Posts Tagged Twitter
Branded Social Networks: Does the name matter?
Posted by Analisa in Social Media / Inbound Marketing on August 3rd, 2010
Some people will tell you that "content is king" when it comes to social media. Post/blog/share good information that your audience wants to hear, and you will develop a following. But what about the medium for your sharing? Which network will you choose? How much does a platform contribute to or hinder your success?
If you are trying to find the perfect social site for your business, organization, or personal interest, do you choose the best platform for your purposes, or the popular one with the most familiar name?
Names Matter
Perhaps there is something in a name after all. 500 million people feel comfortable with Facebook, perhaps that is why so many brands have decided to focus on building their presence on that particular network. It's not a perfect platform by any means, especially for marketing, since FB tries to protect users from spam and un-paid advertising. Even the paid advertising is kept to a minimum. There is no way for Page admins to message their fans, or post to their profiles. The complaints and "known bugs" on Facebook seem to be endless! There must be a better network for building online communities, but this one if by far the most popular. Read the rest of this entry »
How Social Media Changed Our Business
Posted by Analisa in Social Media / Inbound Marketing on July 6th, 2010
We have been thinking a lot about "social media strategy development" lately, and it feels like a short moment of reflection is in order...
2009 was all about preaching the values of social media. We attended a lot of social "meetups" to meet peers in the industry and learn how people were using social networks in new and interesting ways. We pitched grand social engagement strategies to potential clients.
What did we learn? Convincing people that the social web was the new frontier was not difficult. We had examples, case studies and passion for the cause. But once we had the converts, how could we help them learn to help themselves? I often felt like the proverbial fishing teacher...I wanted to teach my clients to fish on their own, to see them take control of their own online communities and blog with fervor! But at the end of the day, after hearing all of the typical excuses ("we don't have the time" or "we don't know what to say") I was reluctantly handing out the fish.
Read the rest of this entry »
The ROI Defense of Social Media
Posted by Analisa in Social Media / Inbound Marketing on May 27th, 2010
On Wednesday May 19th, we had our 6th social media event at HyperArts. We began hosting these "mixers" or "meet-ups" almost exactly a year ago and we have always been amazed by how informative, interesting and fun they are each time. At each event we have invited local social media experts to come and share their strategies, advice and experiences with our guests. I actually met most of the people who have come to speak on social networks like Twitter or Facebook.
Since the beginning, the format of the events has been casual, with 2-3 presentations each night. But for this last gathering, I decided to try something new. First of all, I had 5 prospective guest speakers (from 4 organizations) that I wanted to invite, so the night would get really long if each one presented for 10-15 minutes plus questions. I remember attending a great discussion panel event at Razorfish in the city, and decided to give that setup a try. I knew that everyone would have great things to share, since each organization that I invited really understands the importance of community (not selling) on social networks. Our fabulous guests included:
- Ellen Seebold of Seebold Marketing Communications
- Adam Rozan of the Oakland Museum of California
- Andy Murdock and Rana Freedman of Lonely Planet
- Elisa Williams of the Oakland Visitors Bureau
Too Much Buzz?
Posted by Analisa in Social Media / Inbound Marketing on February 12th, 2010
People ask all the time, will we get tired of so much social? Social media, social networks, social business, social marketing...
I don't really think that's the right question, especially because sites like Facebook have shown us that people like social, even if they tend to be slow to the uptake at first. I would ask instead, in what manner will social become completely intertwined with all online activity?
Will You Continue to Follow Twitterers Who Tweet Ads?
Posted by timware in Social Media / Inbound Marketing on January 12th, 2010
Skip the rant ... take the poll...
I read the a San Francisco Chronicle article this morning on the pay-per-tweet advertising model which is starting to gain ground and has a lot of people, including me, feeling very uncomfortable (and not in a good way).
Advertisers like Sony, NBC Universal and Microsoft have lined up for campaigns that pay Twitter users a few dollars to $10,000 per tweet, depending on their number of followers or their sphere of influence. [...] In the past six months, companies like Ad.ly, Sponsored Tweets of Orlando and newcomer MyLikes of San Francisco have launched services to broker ad deals between Twitter users and sponsors. The tweets are supposed to be marked with notations such as "(ad)" or "#ad" to comply with new Federal Trade Commission guidelines governing advertisements or endorsements by bloggers, experts and celebrities.
Like a lot of people, I think this flies in the face of the "spirit of Twitter" and the spirit of opt-in marketing. It seems like bait and switch. We start following people because of the value of their tweeting, and now advertising begins to creep into the mix. Of course, I understand that folks gotta make money. But, as Mashable's Pete Cashmore asks, isn't this "the exact same outdated model of interruption-based advertising that we’ve been trying to block out with a TiVo or an internet ad blocker?"
Once our favorite tweeters are taking money from advertisers, can we trust any product recommendations they might tweet? Can they take advertising from Microsoft and still criticize Microsoft? Hmmm. Troubling.
I'm very curious as to what others think about this. Will you abandon those you follow when you start seeing their ads in your Twitter stream?
Loading ...Information & Opinions about Ads on Twitter
Negative Feedback is a GOOD Thing?
Posted by Analisa in Social Media / Inbound Marketing on October 23rd, 2009
I read a blog post from Ignite Social Media this morning, "How to Handle Negative Reviews" and it reminded me of a topic from last night's social media event here at HyperArts...Tisha from Numi Tea brought up the topic of negative comments on their Facebook page and it started a lengthy discussion of the actual benefits of a negative post on a social media site.
Ignite points out that on some sites like Yelp or TripAdviser, the business or organization does not have the opportunity to respond to negative reviews. But if a complaint is made via Twitter, or Facebook or a blog comment, there are several ways to turn that negativity into something beneficial for both parties involved.
Twitter for Business - A Special Guide From the Experts
Posted by Analisa in Social Media / Inbound Marketing on July 24th, 2009
So many people claim to "not understand this Twitter thing"...like David Letterman, and my Mom. Well, now the people at Twitter have made it nice and easy for new users and skeptics, especially businesses trying to get in on the free marketing and promotional opportunities. The Twitter 101 guide for businesses spells it all out with images and comprehensive explanations of everything from searching Twitter to using hashtags and retweeting.
Anyone can benefit from this "Learn the Lingo" page that explains all of the different symbols and tricks for using Twitter effectively, but this "special guide" is geared specifically towards businesses trying to access the marketing goldmine that has been portrayed in the recent news, including several articles in the New York Times.
Assisted by screenshots that demonstrate the usefulness of many Twitter tools, a conversational voice that feels like a real friend guides readers through the "mysteries" of the Twittersphere. All the "secrets" are being revealed, and tactics are being rendered transparent... "Remember to post the badge onto your website that tells visitors to follow you on Twitter!" Here is just one of many encouraging messages from the site:
"One of Twitter’s key benefits is that it gives you the chance to communicate casually with customers on their terms, creating friendly relationships along the way—tough for corporations to do in most other mediums."
Trending Topics Search: Google was then, Twitter is now
Posted by Analisa in SEO - Google, Social Media / Inbound Marketing on May 21st, 2009
This morning I was annoyed to find three spam messages in my Facebook inbox, all from friends (victims) and all containing a link to "areps.at". I was smart enough to not open the messages at all, let alone click on the evil little links. My first thought was, am I the only one? I went straight to Twitter to investigate...
First I sent out a tweet asking if anyone else had experienced the same problem, but that was really unnecessary. My second step should have been my first, which was simply searching "facebook" in the Twitter search (that now sits conveniently in the right hand-side toolbar). In the results I saw that the most recent tweets that contained my keyword ALL related to the scam! My question was answered immediately, by complete strangers. Some tweets looked like this: Read the rest of this entry »
A Tweet a day keeps the followers away?
Posted by Analisa in Social Media / Inbound Marketing on April 9th, 2009
My boss and I have been engaging in a little friendly rivalry via Twitter, jokingly competing to see who has the most followers at the end of each day. A little arms race, if you will. Because of my natural competitive spirit, I have been tweeting more and more, hoping to encourage more followers. Of course I only tweet really amazingly hilarious or stunningly poignant messages...But I have noticed that almost daily, although my follower count is steadily growing, the numbers fluctuate a bit. I hovered around 50 followers last week, and then it was around 57, up and down for a day, and then up to 60, and today, at 70. I wrote my first tweet on February 17th 2009, and for a long time my tweets were few and far between. As soon as I started tweeting at least 2x a day, my follower count went up. I wonder, do my tweets have anything to do with who follows me? Am I turning people away by too much noise, or not enough? Read the rest of this entry »
Can you stand out above the Social Media crowd?
Posted by Analisa in Social Media / Inbound Marketing on April 7th, 2009
When pitching Social Media Optimization to a potential client, I start to get really excited thinking about the endless potential for success in any of the social networks I recommend. I know how quickly this expert can become a thought leader on Twitter, how soon she will find her target audience on Facebook, and how she is an ideal candidate for a series of tutorial videos on her own YouTube channel. Every individual in the world is unique, so if they have something valuable to share then there has to be a special niche for them, an audience in need of their brand of expertise. As long as they are provided with the tools to access the masses, they can stand and deliver. But how do you convince a client that they not only have what it takes to thrive in the social mediasphere, but that social media will deliver a significant ROI, as long as they commit to sufficient participation in their desired communities? Read the rest of this entry »
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