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Friday Click [Volume 11] | The Best of the Social Web

February 3, 2012 By Jeremy Anderberg Leave a Comment

This week was incredibly significant for one reason: The social media giant that really started this whole industry filed for their Initial Public Offering (they are going public and will be selling stock). The marks a momentous occasion, even if it doesn’t have much of an effect for the general public, or even folks like us here in the marketing world.

What it really marks is that these internet giants are not to be taken lightly. They are much more careful about going public than the companies that saw their bubble burst 10 years ago. In the last six months or so LinkedIn, Angie’s List, Zynga, Groupon and the likes have gone public. They are forces to be reckoned with in business world.

The links:

Love Angry Birds? Or course you do. Your favorite game is now coming to your favorite social network. It will debut on Facebook on none other that Valentine’s Day. How romantic. (Click here)
You’ve probably read a lot about the Facebook IPO already, but here’s a good article about what it really means for the rest of the business world. (Click here)
Think radio is dead? Think again. Radio is actually inherently social – curating your what fans ultimately want the most – according to this article. My guess is we’ll see a lot more music-related apps/games popping up this year. (Click here)
Thinking of diving into Tumblr or Pinterest with your corporate social media? They are reaching different audiences, so choose accordingly, says this article. (Click here)
We can’t go without mentioning the Super Bowl this week. The NFL understands the importance of social media, so it’s having for the first time a 2,800 square foot social media command center in Indianapolis for the big weekend. We should be seeing more of this for big events – especially the upcoming election. (Click here)
Amazingly, we have sloths making this blog series again. The video below made its way around the web this week, and it’s too funny to not share. Actress Kristen Bell loves sloths so much that they make her curl up in the fetal position and cry with joy. I guarantee it will make you laugh.

Did we miss anything? Let us know on Facebook and Twitter!

Jeremy Anderberg

Jeremy is a blog-reading, report-writing project manager. In his spare time he enjoys reading a good thriller, drinking a freshly brewed cup of coffee, and spending time with his wife.

Filed Under: Friday Clicks Tagged With: social media marketing, social media marketing agencies, social media marketing blog, social media marketing companies, social media marketing consultant, social media marketing consulting, social media marketing firm, social media marketing plan, social media marketing services, social media marketing strategy, what is social media marketing

Friday Clicks [Volume 10] | The Best of the Social Web

January 27, 2012 By Jeremy Anderberg Leave a Comment

The theme of the first month of 2012 in the social world has largely involved privacy and ethics – something we aren’t quite used to here in the social space. Is this a sign of a lasting trend? I think so. In the past, we’ve just been all about new networks and getting our message – both personally and professionally – on as many channels as possible. Many experts, though, are saying that 2012 is going to be a year of scaling back that attitude and thinking through the implications of our world being inherently more social. Quite interesting!

The links:

This article from Brian Solis over 4 years old – but it’s fantastic nonetheless. It gets at the heart of social media. (Click here)
Google has updated its Terms of Service – and will start sharing your information between all your accounts. For instance, watching a Toyota video on YouTube will lead to a Toyota ad in your Gmail. People aren’t too thrilled about this update, as there is no opt-out other than shutting down your accounts. (Click here)
Apple continues to make news, but not in positive ways. They’ve come under fire for their manufacturing suppliers in Asia and running into subpar working conditions. (Click here)
We are seeing social media playing an increasingly important role in politics, whether it’s Republican primaries or SOPA protests. (Click here)
This skit below was on Saturday Night Live a couple weeks ago. It is certainly funny, but it also speaks volumes about what the social world can do to us.

Did we miss anything? Let us know on Facebook and Twitter!

Jeremy Anderberg

Jeremy is a blog-reading, report-writing project manager. In his spare time he enjoys reading a good thriller, drinking a freshly brewed cup of coffee, and spending time with his wife.

Friday Clicks [Volume 9] | The Best of the Social Web

January 20, 2012 By Jeremy Anderberg Leave a Comment

The web was aflutter with #SOPA this week. Thankfully, Congress has decided to table the bill (for now) and do some further research about its far-reaching implications. Facebook also made the news this week, as did the continued opinions coming out about Google+ being integrated into search. Oh, and Apple found a way to sneak in as well. Are we really surprised?

Onto the links:

Here’s a nice SOPA article – specifically about how Blackout Wednesday was the Internet’s coming of age to be a voice in politics. (Click here)
Stephen Levy, a renowned tech writer, voices his (mostly negative) opinion about the Google+ search integration. (Click here)
Facebook unleashed around 60 apps to integrate into your Timeline. They range from big names like USA Today and Trip Advisor, to more up-and-comers like Goodreads and SoundClound. (Click here)
Apple found a way to stir up the publishing pot by announcing iBooks Author – an incredibly easy-to-use self-publishing platform. Amazon has a similar service, but it appears that Apple has just raised the bar. (Click here)
One final tidbit: A couple months ago we had an office debate about whether or not baby sloths are cute. Don’t ask how we got there, it just happened. You can’t really argue after watching the video below.

Did we miss anything? Let us know on Facebook and Twitter!

Jeremy Anderberg

Jeremy is a blog-reading, report-writing project manager. In his spare time he enjoys reading a good thriller, drinking a freshly brewed cup of coffee, and spending time with his wife.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: social media marketing, social media marketing agencies, social media marketing blog, social media marketing companies, social media marketing consultant, social media marketing firm, social media marketing plan, social media marketing strategy, what is social media marketing

Friday Clicks [Volume 8] | The Best of the Social Web

January 13, 2012 By Jeremy Anderberg Leave a Comment

We got our first real chill of the season this week here in Iowa. As with most winter occurrences in our lovely state, we had 30-40 mph winds to go with it. Needless to say, we may or may not have stayed in over lunch and played a little extra ping pong. If you are interested in seeing an epic point between Taylor and I, I’ll post it after the links.

Onto the goods:

Google and Twitter got into a bit of a spat over search results this week. Google updated their site to show results from Google+ postings, and Twitter didn’t like it. (Click here)
In electronics news, the Consumer Electronics Show is happening this week, the biggest event of its kind each year. It’s not directly social related, but there are cool gadgets coming out that will someday incorporate social, including kitchen appliances. (Click here)
Dan Zarrella is quickly becoming known as THE social media scientist. He retrieves mountains of data and tells you, the digital marketer, exactly what you need to do. In this case, he talks about the content of your tweets if your goal is more retweets. (Click here)
If you love social media, and you aren’t on Pinterest, you really need to be. Just sayin. Even the fellas out there – you won’t regret it. This is a phenomenal and in-depth post with some great tips for brands. (Click here)

Did we miss anything? Let us know on Facebook and Twitter!

And finally, the video you’ve all been waiting. I (Jeremy) am the one in blue who won the point.

Jeremy Anderberg

Jeremy is a blog-reading, report-writing project manager. In his spare time he enjoys reading a good thriller, drinking a freshly brewed cup of coffee, and spending time with his wife.

Filed Under: Friday Clicks Tagged With: social media marketing, social media marketing agencies, social media marketing blog, social media marketing companies, social media marketing consultant, social media marketing firm, social media marketing plan, social media marketing strategy, what is social media marketing

4.5 Ways To Be More Interesting | Social Media Tips

January 12, 2012 By Mike Bal Leave a Comment

Being successful in social media depends on several things. You need to be relevant to your fans and customers. You should always be available in case they need your immediate attention, or if they feel like they need your immediate attention. You should be engaging so your fans don’t feel like they’re talking to a wall. And you should be interesting.

Being interesting isn’t as easy as it would seem. Successful brands like Skittles can be interesting by posting a question about a unicorn, but that won’t work for the majority of businesses in social media. The brands that haven’t formed a niche or style for their social voice are left teetering between “good content” and “interesting content”. Unfortunately they aren’t always the same thing.

The downside to playing it safe and providing strictly relevant information is that it really doesn’t give people a reason to be loyal to you. They MIGHT start to rely on you as a source or a curator but that doesn’t attach them to your brand. They aren’t hearing your voice they are simply seeing what you’re seeing. This is where being interesting can help. A quick witty comment on the end of a or a picture attached to a valuable status update can make all the difference in the world. Here are a few things that will help you be more interesting and as a result attach more fans to your brand.

1. Find New Sources – It’s great to have a list of places you can rely on for good and relevant information but don’t go to them too often. If you share from the same sources on a regular basis at turns you into a stepping stone instead of an interesting and valuable brand. Try to make it a goal to something NEW to share from a NEW source every day.

2. Give The World A Bit Of Attitude – People have already started to train themselves to ignore regurgitated content. The same headlines are streaming over and over again on all social media channels so it will take a little something extra to grab their attention. I suggest adding your opinion with a bit of attitude. Even if people disagree you will have obtained their attention.

3. Change It Up – You don’t have to attach a link to everything you share. Not every blog post has to be in five paragraph format. We call it social MEDIA for a reason. Find videos, pictures, infographics and quotes that are interesting and relevant to your brand and your customers/fans. All of the social media channels are becoming more media friendly so don’t be shy.

4. Throw A Curve Ball – You can still share something that has nothing to do with your business or brand. Your fans are real people who have personalities outside of their occupations. Share viral content, share feel good moments, share things that make you laugh, share incredible images, Share! Share! Share! Your brand’s personality has a human side too. If it doesn’t, it needs to get one.

4.5. Maintain Conversations – As I mentioned before, your opinions go a long way when it comes to being interesting. Find other brands or people and comment or reply to what they are sharing. Don’t leave a quick “Thanks for sharing” and call it a day. Read what they want you to read and give them some well thought out feedback. This is only half of a tip because SOCIAL media implies that you are being social but we see a lot of people out there who seem to have no interest in the social aspect of it all.

Feel free to shoot me and questions or thoughts on Twitter or post it up on our Facebook page.

Mike Bal

Hi, I studied advertising, I have a passion for creativity and I love working in social media. I try to write about the combination of traditional marketing, branding, and advertising strategies that can apply and work affectively with social media. I also enjoy music, batman and life.

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Filed Under: Being Interesting, Creativity, Social Media, Social Media for Small Business, social media marketing, Social Media Strategies, Social Media Tips, Social Media Tips, Uncategorized Tagged With: b2b social media, being interesting, being interesting on social media, best social media company, how to be interesting, outsourced social media, social media agency, social media branding, social media company, social media consulting, social media des moines, social media firm, social media iowa, social media marketing, social media tips, success in social media, top social media company

Friday Clicks [Volume 7] | The Best of the Social Web

January 6, 2012 By Jeremy Anderberg Leave a Comment

Happy New Year’s! With a new year comes a new resolution for more blogging. What does that mean for you, the reader? Even MORE great content! Look for videos, infographics, lists, pictures – you name it.

You can also expect to see Friday Clicks every single Friday of 2012. That is my personal resolution to our loyal readers. If you missed something big from the week, we got it covered for ya right here. I’ll also make sure you aren’t bogged down with 15-20 articles to read, so we’re keeping it to the best 3-5 links each week. Aren’t you excited?!

Let’s get to it!

Hubspot shares 10 awesome tips for social media community managers. (Click here). This also happened to be the topic of this week’s “The Social Truth” TV show. Click here to check that out. Huge thanks to our fearless team member Kelsey Jones for showin’ me the article.
Our beautiful Iowa was all over the news the last couple weeks because of the first caucuses of this election year. Many people are saying that social media probably played a role in the rise of Rick Santorum, and conversely, the fall of Michelle Bachmann. (Click here)
The new year brought with it loads of social media predictions for 2012. We scanned a bunch of ‘em, and this one from Social Media Examiner was the most spot-on and accessible. (Click here)
SOPA legislation is being talked about all over. It’s a little in-depth to talk about here, but this Wiki article gives a good overview. The bill would give the government a little more control over what is posted online. The big dogs (Google, Facebook, etc.) are considering shutting down their sites for a day. It may be nothing, but it’s at least good to be aware of. (Click here)
And last, but certainly not least, we bring you the social shower curtain. Yes, this is real. (Click here)

That’s what we have for you this week. Did we miss anything?

Find us on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube!

Jeremy Anderberg

Jeremy is a blog-reading, report-writing project manager. In his spare time he enjoys reading a good thriller, drinking a freshly brewed cup of coffee, and spending time with his wife.

Filed Under: Friday Clicks Tagged With: social media marketing, social media marketing agencies, social media marketing blog, social media marketing companies, social media marketing consultant, social media marketing firm, social media marketing plan, social media marketing strategy, what is social media marketing

Valuable Engagement vs. Engagement: The Battle That No One Is Paying Attention To

December 22, 2011 By Mike Bal Leave a Comment

Looking back on social media over the last year we have seen many trends. Some of the biggest topics were focusing on the ROI of social media and then again on the value of “engagement”. Before I go off on a full rant, I want to make something clear. Having your friends, family, customers and fans interact with you on social media is incredibly valuable because you’re building a relationship. Getting a random person to click the like button on your picture of a cute animal offers nowhere near the same value.

Several brands get tunnel vision and only look at the numbers–likes, fans, followers, views, retweets etc. When you are only trying to raise those numbers your direction shifts. Even if it’s only a small shift, it makes a big difference over time. Let’s say your original goal was to create better relationships with your customers to encourage brand loyalty and repeat business. During this process you started measuring your success by some of the pre-mentioned interactions. Your team is now putting their efforts, time and thought into getting those numbers up instead of building relationships with your customers. So you and/or your team is thinking about it like this:

Success = Engagement and Engagement = Interaction

The problem: Interaction can be mindless. People don’t have to make a connection to your brand or business in order to play a game on your Facebook page or see and “like” a funny or cute picture that you posted. All the interaction in the world might not do anything to creating a better relationship or promoting repeat business (your original goals). In other words, there’s no ROI for simple interaction.

In social media I have come to understand:

Valuable Engagement = Attention + Perceived Value + Interaction

This means that your customer/fan sees value in something you provided, they pay attention enough to understand that information and how it relates to your brand or business (why you posted it), and then they respond in one way or another. As you continue to provide value, they continue to see the value in you and start to develop the relationship with your company/brand. This relationship affects their choices in the future, specifically their purchasing decisions.

The BIG difference between the two is VALUE! I know that we talk about this all the time, but this specific rant is meant to encourage everyone to redefine “engagement” or at least to start to shoot for “valuable engagement” instead.

I would love to hear your thoughts on engagement in social media. Feel free to shoot me and questions or thoughts on Twitter or post it up on our Facebook page.

Mike Bal

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Google Just Went Kung-Fu Panda on Your SEO

December 13, 2011 By Jeremy Anderberg 1 Comment

Let’s start with a story.

Prior to 2008, Google’s indexing happened mostly by robots and computers. As we know, they searched for keywords, meta-information, tags, etc. Google, however, was smart enough to realize that this created a system that could be manipulated by webmasters, bloggers and the like.

So in 2008, the company started hiring REAL people, thousands of them, to rate websites. They rated sites on the things that we rate them on – fresh content, easy layout, nice design. Over the past few years, Google has scored mountains of data from these people and developed new search formulas.

In April of this year, Google released the first of its “Panda” updates. We heard a little bit about these, but it didn’t make huge waves on the web. Then, however, on November 3rd, they released the biggest update yet. This new update impacted upwards of one-third of all searches/websites.

Some articles I’ve read are calling this the biggest news for Internet marketing in 2011. That’s how big of a deal this is. Your entire formula for SEO/blogging is impacted. The two main things to note with this update – the things that matter above all else:

1. ORIGINAL content
2. Overall layout/design/user experience

A few other things of note:

3. YouTube results jumped by 27%
4. Local results are huge. You need to be utilizing Google Places ASAP
5. Sharing matters – and not just the number of shares, but the authority of those sharing
6. Good spelling/grammar matter now more than ever
7. Average time on site, bounce rate and repeat traffic matter more than ever (see Google Analytics)

So what is missing here?

keywords
title tags
tags
meta-information
backlinks

These things are still important, but Google knows that they can be manipulated.

Here are a few words (and questions to ask yourself) from Google and other articles that explain things better than I can:

Expert content or shallow content?
Is your content mass produced?
Is it well-edited or is it a little sloppy?
Are articles short and unsubstantial?
Is navigation easy?
Is your design modern?
For example, it’s better to have 2 great pieces per week versus 5 simply okay pieces.
You have to stop stealing others’ articles and focus on unique content.
Again, the volume of shares is not as important as the authority of the sharer.

We’re brainstorming as a company how this impacts our strategy, and you should be doing the same. Tell us your thoughts on these changes here on the blog, or over on our Facebook and Twitter pages!

Additional Resources:

http://www.seommotips.com/seo/seo-techniques-to-tackle-google-panda-update/
http://kevinklau.com/the-google-panda-update-%E2%80%93-just-in-case-you-missed-it/
http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/google-panda-tips/

Jeremy Anderberg

Jeremy is a blog-reading, report-writing project manager. In his spare time he enjoys reading a good thriller, drinking a freshly brewed cup of coffee, and spending time with his wife.

Filed Under: search engine optimization Tagged With: social media for marketing, social media marketing, social media marketing agencies, social media marketing blog, social media marketing companies, social media marketing consultant, social media marketing consulting, social media marketing firm, social media marketing plan, social media marketing services, social media marketing strategy, what is social media marketing

Social Media is for EVERYONE! : Old Spice Proved It

December 8, 2011 By Mike Bal Leave a Comment

We recently started working with Ergo Office Seating, an office chair supplier from San Jose California. Ergo supplies furniture dealers with high-end ergonomic office chairs, they don’t sell directly to the consumer. Keep that in mind. Ergo started their Facebook page and Twitter accounts from scratch. We also built them a blog and optimized their Youtube channel among other things. We made sure that Ergo’s slogan was represented across their designs, in their content and through their voice. In short, we have a well rounded brand rocking social media.

A lot of people would say that a B2B has no business spending this much time on social media. Here’s why those people are wrong.

Old Spice recently launched their 1 Man 7 Billion Gifts campaign where The Old Spice Man will be giving away 7 billion gifts from now till Christmas. Ergo Office Seating was selected to be one of the recipients based on their social media presence, voice and activity. Old Spice Recorded this video of the Old Spice Man sending his Christmas gifts to Ergo.

Simultaneously they had a crew film the delivery of the presents to Ergo’s Offices

Old Spice also posted on Facebook to their 1,778,338 fans and followers.

They also tweeted to Ergo. Once with the video message and then again in response to Ergo’s thanks

The video itself already has over 7,000 views.

The point is: EVERYONE should be on social media. No matter what business you’re in or what you do, you have an opportunity. This kind of exposure would normally cost you a big chunk of your marketing budget but on social media it happens for free AND they got delicious cookie cakes out of the deal!

Mike Bal

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Filed Under: Creativity, facebook, Social Media, Social Media Case Study, social media marketing, Social Media Strategies, Social Media Tips, twitter, Uncategorized, YouTube Tagged With: 1 man 7 billion gifts, advertising, ergo office seating, Marketing, old spice, old spice christmas, old spice christmas campaign, old spice man, social media company, social media company des moines, social media company iowa, social media consultants, social media consulting, social media marketing agency, social media marketing firm, social media strategy

3 Ways To Satisfy Your Customers On Social Media

November 30, 2011 By Mike Bal 1 Comment

What do your customers want from you? Your initial answer will probably be something like, ” A product/service that does what it’s supposed to do and great customer service to go with.” (or some variation of that) Now, what do your customers want from you online?

STOP! The same answer does not apply. Your customers aren’t connecting with you online for the same reason they buy your product, so get that thought out of your head. Your customers are connecting with you for their own benefit, not for yours. They are looking for value, and that comes in several different forms. Here are three things your customers are looking for that they aren’t getting.

1. A Relationship: Your primary job online isn’t to sell your product, it’s to develop a relationship. Once you get that part down the sales will follow. When your customers connect with you, whether it’s via e-mail or social media, they are opening up a channel of communication. We all know that communication is supposed to go both ways to make sure that you are listening, speaking and interacting, just like you would in a face to face conversation. If you miss any of these elements your customers will feel like they are putting their efforts into a bad relationship, and we all know how that usually ends. Break up! Which translates in business to “Lost Customer”.

2. Information, Entertainment or Conversation: Generally speaking, when someone is browsing through their social media sites they are looking for one or all of these three things. Your biggest goal is to become a reliable source for your customers. When they need something, even when it has nothing to do with your product or service, you want them to come to you. The first thing to do is to decide whether you’re going to have a niche or be a jack of all trades (Whether you will focus on one or provide all three). The next step is making sure that you are providing QUALITY content on a CONSISTENT basis. The final step is letting your customers know where and when they can get it, don’t ever expect them to find it on their own, at least initially. This is like the classic line from the movie Field of Dreams with one slight modification, “If you build it, and tell them about it, they will come.”

3. A Deal or An Opportunity – Going back to the initial idea of the give-and-take relationship. If your customers are giving you access to them and their connections they are going to expect a little something in return. There are two big ways to do this on social media.

Give your customers a discount - You have the ability to offer a discount to your customers right? Why not offer an exclusive discount to your customers who connect with you online? It’s not any different than running a coupon or deal on any form of ad. The people who see it might take advantage of it, and they might buy a little something else while they’re at it.

Give them a chance to win something they want or need - The fact is that you have to put some money into marketing. The good news is that social media is essentially free to use. Approach social media contests like you would running an ad. Instead of buying the space, you are buying the prize to give away. Your customers will give you their time and even tell the world about you for a chance to win something they want or need. You can run contests weekly, monthly, quarterly or even yearly depending on how much your willing to give away. On a weekly basis you might give away a $10 gift card to the local coffee shop, while once a year you might give away a flat screen. Those are just examples, but you get the point. The contest encourages your customers and their friends to interact with you on a regular basis and then to tell their friends about you. That’s what you get for running an ad right?

For more social media tips or to get answers to your social media questions connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.