She says its brilliant because of Oreo’s complete understanding of Facebook as a platform. They are taking the cookie that everyone already loves and making something out of it to share. Check out AdAge’s coverage.
Panelist: Shashi Bellamkonda
Campaign: Network Solutions, Go Granny
Reason: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nn25Lb8dick
Q: What is coming in 2013 for Twitter and Google+? What about “dark social?”
According to George, Google+ is a ghost town and will continue to be a place for the small, yet active older, male population. She says its great for SEO, but not broad engagement. But, Bellamkonda says it still plays a role, saying that everyone should have a Google+ button on every page of their website. He also noted the rise in predictive analytic-focused platforms like GoogleNow, which collects your data and gives you the info it thinks you want to see when you start your browser (i.e. local weather, favorite sports scores). The group didn’t have too much to say about Twitter, but Bhargava gave a final push to the new MySpace, calling it an exciting destination.
They wrapped-up the panel by talking about dark social, stating stats from an Atlantic article that showed half of the links we go to come from email, text, chat, etc. George said that we should look at dark social traffic and use it to help generate content. And, Bellamkonda recommended using a button tool such as AddThis to help track this data.
Posted by
Mary Evans on Sat, Sep 29, 2012 @ 01:38 PM
Someone recently asked me what Google+ was (mind you, this person is not an active social media user by any means), and I found myself stumbling in my explanation. I’m on the channel, but couldn’t tell you the last time I logged in, let alone actively used it. As much as I wanted to love it, I just never got sucked in. I enjoy so many Google tools, but am sorry to say, this just isn’t one of them. Am I alone in that feeling, or do I have company? (Sorry, Pete, I know you’re a fan.)
Reports from the past few months have varied, so it’s hard to come to a conclusion. However, I did some poking around and came across this cool infographic a UK social media firm put together last month. It compares Google+ to other social networking sites and suggests that activity on the site is much lower compared to Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
Take a look below, or here, for the details. Where do you stand – is Google+ alive and well?
- Mary Evans
Since its release last year there’s been a lot of debate over the merits (or lack thereof) of Google+. Heck, we’ve even gone back and forth about it here on this very blog. Is it an effective social media channel for businesses? Does it stand shoulder-to-shoulder with old stalwarts like Facebook or Twitter?
I’m not going to attempt to answer those last two questions here. What I will do, however, is mention that I’ve been using Google+ quite a bit recently – much more so than I ever thought I would, to be honest. The reason is that Google+ provides me with the ability to easily interact in meaningful ways with the many technology journalists I follow on a regular basis.
For someone like me, who avoided the social media train until it had well left the station, this is actually saying something. But I’m the type of person that uses Twitter exclusively as a newsfeed. I follow the writers and companies that I’m most interested in; that’s how I learn about what’s going on with the things that interest me the most. And I do like it.
Facebook? Sure, it’s great for keeping up with friends, family, and organizations – not so much when it comes to following your favorite journalists or bloggers, who typically only accept friend requests from, you know, their actual friends.
To me, Google+ is an ideal combination of the strengths of Twitter and Facebook, at least when it comes to being able to follow and connect with bloggers and other industry influencers. There are several reasons for this:
1) Google+ is still a relatively young social media network. That means there aren’t too many people using it yet, at least in the grand scheme of things. You’re not jostling with thousands of other people who might be posting comments or questions. Because of this, whatever question I post might have a better chance of getting answered.
2) The nature of Google+ encourages interaction and conversation. I’m much more comfortable posing a question or engaging in a discussion with a journalist via Google+ than I ever would be over Twitter. And, on Google+, they actually answer!
3) Text isn’t limited to 140 characters. The concept of a limited amount of characters can be good – it makes people get to the point – but it also limits the breadth of a conversation. Google+ posits no such restrictions. Thus, journalists and those who follow them are allowed to (within reason) express more full-fleshed out concepts and ideas.
4) I like the idea of a +1 button. Whether or not it impacts search results, there’s something empowering about finding a story, written by someone whose opinion you respect, and voting for it with a +1. It’s probably inconsequential, but, hey, it makes me feel like I’ve made a difference (and it’s an election year, too!)
5) Tech journalism is heavily represented. Google was a company started by geeks that somehow found itself as one of the largest organizations in the world. But the company’s geeky heart beats heavily within Google+. The network is a bastion of technology reporters (M.G. Siegler, Joshua Topolsky and others are frequent users) who are well worth paying attention to. On Google+, the geeks still rule.
6) There’s a visual element that’s appealing. Sure, I know Pinterest exists. But since I’m not in the market for a wedding dress or the latest fall line from Donatella Versace, I’ll never use it. I’ll stick with Google+, which, in addition to providing an attractive forum for discussion, allows me to gaze longingly at tech gadgets that I’ll probably never have the money or use for but still long to add to my arsenal regardless.
I realize I might be a lone wolf in a wilderness full of Facebook devotees. I also don’t care. The more I use Google+, the more I think it might just be the social network for me – and, perhaps, other communications professionals looking to make connections.
- Pete Larmey
Google+ logo copyright Google Inc.
Social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn make it super easy to communicate these days. And I know it can be scary (especially for us techies) venturing out from behind our laptops, tablets and smartphones. But taking a step back from the technology and getting face-to-face with your local industry peeps could be the best thing you can do for your business. Communicating via Facebook and Twitter is necessary, but it is merely a supplement to being an active and visible participant in the community. Why is that, you ask?
- It puts a face with a Twitter handle - Following a company or exec on Twitter is a great way to see what’s going on with the company or in the industry, but I’m much more likely to pay attention to people I have personal connections with. Seek out events and meet-ups that some of the folks you want to be following you on Twitter will be attending and introduce yourself!
- It actually connects you to “people you may know” (real people, not just their profiles) – Social media sites often refer you to people they think you should know – connections of connections. But, wouldn’t it be nice to be promoted via word of mouth, too? Things are a lot easier if you have people seeking you out on your social networks rather than you seeking them. By immersing yourself in the community, you can meet new people and let them do the connecting for you.
- You can find out why they “like” you – Or, get them to “like” you, if they don’t already. Having in-person convos about your company or product gives you the opportunity to dive deeper than you can or should on a social media site. It will allow people to see that you know what you are talking about and are a strong thought leader on the topic.
Having a strong social media presence can surely be beneficial for your company, but if you pair that up with some old-school networking you may be surprised by the outcome. Getting out from behind the technology can put you face-to-face with people who can truly provide invaluable feedback about what is happening in the industry. Not that “likes” and “shares” aren’t important, but, all in all, you can’t beat good old-fashioned communication. Not to mention, it can actually help push people to your social media pages. So get out and enjoy what’s left of summer with some industry meet-ups and communicate with more than just a profile or Twitter handle.
Looking for tech events in the DC area? Check out some of the following for what’s happening:
"Wait... did I remember to cash those last two residual checks from 'Rainbow'?"
So last week, In the Capital's Lin Qiu posted an exceedingly respectful and intelligent rebuttal to my controversial Google Glasses post.
How disappointing! No name-calling. No childish taunting. This is the worst flame war ever.
But Lin did make some excellent points. In fact, he raised an important consideration that I'd altogether failed to mention. From his post:
"...I do agree that if Google is the only company shoving down their products through bionanotechnology peripherals pipelines is dangerous..."
This corporatist aspect is indeed most troubling.
Remember, this technology breakthrough is being led by Google. GOOGLE. The company that cares about as much for your privacy as it does for Bing-related search traffic.
Google is not in this game to evoke new, artistic perspectives of the human experience. Lin references philosophers and scientists like Plato and Alhazen. But Google is a corporation. It's looking to make money on advertising.
And that's why this parody video of Project Glass is one of the funniest and most damning commentaries I've seen.
It's not unusual for us to begin working with a B2B (or even B2G) company that either is not using social media tools at all or has the channels set up but doesn't know what to do with them (much less have the time or personnel to manage them). Companies often wonder why they should even bother with social media and will having a Facebook or Twitter page really make a difference?
According to the infographic below, which is from InsideView, the answer to that question is a resounding YES!
Selling Through Social Media to Close More Leads InsideView
Even though social media clearly is providing results for B2B companies and helping them close deals, a few things in particular jumped out at me from this infographic.
- No Google+. Could this be because Google+ is no longer alive and kicking?
- Companies with an active blog are seeing 67% more leads per month. Like all social media channels, blogs take time to develop and nurture, but having somewhere to share content and develop thought leaders is incredibly important.
- More than 1/3 of global buyers surveyed use social media to engage with their vendors. This means that you can't just have a Facebook or Twitter page -- you need to be present. You need to monitor these channels and engage with your customers.
- 55% of survey respondents search for info on social media. That means, if you aren't there they can't find you and you are losing an opportunity to engage with your customers.
- Lastly, along with your customers already being there, so is your competition. And if they aren't yet, they will be soon.
So has social media helped you close more leads? Or, are you just now entering the wild world of social?
Not so long ago my esteemed colleague Pete wrote a blog post about Google+ being alive and kicking. However, it appears I’m not the only one who would disagree with that description.
When Google+ first launched last year it seemed everyone thought Google had finally come out with a social network that could rival Facebook. But, over time, it seems not to be the case. In fact, the Wall Street Journal ran an article at the end of February that describes “The Mounting Minuses at Google+.”
According to the Wall Street Journal article, Google+ has 90 million users but data shows that while users are signing up they aren’t doing much there. Google execs, on the other hand, tell the New York Times “about 50 million people who have created a Google Plus account actively use the company’s Google Plus-enhanced products daily.”
But, those numbers aren’t exactly accurate when you consider that “Google Plus-enhanced products” include YouTube, Google.com and Google Play (formerly Android Market). Based on Google’s own math, just a few months ago, before I downgraded from Google+, I would have been considered an active user. The problem? I never checked my Google+ account and certainly would not have considered myself an active user.
In fact, while by no means a scientific survey, a quick survey of our very own SpeakerBox office showed that only one person out of our entire team was using Google+ on a regular basis.
Even more telling though may be the example in the Wall Street Journal article about Intel. According to the person responsible for Intel’s social media presence, 360,000 Google+ members have signed up to receive updates from the company since it joined Google+. Not bad, right? Not until you compare it with Facebook, where the company has more than eight million “fans” and gets thousands of comments on its posts.
So am I suggesting everyone jump ship and downgrade from Google+? No. But if your company is looking to expand your social media presence, it’s important to take time and research the options, know what the number of active users really means and make the choice that’s best for your company and the audience you want to reach.
-- Jennifer Edgerly