Social media marketing and Online PR essentials are our weekly round-up of what's new if you're looking to apply social media and online public relations in your marketing. We select the best posts on best practice and developments from the main social media players from the many we scan each week so you don't have to.
We include updates about new services from the main forms of social presence, i.e. Facebook, Linked In and Twitter and also best practice articles advising how to develop and implement social media marketing strategies.
Do let us know any developments that you think we're missing by tweeting @SMARTinsights. Sign-up to our enewsletter if you'd like a reminder through the updates each Friday.
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: An interesting Forrester blog post - The noise in social media is getting deafening and Google has said nothing about their rumored social networking offering, but it may be that the company has just revealed their secret weapon to take on Facebook. The new Priority Inbox feature in Gmail hints at Social Media"€™s next great battleground: Relevance!. So is that the answer to 'Facebook Fatigue'?
Implication: Will Google tackle the problem (and opportunity) of relevance in social media? Let's hope so. Facebook understands that social tools need relevance to attract and retain users. Expect 2011 to be the year of relevance in social media, and the winners will be the social applications that make our lives richer, not noisier.
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: Online retailer Urban Outfitters has made the Facebook Like button central to the way the company is marketing its products online. Visitors to the Urban Outfitters web site are now greeting by a large thumbs up asking them to "€œSee our most Liked items."€
Implication: Levi's were an early retail brand to do this, where shoppers could Like product from the Levi's web site, and now we see Urban Outfitters making the Like button the key way to market products in their own right, instead of simply spreading the word about them. Are you taking Facebook this seriously - and should you?
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: Maria Ford of Marketing Prof's explores why marketers so often misuse social media platforms and how to ensure that you use them to communicate effectively.
Implication: More is less, and more can also be ill-conceived, lazy or late. Maria shares some great advice to avoid the pitfalls. She also notes that current estimates hold that the average North American is exposed to between 600 and 3,000 advertising messages each day"€”yet another reason that more communication is not necessarily better communication!
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: For brick-and-mortar businesses, a Foursquare strategy makes a lot of sense. But what about brand promotion in general, say in the entertainment or publishing worlds? Check out how five big brands are attempting to connect "location" to their online social presences.
Implication: Location services appear an ancillary part of many social media strategies, but they won"€™t be forever. Many predict that when cultural acceptance, mainstream social integration, and business value finally coincide, location sharing will be as common and natural as updating your Facebook status.
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: There's old and new here including the 2004 Subservient Chicken (still running!) which is voted as being in the top 2 of the best ever, the top spot is the recent Old Spice Guy. The latter was the first real-time effort of its kind with over 180 videos shot quickly over several days.
Implication: Three top experts have rated these - and it's worth checking out if only for ideas as to what has already captured public imagination and might work for you.
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: Don Bulmer who takes a spin on former US Army General and US Secretary of State, Colin Powell and his book the 13 Rules of Leadership.
Implication: There's lots to take from here - and well worth familiarising yourself with the key messages, it's easy since it's common sense stuff. I like "RULE #10 Remain calm. Be kind." since remembering it is not about "you" is so important - I think that's the easiest way to trip up.
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: Our post, by Annmarie Hanlon of Evonomie - Social Media Metrics have to date mainly focused on the view of their effectiveness from inside the company yet it's important to also incorporate external qualitative methods to measure companies"€™ online activities.
Implication: Build in wider, external social media metrics and understand your approach vs that of competitors - including who you can learn from.
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: It's a sad, strange but insightful story so I'm review this wearing a marketing hat... Logan (aged 13) was upset for his granddad, a decorated US police officer with stage 4 cancer, was denied benefits and had his pension cut significantly. He made a Facebook page for Officer Ludwig, which spread like wildfire among his extended family, fellow police officers, cancer survivors, and even Metro employees. He used a combination of Facebook ads and fan page management techniques to grow the user base to 16,000 fans, now increasing at 3,000 fans a day and attracting media attention. Some call this the "€œBP moment"€ for Metro Transit
Implication: Follow the rules, have passion (be authentic, or in this case speak from the heart) and know who your audience is that you need to connect with and anything is possible (And, good luck to this family of course).
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: So, Google Wave RIP, whilst Google Slides closer to the emergence of Google Games
Implication: Who knows for everyday marketing, yet Social Gaming (one of Slide's major channels is Facebook) is coming to the fore - is this another trend to be alert to? It absolutely has to be worth a trial and another way to engage potential customers with something that entertains. Here's a short primer on social gaming.
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: According to the "€œTwitter & the Consumer-Marketer Dynamic"€ white paper from digital marketing agency 360i, more than 90% of tweets come from regular people, compared with just 8% from marketers.
Implication: Marketers need syndication to boost the power of Twitter - they may also be devoting too much attention to sharing informational content at the expense of more direct, conversational engagement with their customer.
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: Our post - advice on using a marketing framework (our RACE framework) to aid in properly integrating social media
Implication: Maximise your potential, know what you need to do, get ideas and inform how you might phase integration into the company and a marketing and business level.
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: A great reminder from econsultancy about the real costs of social media - it's important when evaluating investment levels and so looking for ROI that we are all realistic to the costs - just like any other channel.
Implication: Think smart, for example how can you run social media campaigns that make use of content that can be repurposed, existing online brand assets or campaigns in other channels that would benefit from a social media boost.
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: Our post - advice on using a marketing framework (our RACE framework) to aid in properly integrating social media
Implication: Maximise your potential, know what you need to do, get ideas and inform how you might phase integration into the company and a marketing and business level.
Value: [rating=3]
Commentary: "If Facebook were a country, it would be the 3rd biggest biggest". Nuff said
Implication: Don't stop in your pursuit of understanding how to get the maximum value exchange from this network, at least for now it's importance is only going upwards!
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: Wow! A 10-platform, 42-page Social Media Playbook created as a veritable "€œhow-to"€ guide for Eloqua's staff to follow on the social Web. It"€™s everything they know about social media, it's certainly a very impressive, must read document.
Implication: Take your understanding of social media, and implementing it, up a gear or 3 in one go. Learn just about everything that you need to know about all the major networks and how to use them - and maybe most importantly get your team aligned.
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: Stumbled across this interesting list of top online marketing bloggers by a guy I have not come across before. Ive referenced several of the people on this list before, by coincidence, and there are still many that are new to me - well worth checking out. The major names in social media are not here, which is good as we know about them!
Implication: Get some fresh ideas from some new names and faces - it never hurts.
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: Imran Farooq gives a good primer on the basics of getting started in Facebook advertising, one of the largest sources of web traffic on the web.
Implication: If you're new to the idea of advertising on Facebook then there's plenty here, explained simply, to give you the confidence to test a little of your budget.
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: Ever wondered how, if you wanted to, you could build a Twitter base quickly or get guaranteed You Tube views - ever wondered if you could get away with it!?
Implication: Where black-hat goes does not mean you should follow, but it inevitably will give you ideas as to what could happen if you questioned what's right, or 'possible' - such as Sharethrough's paid ad placements. Above anything else it's interesting to know the lengths that some people will go!
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: Richard Sedley shares a recent presentation he gave to 20 different UK brands
Implication: If you're new to Twitter, or simply not sure that you're ticking the right boxes at the moment this presentation will help you get a firm grip of all things Twitter.
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: Q&A - Danyl answers a question regarding the basics of using Facebook effectively to promote an integrated campaign.
Implication: Anyone can use Facebook as part of a digital campaign, and yet integrating Facebook properly to get real business benefit requires a little more consideration.
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: Our post by Danyl. Is your planning missing the strategic thought that will make it successful?
Implication: Marketing is the same no matter the tool-set or channel - it has to be about connecting your brands to people, and being able to measure and monitor that impact.
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: Our post by Annmarie Hanlon. This post describes 7 ways Twitter users can better manage and make more of this social media tool.
Implication: Use Twitter as a business tool, commit to it and reap the benefits.
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: A very valuable post linking to 12 must-read posts relating to Social CRM.
Implication: Help thought leadership in your organisation as marketing, and businesses, deal with the move from CRM to SCRM.
Value: [rating=3]
Commentary: We love infographs - they're great to help explain complex ideas, or just give you a different perspective.
Implication: Not too much, just have a look and see what else you can pick up.
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: Insightful post on Mashable after an interview with Ricky Van Veen (great name and looks like Vernon Kay). His tips are based on his experience of all things 'viral' and running the 10m uniques per month web site College Humour (or Humor, in the US).
Implication: Don't believe the hype - brands can capitalise video content but there are rules, and there are things that just don't work. Check his interview too.
Value: [rating=3]
Commentary: Short, sweet and very useful if you don't have a social media plan.
Implication: Get started, keep it simple but most of all have a plan, an idea about why you want to use social media and how you're going to go about it.
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: Great post by Richard Millington of Feverbee. Community building is centred around helping the users feel that they are part of 'something special'.
Implication: Follow Richard's steps to success, put in the hard work and be patient - you're dealing with real people not web technology - he also has a Manifesto that's worth a read.
Value: [rating=3]
Commentary: An interesting post by Adam Cohen with a number of other links around the idea that social media is not something that we can wander in to and "hope" it will work, it can be too expensive and too labour intensive - especially when it gets some early success.
Implication: Beware the hype, social media is powerful and it's here to stay, and yet we've all a lot more to learn as to how to best manage and budget for social media - it's still integration within the wider marketing mix that matters.
By Danyl Bosomworth
Dan helped to co-found Smart Insights in 2010 and acted as Marketing Director until leaving in November 2014 to focus on his other role as Managing Director of First 10 Digital. His experience spans brand development and digital marketing, with roles both agency and client side for nearly 20 years. Creative, passionate and focussed, his goal is on commercial success whilst increasing brand equity through effective integration and remembering that marketing is about real people. Dan's interests and recent experience span digital strategy, social media, and eCRM. You can learn more about Dan's background here Linked In.
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