For anyone who has ever wanted more information on Social Media and its impact on how we consume and share content, here are some favorite videos from Socialnomics that just might amaze you.
Social Media Revolution
Social Media ROI
Kudos to Socialnomics for gathering such comprehensive information!
You’re a company, or a brand, an artist, or a marketer who wants to promote your cause and you want a presence on Facebook. You’ve seen it done before, but you just don’t know what your options are.
Should you create a Facebook Group?
Or is a Fan Page your best bet?
In the past, Fan Pages and Groups both had a similar problem: they tended to get initial fan interest, but couldn’t keep fans coming back for more. There was a lack of social functionality and value for both the fan and the cause. In essence, the Fan Page and Group used to act like the Facebook version of the brochureware web site back in the day. That now seems to have changed.
While the new redesign of Facebook has infuriated many of its users, it has also created more benefits for marketers and those who want to engage with their audiences and fans.
Facebook has thoroughly revamped Fan Pages in the past few weeks to offer much more viral potential with their built-in news stream integration and dissemination features: any action is seen by each users’ friends and actions are more easily shared.
While the Facebook Groups page still looks and feels the same, the Fan pages have been improved to look and feel more like user profiles. These new features have driven a lot of users to them while making Facebook Groups a much less influential and used communication tool than before.
Some things to keep in mind if you’re considering a Fan Page:
We suggest before starting a Group or Fan Page, you should thoroughly read through Facebook’s FAQs:
Facebook Pages: http://www.facebook.com/help.php?page=175
Facebook Groups: http://www.facebook.com/help.php?page=414
With Facebook’s recent redesign of user home pages and updates to the Fan Page template (and very few updates to Groups), we at KML couldn’t help but wonder if the Fan Page is future home for any and all who want a Facebook presence to interact with their fans and audience.
And if so… how long will we enjoy that feature for free?
To follow up on my earlier article about my obsession with The Snuggie, I couldn’t help but notice a new crop of Snuggie Wannabes making their way into the social media universe.
While The Snuggie wasn’t the first blanket with sleeves (check out SkyMall’s Slanket), it was the first blanket with sleeves to embrace social media and make its presence known to millions of people. There have been several parodies of the Snuggie commercial (see The WTF Blanket), but now we’re seeing more copies of the Snuggie itself.
Dare to compare:
A hipper, more stylish version of the Snuggie, the Nuddle (nap + cuddle = nuddle) is long enough to cover your body from your neck to your feet, and has open slats for your arms (not to be confused with sleeves), along with- get this- an outer hand pocket to keep hands warm. What’s better than the hand pocket? Well, a foot pocket of course!
It’s the Mini Snuggie for Kids! Now you can keep the whole family warm with the Snugglette, a smaller size Snuggie with smaller arms so kids can stay warm. And get this — while the Snuggie comes with a free reading light, the Snugglette offers free matching slipper socks.
Last, but certainly not least (and our favorite), Pantalaine introduces the all-handmade Couch Dress. Benefits? Pantalaine will customize this item to fit you and any loveseat or sofa in your home. And bonus gift: Two flower Broaches included with each dress - choose from many popular designs.
So which lounge-wear, blanket with sleeves is your choice? At the end of the day, there may be copies of the Snuggie, but the more interesting story will be if they can compete with it online and generate the same level of interest. Let the best blanket win!
It appears the naming rights to the tallest building in the western hemisphere (once the tallest building in the world) have been given to a London-based insurance broker that will rename the tower The Willis Tower. The Willis Tower???
While I don’t live in Chicago anymore, when I did live there the Sears Tower was as familiar to me as a good Chicago Hot Dog. It’s a symbol of the city. From Facebook updates I’ve seen from family and friends, I’m sensing that others are as disturbed about this as I am. Which is why I’m happy to see that you can get your Sears Tower venting out on Twitter, as the @SearsTower twitter profile is happily responding to your complaints.
In a mildly snarky fashion (similar to my beloved @thesnuggie), this inanimate object is responding to your tweets with such bitter comments as “Willis Tower is following me. And that’s exactly what you’ll do, Willis. Stand in my 1,450.58 foot shadow”, and “Ahem. Mr. Plumeri. Moving into an awesome building like me isn’t a “bold move.” A bold move is deciding not to wear pants to work,” and the best one yet, “Sticks and stones may break human bones, but new names will never come to define me.” Good one Sears Tower, good one.
So while the name Sears Tower may be going away, its Twitter profile lives on. I’m looking forward to following my new Twitter friend and seeing it all unfold.
Social Media Marketing = Word of Mouth = Awareness
Social media is as simple as its component parts – social interaction meets media — the sites, events, communities and resources that enable people to share with each other, collaborate, communicate and reinvent.
Social media marketing is harnessing that media to drive conversation, build awareness and spark word of mouth around a brand, individual or particular subject matter.
Your audience is living in the new media space – on Social Networks (Myspace, Facebook, LastFM), Sharing and Bookmarking sites (Digg, Stumbleupon), opinion and voting sites, UGC and video sites (YouTube, DailyMotion), and a variety of communities and blogs targeting niche interests. For successful social media marketing, it is important to:
Why Social Marketing is More Effective.
Traditional Media = Monologue
Social Media = Dialogue
Now, more than ever, consumers have the opportunity to involve themselves in the marketing mix, and they will. As new, digital media became the preferred media of the Millennial Generation, information and content became easier to create, share and manipulate. This democratization has led to an unprecedented interconnectedness both to the world and one another. This real-time, interconnectivity creates a two-way communication channel for everything, always, which is one of its primary advantages over traditional media.
Traditional media is characterized as monologue, slow if ever to adapt and respond. Social media is defined by dialogue, evolving constantly and responding instantly. Consumers have gravitated to and adopted social media because it allows them the opportunity to interact with and engage the people, brands and ideas that matter most to them. And this two-way communication channel requires that brands interact and engage in return. After they are done speaking, they are now required to listen and respond. Those that don’t will be left behind.
Once people are engaged it becomes increasingly likely that they will share and this sharing is the ultimate value for brands practicing effective social media marketing. All of the actions we take online are now shared with our friends – we are clicks away from sharing the links we like, from seeing the clothes and music our friends just purchased, from reading the restaurant reviews posted by our neighbors. And we know this sharing is the most important factor when influencing consumers to adopt a specific brand identity or purchase a certain product.
