Recently, we introduced a set of 6 social media tools which start-ups should be tapping on in dealing with PR, marketing and branding issues. One advantage is that a start-up being nimble and quick, can find applications on social media tools that can distribute, share and gather feedback on their products and services in a very quick rate. Given that social media is a ever-changing landscape all over the world, and the buzz that are ongoing from twitter lists, enterprise microblogging via Yammer to google wave, we decide to give you a list of three new social media tools (or feature in existing social media tools) that you should know about. Google Wave: It is the latest craze but the invites are limited. Google Wave has a few features for online collaboration: Instantaneous Communication, Natural Language Capability & Playback: you can see what your collaborator is typing his message in the same instant when you may be doing the same.
The Proliferation of Online Video | Brian Solis - PR 2.0 inShare0 Source: Shutterstock Online video continues to capture the attention of producers and viewers, with the market as well as industry leaders, leading us into a more pervasive form of video entertainment, communication and education. With YouTube quickly transforming from a user-generated video network into an invaluable repository for content, the associated behavior for creating, uploading, discovering, and watching online videos is evolving. As the Web turns, everything begins with search… Just last year, YouTube made headlines when searches performed in the network surpassed those actions in Yahoo, positioning a video social network as the second most active and popular search engine, second only to Google. Now the industry for online video is maturing and expanding, and with it, our attention is shifting away from traditional information sources and our appetite for creating and watching social video is only burgeoning. Source: NewTeeVee
STATS: Social Media Resistance Is Fading Fast Recently, we highlighted a study that showed two-thirds of marketers now use social media in some capacity. Today, more data confirming this trend, but also pointing to what looks poised to be nearly total saturation within a year. According to a report published today by eMarketer, 59% of brand marketers currently use social media. But within 12 months, that number will swell to 82%. And in the long-run, only 13% indicate having no plans to enter the medium.Also interesting: this chart, which highlights the reasons that some companies and agencies still aren’t using social media: Somewhat surprisingly, most of the remaining resistance doesn’t come from marketers doubting the value of it – only 7% of companies don’t see social media as a good use of employee time – but rather, not knowing where to begin or how to measure the effectiveness. These, of course, are issues that many individuals, companies, and yes, publications :) are looking to address.
86% of Companies Plan Social Media Budget Bumps The “Social Media and Online PR Report” provides detailed information about how companies are using online PR tactics and social media sites – including Facebook and Twitter - for marketing and customer service. The research found that an overwhelming majority of companies (86%) surveyed plan to spend more money on social media in 2010, and a further 13% are planning to keep the same level of budget. Barriers to Better Engagement The biggest barrier to better social media engagement for companies surveyed is a lack of resources, with more than half of companies (54%) saying this is a significant problem, the report said. The research also found that many companies are experimenting with social media without yet reaping any measurable benefits. These results echo findings about social media use in other industries. However, the Econsultancy study found that companies who have made an effort in the social media area have typically reaped some reward. Twitter Stats Additional study findings:
“17 Things we Used to Do” : Andrew McAfee’s Blog Twitter grew by 131% in March alone, and Oprah started tweeting last week (and already has about 175,000 followers), so it seemed like the right time to discuss this technology/service/phenomenon/whatever-it-is in my MBA course. Laura Fitton came to class on Thursday the 16th (thanks, @pistachio!), and we spent more time today talking Twitter. These were classes when I could really sense that students were grappling with the material in a positive way. I started off class today by asking if Twitter really was something new under the sun, or if it was instead largely similar to previous collaboration technologies. Concise. We spent a fair bit of time in the two classes trying to understand what this strange combination of characteristics meant – what it added up to and what it was useful for. We jotted down some of these in class, and I added to the list afterward. So that’s twelve off the top of my head, and I’m sure we could come up with at least five more. What do you think?
“If the news is important, it will find me” - - mathewingram.com/work Brian Stelter has a great piece in the New York Times that I urge anyone interested in the media business to go and read right now — I’ll wait — and that includes reporters, editors and (most of all) managers, and probably IT departments and designers as well. The context of the piece is political reporting and political news, but I think the points Brian is making are relevant to the entire industry as a whole. It’s not that there is anything earth-shatteringly new in the piece, mind you. But I think it does a great job of describing how digital “word of mouth” — in other words, social networking of all kinds including Twitter, IM, Facebook and so on — has become a dominant means of news delivery for young people in a way that I’m not sure old geezers like myself quite grasp, no matter how often people describe it (and Stelter knows whereof he speaks, since he was still in university when the NYT hired him away from TV Newser). As Brian describes it in the story:
5 Huge Trends in Social Media Right Now What's the first thing young women do when they wake up? Check Facebook. How do enterprise employees pass the time at work? With social media. What follows are five of the hottest social media trends right now. Entertainment checkin services are changing the way we watch television. 1. Smartphone owners have the world at their fingertips. What this means is that at any given moment, any smartphone owner can pull out their device, fire up a barcode scanning application, scan a code and complete activities or gain access to a wealth of immediately relevant information. The consumer's scanning behavior is so significant that location-sharing checkin services such as SCVNGR are giving away QR code decals to retailers free of charge. These scans aren't inherently social in nature, but because they can double as verifiable place checkins, they can also possess the social properties of a checkin: location-sharing with friends on the same service or via social network distribution. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Are Marketers Struggling to Keep Up with Social Trends? Social media is no longer new, but it’s still a turbulent space. Just a couple years ago MySpace was on top of the world, only to be ousted unceremoniously by crowds flocking to Facebook. Twitter crept onto the scene and then exploded with growth in 2009, putting itself on every marketer’s radar. New trends are developing in the social location-based area, and that’s not counting the seemingly constant mergers, acquisitions, startups and failures. Little wonder that marketers find it difficult to stay on top of the hottest social media trends. “Marketing has always been a field with a constant learning curve, but the shifts taking place today are occurring more quickly, making it especially challenging to keep pace,” said Donna Farrugia, executive director of The Creative Group, in a statement. The Creative Group found marketing executives relied most on conferences and seminars along with industry networking events to learn about social trends. Previous Article