Saturday, January 8, 2011

Collect, Organize and Share Your Favorite Content with Zootool

Sometimes I often wonder, just how many methods do we really need for saving and organizing bookmarks, images and videos from the web? You would think that just one would be enough, but every time I come across something new I wonder if it could be better than what I’m currently using. That’s exactly how I felt when I came across Zootool; it’s a visual bookmarking tool that also integrates social media for instant sharing.

Pick Your Tool

Zootool has a bookmarklet, which is called the “Lasso.” It allows you to quickly save images, videos and web pages while browsing. This is the easiest way to get started using Zootool, but if you prefer they also have an unofficial Chrome extension, Firefox Addon and even a Safari extension. If those aren’t enough, there are many other tools and integrations listed on their Tools page.

Connect Your Social Profiles

You can add links to your other profiles right on your Zootool profile. Supported sites include: Delicious, Facebook, FriendFeed, Tumblr, Twitter and many more! Some profiles are used for sharing your Zootool content while others are just used as a simple link to your actual profile on that site.

Adding A Bookmark

I am using the Chrome Lasso extension and when I click the browser button, I am given the option to pick the image that I would like to use. Unfortunately, you can only pick one image to represent your bookmark. Once you pick the one you want, you’ll be give the option to add a title, description and tags. You can set you the item to public or private.

Don’t miss out on the other tabs along the top that give you sharing options. Clicking on Twitter lets you customize and post a tweet, as does clicking on Facebook, Email and More. The More options lets you add the item to Delicious, Tumblr and/or FriendFeed (if you’ve added those to your profile).

Each tool does something a little bit different, so depending on which one you’re using your options may differ.

Stylish Profiles

Honestly, I really like the clean look of the profiles on Zootool and the way that they’re set up (see for yourself). Your content is in the large column on the left, while a search bar (to search through your items), bio, social profiles and following fill up the right. Clicking on an item takes you to full view and lets other users add comments, share it and “like” it.

Discovering other content is also very easy with the public timeline on the home page and the search options. As soon as you add a new item (and have it set to public), it will appear right on the homepage. Find other people is pretty easy too and you can even find your Twitter friends (who are already using the site) by connecting your account.

While Zootool has been around for awhile, I think it is a very handy tool. In addition to my other tools that I use for keeping up with what I find on the Web, I think it’s a keeper. How about you?

Facebook Friday: Happy New Year!

We are now fully in the swing of things in 2011 and brands are focused on new ways to engage, encourage and interact with their Facebook fans.

With developments such as OfferPop (a social media marketing software company that provides Facebook-specific applications that facilitate easy interactions between users while showcasing brand products), Zibaba (an ecommerce storefront provider that will soon be launching an affliate storefront program for Facebook Pages), or even Sharethrough (that places brand videos into Facebook ad units), there is a constant river of new & improved ways to reach Facebook fans.

However, as a refresher for the new year, don’t forget some of the essentials to what makes a Facebook Page fantastic.

Tip 1. Keep the discussions authentic to your brand — it fosters trust.

Tip 2. Be consistent in your interactions — your fans want to be able to trust you.

Tip 3: Don’t take your brand too seriously — let your fans interact with you on a human level.

Focus on these three tips to keep your Facebook fans cognizant of why they are your fans in the first place and you will be able to foster a sense of community, intimacy and gratitude between yourself and your fans — bringing them back to you, time and time again. Take a look at this Facebook Page for a great example.

What is your 2011 resolution to improve your Facebook Page’s engagement and fanbase?

#HashtagsTopTwitterTrends

One of today’s trending Twitter topics is the hashtag #tiredofthat. It’s spurred people to list the multitudinous things they’re tired of such as “being alone on Valentine’s Day,” “the Twilight Saga” and the ever encompassing “Monday through Friday.”

One thing people are #nottiredof, are hashtags. According to What the Trend, hashtags have taken over the top spot as the category that gets the most Tweets.

In 2009, entertainment was the most Tweeted about topic with 39% of the pie. The next closest category was sports with only 11%. In 2010, entertainment dropped to 28% and hashtags took 40% of the pie.

Many hashtags are simply a way of organizing information so people can find it easily. The name of a TV show, a musician, an ongoing conference, a Twitter party in full swing. But climbing the charts are the random conversation starters such as #ifIhadachance and #wheniwasyoung. You know, the ones that look like coded license plates that mean something if you read them just right.

So how does a marketer use hashtags to their advantage? A couple of ways. Random tags work for everyone. Respond to what ever is trending even if it doesn’t directly relate to your business, it will get your name out there which is half the battle.

Start your own tag. Come up with something that suits your business but isn’t a sales pitch. #myfavoritecookie for a bake shop or #worstmovieever for DVD sales. Remember, Twitter is supposed to be fun, so let your imagination run wild. Just remember, if you’re going to use hashtags in your Tweets, there is one essential rule to follow; #every #word #doesn’t #need #its #own #hashmark.

The Ultimate in Mobile: Connected Cars at CES

Have a long commute to work? Why not make the time count by having your email read to you as you drive? All you need is a BMW with ConnectedDrive. Running late for that movie? Toyota’s EnTune service will allow you to buy your tickets from the car. If these in-car distractions cause you to have an accident, no problem, OnStar has partnered with Verizon on a gizmo that will record the accident and you can even use the system to send a Twitter update.

Opps. Fender bender. Going to be late for dinner! #mycarmademedoit

Connected cars are all the rage at this year’s CES and that makes me wonder if this isn’t the next big thing in marketing.

All of the major car manufacturers are working on some kind of connectivity through either a cell phone to car sync or a mobile wireless network. On the practical side, they provide driving directions, locate the nearest food or gas station and they notify you when you need gas, a charge or an oil change.

Then there’s the entertainment side. Pandora is working to make standard radio stations obsolete. Twitter and Facebook are also popular options and even the ability to stream movies (if you’re in the backseat!).

Now let’s add marketing to the equation. Since the car is GPS equipped, it has the ability to offer a coupon for $5.00 off lunch at a popular restaurant. Just take the next exit, say “yes”, and the coupon auto syncs with your phone when you stop.

Having trouble staying awake? Perhaps that tell-tale drifting triggers a system that leads you to the nearest Starbucks for a caffeine boost or a motel for a rest.

When you look at where we are with mobile couponing and check-ins, this isn’t a far leap.

The downside to this is, of course, the distraction factor. The graphic at the top of this post – Ebay on board – that’s a real screen grab from BMW. They say the system is set to only allow web surfing from the backseat or when the car is standing still. Even so, if I’m that worried about my auction that I need to pull over and go online, then I’m probably not paying a lot of attention to the road.

The saving grace here are the new smart cars that auto detect a near collision and force the car to slow or stop. But if you really can’t cut the cord between yourself and the internet, just invest in the 2-Person EN-V. This car will do the driving for you while you sit back and catch up with your friends on Facebook.

What do you think about connected cars and in-car mobile marketing?

Could Social Media Sharing Violate Copyright?

Everyone agrees that stealing the work of another person is wrong, but the definition of what constitutes stealing is a murkier matter. In most cases we roll back to the term “fair use” which allows a person to quote a section of an article or book for the purposes of education or discussion. You see that here all the time. There’s no malicious intent and there is no damage to the original party. On the contrary, the original writer will likely get a traffic boost from people clicking through to the source material, so it’s often a good thing.

Now here comes Righthaven LLC. According to a story in Fortune, the law firm is taking an aggressive stance against copyright violators by skipping the cease and desist letter and going straight to court. In every case, they’re demanding $150,000 in damages and the offender’s domain name. Ouch.

What’s especially disturbing about Righthaven’s crusade is the way they’re going about it. In order to prosecute, the original creator of the material transfers copyright ownership to Righthaven so they can sue on their own behalf. One judge took exception to this saying they aren’t a publisher, so they can’t sell the original work, so no damages.

The real fear here is not whether Righthaven has a leg to stand on, but that most people won’t have the money to fight. When faced with court costs, most bloggers will have no choice but to pay a fine and give up their domain name even if they were inside the letter of the law.

Fortune author Pullen asks this question:

But the damages to society, print publications, and the Internet at large may far surpass any fine, no matter how substantial. These cases will define where — in the social media era — sharing ends, stealing begins, and fair use applies.

Sounds like it’s time for the courts to tighten up the rules. For example? If a blog offers an RSS feed and I put that feed on my website, is that a violation? Does the act of offering a feed or a share button negate their copyright claim? Could we reach a point where the fear of getting sued outweighs the interest in reposting an article or photo? Will the court system ever catch up to technology?

Tune in tomorrow. Same blog-time. Same blog-channel.

Friday, January 7, 2011

Keep Your Online Reputation Clean with SocioClean

You really have to be careful about the way you represent yourself online. There are many companies now that will do a quick search for your name on Google before even considering you for a job. Then there are those who won’t even consider working with you on a professional level if your online presence is unprofessional in any way. This is why it’s important to watch what you say and be careful of the things you share (images, videos, status updates, etc).

The Solution

SocioClean is a tool that understands the importance of a clean online presence, so they built a site that allows you “understand and protect your social reputation.” What it is supposed to do is connect all of the major social networks like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn and let you monitor them for questionable and inappropriate content. In essence, it’s supposed to be like a constantly running washing machine for your social profiles.

Getting Started

After signing and confirming your account (by clicking the link in the email you’ll receive) you will be able to login. You’ll then need to connect your Facebook account; this is how they access your data.

Next you’ll be asked to enter “words or strings that you would like [SocioClean] to search for.” These are terms that you feel are questionable and/or inappropriate and do not want shown on your profiles. The next step is to view the results.

The Results

Depending on the size of your account and how many keywords you’ve entered, scanning could take a few minutes. This would probably be a good time to get a snack or drink. Next you’ll see wall posts that contain the keywords you’ve entered. You’ll see a chart (as pictured below) with the search word, text, date/time and the a link to view the post (in case you want to remove it).

You can also view status messages, photos and even groups that contain your keywords. That’s about it. So, I guess you’re probably wondering how to add the other sites.

Keep reading.

The Downside

While SocioClean’s homepage boasts that you can connect Facebook, Twitter and MySpace, it currently only supports Facebook! While the main image on the homepage (also pictured below) has icons for Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Flickr and Linkedin, it currently only supports Facebook! I guess you see where this is going.

Though the homepage is a bit misleading, SocioClean is obviously still in the early stages and will be adding new features (and hopefully services) in the near future. While I love the concept, the functionality doesn’t seem quite there yet, but I do feel that it’s moving in the right direction.

What do you think?

The Fast Track to Building Your Business with Blogging

If you’d like to figure out exactly how to start reaping the benefits of more traffic, better search rankings, and the free social media word-of-mouth that blogging brings, consider taking the fast track with Blogging Success Summit 2011. And you won’t need to spend money on travel, hotel rooms, or even leave the house.

This is a completely virtual event and it’s currently 50% off (a limited-time early bird rate). Twenty-three of the world’s most respected blogging experts and brands reveal all the latest techniques and proven business-building tactics you need to immediately benefit from blogging.

Here’s the complete line-up:

Technorati CEO Richard Jalichandra
Scott Monty (head of social media, Ford)
Debbie Weil (author, The Corporate Blogging Book)
Douglas Karr (co-author, Corporate Blogging for Dummies)
Experts from McDonald’s, Cisco, Southwest Airlines, Sony, and Procter & Gamble
Joe Pulizzi (co-author, Get Content Get Customers)
Mari Smith (co-author, Facebook Marketing)
Jay Baer (co-author, The Now Revolution)
Chris Garrett (co-author, ProBlogger)
Dave Garland (author, Smarter, Faster, Cheaper)
Mike Volpe (VP of marketing, HubSpot)
Rick Calvert (CEO, BlogWorld)
Michael Stelzner (Social Media Examiner)
Me! (Copyblogger)

I’ll be presenting along with Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett. This is Copyblogger’s third time as a content and marketing partner with Blogging Success Summit, and this year’s alliance with BlogWorld makes it the biggest and best yet.

The Summit starts February 1st and runs 4 weeks. You can attend the sessions live, enjoy the recordings at your own pace, or both. You also get an extra 17 sessions as a bonus (along with the 50% off) if you register now as an early bird.

Check out all the details here.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Eleven Digital Trends to Watch in 2011

One of the most interesting parts of my job is working with David Armano each January to curate what the firm sees as the key trends that we think our clients and teams need to think about in the year ahead. This is the second time David and I collaborated on this effort.

For this year’s installment, we identified eleven trends. The first five are mine and the remaining six are David’s. If there’s a common theme that runs through it all it’s that there will increasingly be a lot of information coming at us, yet the same amount of time to digest it all. This, as Auggie Ray from Forrester notes, will make standing out more challenging.

In the deck below you will find the same recommendations we are sharing with our clients and helping them bake into their strategies. Client examples in this deck include eBay, HP and Qualcomm. The others are best practices from around the industry.

The 11 curated trends are summarized below:

Attentionomics – Marketers begin to realize the value of attention and not just reach in driving conversion
Digital Curation – The plethora of content will give rise to digital curators who can separate art from junk
Developer Engagement – Marketers typically don’t try to court developers, but that’s all about to change
Transmedia Storytelling – If there’s one constant it’s that humans crave stories. Technology creates new expectations
Thought Leadership – Companies recognize they must activate credible individual expert voices who can create content
The Integration Economy – Social media efforts can no longer exist in fragmented, non-formal initiatives. They begin to integrate
Ubiquitous Social Computing – As competition heats up mobile devices, consumers closer to being socially connected anywhere
Location, Location, Facebook – If 2010 belonged to solely Foursquare, it’s likely that Facebook will rain on their parade in 2011
Social Media Schizophrenia – Social overload is no longer a problem for tech mavens, but a broader population
Google Strikes Back – Google proves that the best way to beat Facebook & Twitter is to do what they do best: index them to pieces
Viva La Social Web Site – Businesses realize that integrating social functionality into their existing web sites is what users now expect

As always, if you have any questions or feedback, we’re all ears.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Markdown is a Skill Every Modern Communicator Should Learn

The US Founding Fathers wrote the Declaration of Independence in pen and ink but the true road to revolution was paved by the printing press. It cast the word far and wide that change harkened.

Flash forward to today. The presses still hum. However, just as during colonial times, information travels fastest over a newer medium; but this time it's entirely digital, social and mobile. Those who wish to inspire, teach, cajole, convey or simply express today use these means to do so. They default to digital first. They harmonize text, links, video, imagery and even apps. They're true transmedia storytellers.

It used to be that much of what we published was prepared for physical distribution. But with tablets and ereaders rising, the last stalwarts of physical distribution are in decline and an all-digital future is in sight.

Today anyone who wants to spread their ideas far and wide – and that’s pretty much every modern communicator – will focus first on digital means to do so. Markdown, to me, is becoming an essential lingua frança that makes writing and preparing digital-ready copy a snap. Above all, it makes it highly portable so that others can take what we've started and build on it. It’s also supported by many major platforms, including Posterous and Squarespace among others.

In short, it’s a skill every modern communicator should learn at least the basics.

The future is in text

Video and imagery are critical. But, still, nothing on the web flies the way text does. Words power the web. So it’s critical that every communicator know how to succinctly organize, convey and present ideas for the web and mobile so that they build up readers like nutrients do, rather than weigh them down like junk food.

This realization led me a few months ago to fall in love with text editors. I have since abandoned all proprietary systems for storing and managing what I write, in favor of using simple text editors that let me easily move my information around across platforms.

My favorite tools are WriteMonkey for Windows, WriteRoom for Mac OS X and Elements and PlainText on the iPad. None of them blink an eye when I try to edit a text file that I started elsewhere.

A good text editor is your friend. Befriend one.

Markdown is what’s next for text

Text alone, however, is not enough. It needs to contain references to links and formatting that guides a busy web reader’s eyes to where they want to go. Markdown makes it easy to mark up your text without any knowledge of HTML and without getting locked into a more complex editor that others might not use.

Markdown, developed by Jon Gruber half a decade ago, is a simple set of “strings” that you add to text as you write it. It utilizes sets of characters that you already know like brackets, asterisks and dashes to format and add links to your copy once previewed in a browser. Both WriteMonkey for Windows and Elements on the iPad support integrated Markdown previewing and exporting.

The value here is that Markdown forces you to organize your content, but does not lock you into a system. What’s more, it makes it easier to not only create digital-ready content but also change it later. Your work can find its way into others' hands to build on.

To me, Markdown is what’s next for text, so therefore it’s an essential skill to learn. For more about Markdown visit this page on Wikipedia and then use Gruber’s syntax guide for more advanced formatting. (I even use Markdown to write my to do lists and notes.)

Long live text!

Image credit: Posterous

Facebook and the Science of Word Choice

When it comes to posting on Facebook, we’ve looked at what times of day are best, which days of the week are best and whether random posts can help you market your product.

Now, Facebook has gone a step further with a scientific look at word choices on updates. In order to study the words, millions of updates were fed into a computer and broken down by their corresponding Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) categories. Categories referenced parts of speech (pronouns, prepositions, verbs), general topic (work, school, family) or emotional response (happy, sad, angry).

The computer then took the category numbers and sorted them by age groups, time of day and by the popularity of the account. If you want to see all the detailed charts, visit this page on Facebook. If you’ll settle for a quick overview, then stick around.

The most interesting, and somewhat sad, group of findings came about when they measured the frequency of positive and negative words throughout the course of the day. On the chart, blue is the line of happiness. As you can see, it peaks early in the morning then drops off as the day progresses when the negative updates begin to climb. Wow, what does this say for us as a society? We wake up full of hope for a great day then end up sobbing in our beer by midnight. The only saving grace here is that the pattern repeats, so we’re nothing if not resilient.

You won’t be surprised to find that younger Facebookers swear more, are more angry and they use the “I” pronoun more than older users. Older people spend more time talking about family, they use more prepositions (indicating that they write longer and more complex sentences) and they use “We” more often than “I.”

“You” belongs to the popular people, which is probably why they are. Think about it. They also talk less about the past and about their families.

Another fact that came out of this research is something we’ve always known but now have proof. Positive updates get more “likes” but negative updates get more comments. It’s just a fact of life that more people will invest their time in complaining than in complementing.

If you’re Facebooking for dollars there are a few things you can glean from the report. First off, make sure you’re using the same language as the audience you’re trying to reach. I’m not suggesting you curse in order to get teens to your fan page, but the study shows that the followers of a person tend to use the same frequency of word categories as they person they follow.

Second, is the “you” factor. Take a look at your recent status updates. How many times did you write “you” instead of “I” or “we?” Make it about your customers and they’ll be more likely to stick around.

Finally, positive versus negative. If your goal is to have more comments on your page, then controversy and negative updates will do the trick. If, however, you’re more concerned with the number of people who “like” your page, then happy and peppy is the way to start every day.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Like or Dislike?: Five Tips for Analyzing Social Media Sentiment

As companies prepare to implement their new social media strategies for 2011, there’s an important metric that shouldn’t be overlooked. In addition to conversation volume, share of voice, level of engagement and monthly trends, is social media sentiment a part of your monitoring process? If not, this may be an important factor missing from your listening routine.

Included in one of the three areas in which Ogilvy 360° Digital Influence categorizes metrics as part of its Conversation Impact™ measurement model, sentiment can be one of the most valuable aspects of social media. Facebook, Twitter and blogs give anyone the power to dash off their opinions to friends, followers or readers; but more importantly, these comments leave a traceable mark online. If it’s posted on a public profile or page, companies have the ability to access these remarks and gain insight into how people feel about their brands and products. During a new product launch, brand transformation or a crisis, this kind of knowledge on consumer sentiment is essential.

There are several listening tools that offer the feature of sentiment analysis. Here are five tips to keep in mind:

Be aware of accuracy: When pulling percentages of positive and negative mentions, the accuracy of different monitoring tools varies substantially. Human emotion can be difficult to read correctly by a computer program and may be thrown off by sarcasm or slang. Some tools are built to rank sentiment mathematically after being trained by the user. While these are capable of providing very accurate data, they will also come with a higher price tag. Simpler tools may not provide reliable statistics unless a user manually categorizes posts, but they can help to quickly (and more affordably) identify strong positive or negative verbatim about a brand. Examine your budget and priorities to determine what will best fit your brand’s needs.

Think long-term: Statistics on sentiment about a topic will usually provide more insight over an extended period of time. Make the investment to track sentiment historically by purchasing archived data or committing to analyzing it on a monthly, weekly or even daily basis and comparing the results over time.

Dig into the conversation: While numbers and percentages are important to gauge people’s responses to a brand, campaign or product, they’re not the only important factor. Make sure to spend time digging deeper into the results and examining what people are really saying, especially negatively. It’s important to understand not just the volume but also what specifically people are praising or criticizing online.

Listening tools won’t cover everything: Each listening tool will offer different functionalities. Ones that do provide highly accurate sentiment data may not allow the same level of ease in pulling and exporting search results as others. In addition, mentions on LinkedIn are not accessible by listening tools as of now. LinkedIn is an important platform to monitor, especially for professional organizations, and requires manual analysis to get a sense of the conversation.

Determine the actionable value: The larger meaning of sentiment analysis will be different for every brand. Organizations will need to determine what importance the information holds for them and how they will act upon it. Will pulling sentiment results on a frequent basis help your company efficiently respond to customer complaints online? Or will it help inform changes in a product line or campaign strategy?

Have a goal in mind and a plan prepared for how tracking sentiment will help your company improve. What value have you seen in analyzing sentiment?

Is Google Looking to Deal Groupon a Death Blow?

Following the much publicized courtship of Groupon then eventual rejection that Google got, many questions are swirling around the search giant as to what they will do next in the space they were looking to buy into.

Google’s VP of Consumer Products, Marissa Mayer, did an interview for Mediabistro’s WebNewser and was asked about next steps in that space. The gist of the answer (that starts around the 3 minute mark) is this

We already do things like this with coupons etc …. We are looking at how we can take that technology and put it to use in the location space.

It’s the location space component that Groupon currently doesn’t have and Google could have added to the deal giant’s already impressive repertoire. Now without the Groupon effect, you get the feeling that Google would like to utilize their location, places, mapping and more to allow users to walk down a street and get a Groupon like offer from anyone while the potential customer is right there. NFC technologies and more can make this a quicker reality than many might think (especially with the rumblings that next generation Android devices have parts of this already in place). Gotta admit that if that can be harnessed and delivered so the end user doesn’t go batty with offers every second, this has real potential.

I also wouldn’t underplay any drive that might have been created within Google after they were publically spurned by Groupon. What better way to say “I told you so” then by doing it better themselves and taking 50% off of Groupon’s value?

The big question that remains of course is “Can Google compete with Groupon in this space at all?” If they show signs of being able to hold their own then the race is on. Oh and we did all of this ‘analysis’ without even considering Facebook in the equation.

So will location plus the deal be the real holy grail of this space or will Groupon’s current model be enough to keep it in the front of a very well funded and revenue hungry pack?

Welcome to Speculation Station. What’s your take?

Social Media is a Hot Topic at 2011 CES

In just two days, thousands of tech-loving folks will descend upon Las Vegas for the annual Consumer Electronics Show. Here, tech companies large and small will present the latest achievements in audio, video, computing, and mobile and they’ll be doing it with the help of social media.

Foursquare is turning badges into prizes by rewarding attendees for checkins. Five out of ten possible checkin spots will earn you a “coveted” CES badge. You can even parlay that badge into a an actual button that you can wear proudly throughout the show. Badge holders who complete the required checkins will be entered in a drawing to win a huge prize pack of nifty electronics.

A number of sponsors are offering special prizes at their booth if you stop by and “flash” your badge. To encourage participation, CES is promoting the Twitter accounts of these sponsors including @intel and @Sharp_USA.

The Parnassus Group will be sponsoring an interesting series of workshops called “The Tweet House Presents: Social Media Success Stories.”

Twitter, Facebook, YouTube etc. have proven to be extremely effective platforms for creating and supporting customers, but what are the specific philosophies, strategies and tactics that are driving results? In this workshop, the creators of the “140″ Conferences and Tweet House events will bring together executives and consultants from many of the top consumer brands to present the winning campaigns and real-world scenarios that have transformed the way they do business.

Running Friday from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm, topics include “Measurement and ROI,” “Growing Your Community,” and “Monitoring and Mining Social Media Data.”

On Wednesday and Thursday, the conference will feature sessions on Smartphones and Tablets including “iPad-Tablet-SmartPhone Advertising – the Premium Advertising Platform,” and “The Communicator, the Entertainer, the Commerce Engine – the Social Experiential Network and Device.”

Another interesting series comes from Nielsen and it’s called “Media Money Makers” which takes a look at business models for monetizing content across a variety of platforms. Sessions include “Secrets of the YouTube Superstars” and “Conquering Content Chaos.”

Can’t attend? Follow the CES Twitter anyway for links to live webcasts, videos and the latest technology releases that we’ll all be pining for throughout this coming year.

Fish Where the Developers Are (2011 Digital Trends Part I)

Note: This is the first in a series of posts on some of Edelman Digital's eleven trends to watch for 2011. David Armano and I will release the full deck later this week.

One of the oft-repeated maxims in digital and social media circles is to fish where the fish are. Jeremiah Owyang gets due credit here for coining the phrase in this context. In 2011, this doesn't change. But as it gets harder to place bets, a smart play is to also fish where the developers are.

If you need a starting point, follow developer API trends - and how they're being adopted. According to Programmable Web, the top five types of APIs in 2010: social, Internet, mapping, search and mobile. Some of these are overlooked. Also notice the appearance of Sears on the graphic below. That's a sign of things to come. Marketers will start building their own APIs this year and also more actively courting developers.

The logic is simple. Time and again we've seen that the most successful digital businesses are those that have become platforms - part of the Internet fabric. Consider these examples...

Facebook isn't just a social network, but also a platform that conceivably can make every web site hyper personalized and social. Similarly, Twitter isn't just a web site but an entirely new platform for information that has spawned a tremendous ecosystem of applications and services. The trend is broader, however. Dropbox, Evernote, Bump and Instapaper are becoming essential services that mobile developers across platforms are adding to their apps. PayPal, in much the same way, is becoming the Bank of the Web. (PayPal is part of eBay, an Edelman client.)

Marketers typically don't try to become platforms or court developers, but that's all about to change. An ever-changing array of platforms will erode our fascination with single venues and get us thinking about how we can hedge our bets by helping developers succeed across a portfolio of them.

Our recommendation here is to dedicate some resources (and it can be small) to working with programmers - particularly those in the mobile and social space. Get in early while you can.

Photo credit: Bugbbq

Best Buy Gets Friendly with Online and InStore Magazine

Advertising has always been about making a connection with your audience, but thanks to social media, being conversational has become even more important. Best Buy is embracing that concept with the official launch of “Best Buy On,” a chatty tech and entertainment online magazine that will also provide in-store video content.

The tricky part of this whole venture is providing interesting content that doesn’t come across as advertising. Best Buy says they’re also straying away from traditional reviews, lest they get themselves in trouble with their suppliers.

Here’s how they describe the venture:

“Best Buy On” is Best Buy’s unique take on all things technology. Well, some things technology. Think of us as an online magazine. We’re sort of like “Better Homes and Gardens,” if “Better Homes and Gardens” were completely different. . . The goal of “Best Buy On” is to inform (and maybe entertain), but not necessarily to sell you stuff. Although, if you do decide to buy something, that’s cool too. We just want you to get as excited about technology as we are, to turn you ON to all the cool stuff you can do with it.

Two points for a sense of humor. It helps. Now here’s where they ramp up from fun to “we mean business.” According to AdAge, Best Buy is adding upwards of 100 screens to each of their stores so they can air video content specific to each department. To go along with this, they’ve rolled out an ad program that allows clients to buy into the department that best suits their needs. Outside of the obvious electronic and entertainment products, Best Buy execs say that they feel their program would be a good fit for automobiles, hospitality and travel industry ads.

Best Buy is a browsing store. The kind of place where you can feel free to wander the DVD aisles, check out the latest cell phones or sample the images on TVs larger than your whole living room. Because of that, video displays should do exceptionally well, particularly if they maintain that same trendy, sense of humor. “The Science Behind Kinect,” “Shopping for Someone Else’s Kid,” “Bruce Springsteen Live” — by entertaining instead of advertising, Best Buy’s in-store video program should help the store sell more than ever before.

Monday, January 3, 2011

Goldman Sachs Invests $450 Million in Facebook

Facebook is reportedly receiving a combined total of $500 million in new investment money with $450 million coming from Goldman Sachs and another $50 million from Russia’s Digital Sky Technologies.

This is all happening based on a jaw dropping $50 billion valuation of Facebook.

Speculation as to what is going to be done with this money runs a wide range.

From Mashable

The first thing Facebook’s likely to do with its $2 billion in new funding is to cash out some of its existing investors and employees. The social network previously did this when DST bought $200 million in Facebook stock from its employees. Some of its early investors may also reach into the $2 billion pot and cash out.

Once that’s done, it’s all about growth.

The $2 billion number in the last quote? That comes from another funding effort that will be headed up by Goldman Sachs. In true Wall Street fashion there are special code words.

Goldman Sachs will help Facebook raise an additional $1.5 billion through a “special purpose vehicle” designed to allow outside investors to indirectly invest in the company.

Since there is speculation about just how much more room Facebook has in allowing further investment without requiring it go public this is an interesting aspect of the story but one that we will probably never really know.

Another more practical angle on what might be on the horizon

From Search Engine Land

Imagine that Facebook were to become convinced that having its own search engine was a key to delivering a better user experience overall, as well as generating new ad revenue. One obvious and immediate possibility would be to buy Blekko, which has pushed social integration with Facebook Likes further than Microsoft itself.

So while the rest of the economy is still in chaos and stuck in neutral on its best day, Facebook is looking good. Interestingly enough, it is looking good with help from a company that took $10 billion in TARP funds back in 2008 when its chief executive said it wasn’t in real trouble (it paid back those funds in about 6 months just before executive bonus season) and it recently paid $550 million in fines for misleading investors.

With a culture like that and the way Facebook views its users privacy these bedfellows are not strange at all. In fact, they appear to be ‘two peas in a pod’ and one can only imagine what lies ahead for the Wall Street robber barons and the Internet’s privacy barons. Sounds like fun!

So remember, that when you are using Facebook it may make sense to think of that great phrase “Your tax dollars hard at work!”.

What’s your take on what’s next for Facebook? Is a search engine in the making? Will that IPO finally happen? Will a select few get very rich?

Let us know your thoughts.

Why Written Content Won’t Be Replaced

The other day I was putting together another news article for Big4.com and it occurred to me there’s a big difference between solid Internet advertising techniques and fads that come and go. The thing that really caught my eye happened when I was writing an article based on a Deloitte press release about social media and how business is moving toward it tentatively.

The research that I did states although 65 percent of respondents plan on using social media for their businesses, a large number of those surveyed are unclear about what the return on their investment will actually be. The whole push behind the Deloitte survey seems to be defending the idea that business knows it needs to use social media but it’s not really sure why.

One of the problems helping to foster this kind of uncertainty is the fact there’s no clear way to measure the effectiveness of places like Twitter or Facebook in driving traffic and sales. Of course there are people who argue social CRM is the answer that will quantify how productive social media is as an advertising tool, but like many other things on the Web, this technique is in its infancy and nowhere near as reliable as business needs to make a full commitment to social media.

The whole argument reminds me of when you could first place a video on your website and all the hoopla that surrounded that new technology. If you listened to the kind of hyperbole that was blazing across the Internet at that time, you’d be sure that written content was dead. Now it’s all about social media and how this latest craze is poised on the brink of changing the way business does business with the younger generation.

Granted, there’s no doubt people are buying more on the Internet than ever before and the wise business person takes a look at every means available to get the word out on their goods or service, but they need to be able to differentiate from fads and complimentary techniques that improve but do not replace good content.

In other words, I think the Deloitte survey highlights a good point about social media and it’s quite simply that business doesn’t trust it fully yet. Of course the Internet way of selling goods and services is all about engaging the customer but from a business standpoint there have to be quantifiable results to any kind of advertising campaign and up until now social media doesn’t provide that.

For now, it all comes back full circle. If you’re starting out in business or looking to upgrade or change your advertising techniques, make sure you don’t go along with those people who are trying to reinvent the wheel right away. Obviously you won’t break the bank by getting a Facebook or Twitter account to help you get exposure, but try to remember that articles, good optimized web pages and even blogs are the tried and true method of getting traffic that drives sales.

Blogger Insight - Social Media

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Pick Your Tool

Connect Your Social Profiles

Adding A Bookmark

Stylish Profiles

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Friday, January 7, 2011

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Getting Started

The Results

The Downside

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Thursday, January 6, 2011

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Monday, January 3, 2011

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