If you’re not familiar with Twitter, it is thee dominant micro-blogging service. The only other player is Jaiku. They were acquired by Google, and we’re still waiting to learn more about Google’s plans for them. We know it has something to with their mobile strategy….
Twitter users type message to each other (known as tweets) in short sentences (140 characters max) what they are doing right now. The early Twitter adopters were people with time on their hands twittering about lunch plans, restaurant experiences, bad dates, and just whatever they were doing in the moment. Since tweets are accessible through SMS and MMS, the tweets have become prolific among the tech savvy crowd.
But wait! Twitter isn’t just for the Silicon Valley types. Anyone with a desire to connect with others in a quick way, while reinforcing their name and brand, will find it useful.
Twittering allows us to understand people better. Twittering is a form of a conversation. Is any conversation with your customers bad? Twittering can open dialogues which may not otherwise open up because they are “in the now” and “about the now.” Twittering with customers can strengthen customer relationships, build trust and lead to new opportunities.
Have you noticed that we’re calling micro blogging Twittering. This is like saying I’ll Google a keyword. But, I digress…
I’ve always defined micro blogging as a multi person IM chat. Micro blogging is real time like IM but it’s one to many. You invite people into your Twitter group(s).
So, here are some business applications to consider for Twitter.
A product manager Twitters with the people in a beta program to get real time feedback of the product and allow real time interaction with the Twitter group.
A customer service manager Twitters with a select group of customers around a certain topic to get real time feedback on the topic.
A sales manager twitters with a geographically distributed sales force to get real time feedback from the field and assist in real time sale situations.
Are you starting to get the picture?
This sort of reminds me of the iPod. When the iPod was launched all the advertising showed hip people dancing to music. I have had an iPod for almost one year now. I am not that hip and I don’t listen to music with it. But, I do listen to a lot of podcasts which I subscribe to in iTunes. So, the “product extension” factor is evident here.
So, do you get the picture now? Twittering has real business value. You just have to give it a whirl. Now, if that doesn’t sound unhip, I don’t know what is. I told you, I’m not very hip.
Bernie appeared as a guest on the CEO Lounge radio show on March 29, 2008. Following is an excerpt of the interview.
What is Web 2.0?
Analogy: the world was once considered flat. When the world was discovered to be round the flat world became obsolete. Web 1.0 is like a flat world. Web 2.0 (coined in 2004) is like a round world….In Web 2.0 people can subscribe and get involved in communities. The value to marketers is the collective influence of these communities.
Important for businesses to understand Web 2.0. Marketers can harness the power of the collective influence of communities in Web 2.0.
Blogosphere: You can be a speaker or a listener. Visit or participate or both. People subscribe to blog conversations. blogs are two way conversations. People subscribe to the blog (the conversations).
Podcasting: it is a media file (audio or video). People subscribe to a podcast as a series of episodes. Study: July 2006 Knowledgestorm & Universal McCann surveyed 3900 business and IT professionals. They are increasing using podcasts. 73% listened to business podcasts more than once. More than half want more podcast content for white papers, case studies. Their biggest frustration is scarcity of content.
Post podcasts to a blog with show notes which are indexed by search engines. Post podcasts in podcast directories such as iTunes. Plus the search engine indexing of show notes can drive traffic to your website.
Search engine optimization and Internet Marketing is much more than it was ever before. With the advent of Web 2.0, many more avenues are available. But, it takes more strategy and effort. But, the results can be awesome!
What I love about this industry is that anyone with knowledge can become an authority. For SEO website design guidelines, listen to what Chuck has to say. Below the video is a far less entertaining summary…
Directory structure: Use a shallow directory. Keep the most important webpages on the root.Use of CSS: The site should ideally be styled using CSS as much as possible and designed in div ids. Alternatively, we should be able to edit/create/deploy CSS in the existing site/CMS. If using tables, we should be able to add to the table summary.
Flash Alternative: Provide an alternative text version of the content used in Flash.
Robots.txt: We should be able to upload/modify robots.txt file.
Sitemap guidelines:
1) Site should have an XML Sitemap for Google stats tracking (not for users), e.g.,http://www.khameleonsoftware.com/sitemap.xml
2) Should have an editable site map for user navigation and search crawlers, e.g., http://www.findandconvert.com/site-map.html/Custom 404 Error page: We should be able to customize a 404 error page, e.g., http://www.findandconvert.com/404-error.htmMeaningful URLs Create/edit pagenames:
1.No underscores – use hyphens instead.
2.No special characters
3.Should be able to use keywords in URL structure – should be independent of Webpage title tag, Page Name etc.
E.g., http://www.findandconvert.com/link-building.html/No frames!!!
No session ids – use cookies.
Embedded CSS: CSS should not be embedded on the webpage.
IP based content delivery: Don’t deliver content based on IP detection.
Avoid a deep directory structure so engines can crawl the site easily.
Dynamic URLS: If pages are being generated dynamically, avoid too many parameters (special characters) in the URL
Java Scripts: Call all java scripts externally from a separate .JS file. Don’t embed them in the code.
Images guidelins:
1. The site design should not be made with extensive image usage. Search engines cannot read text embedded in images. There should be no use of any splash page or graphic intensive home page
2. Should be able to upload images
3. Should be able to edit image names
4. Should be able to add alt text
5. Should be able to add title attributes (if hyperlinked) Content guidelines:
1. Should be able to give heading tags to content (H1 – H6), bold, italics, underlines, etc.
2. Title attributes to hyperlinked text
Footer Text navigation is a must.
Meta Tags: Should be able to add/edit Title tags and meta tags (keywords tag, description tag, abstract tag etc).
Validate HTML: Should validate your website using w3c validator.
Redirects: If at all the site needs to use a redirect while programming, make use of 301 redirects. There should be no use of any 302 redirects at all.
32% said they listen to more podcasts than before.
B2B technology buyers are listening to podcasts for business interests.
72% said they have listened to downloaded or subscribed to podcasts on technology topics.
23% said they listen to podcasts on technology topics frequently.
About 60% said they want more content delivered in podcast format, specifically they named white papers and analyst reports.
55% said they would be more likely to consume white papers and analyst reports if delivered in podcast format.
57% said their biggest frustration with podcasts is the scarcity of interesting content (opportunity).
Conclusion: podcasts are not just for entertainment, they are a bonafide business tool!
Podcast strategy considerations for marketers:
Define your marketing objective.
Consider your audience and the topics of interest to them.
Identify the content subjects for podcasting to your audience that meets your objective.
Consider content on tips, trends, thought leadership ideas, case studies, white papers, analyst reports, etc.
The content for podcasting has to be manageable. Not too much in one podcast episode. Segment content into episodes.
Decide on the podcast show format.
Interview style: 2 or 3 people.
Or a solo approach if the personality is appropriate for a solo podcast.
Post your podcasts to a web page or blog post.
Include keyword rich text show notes for search engine optimization (SEO) benefits. Show notes can serve as “spider food.” People can link to your show notes which is also good for SEO.
Offer subscription options to your podcast in directories such as iTunes, and other podcast directories. iTunes is the biggest directory. But, it will only display the top 150 results per keyword phrase, e.g., search on “Web 2.0.”
Track your podcast statistics an episode by episodes basis. Measure which podcast topics have been popular. Track downloads and subscriptions through iTunes. Track podcast blog pages in your web analytics.
Marketing – how much marketing (promotion) can you do in a podcast?
It depends on your audience and topics. Here are some promotional possibilities.
Consider a show sponsor: “This podcast is brought to you by…”
Consider a short commercial at the beginning of the podcast or at the end or both.
Consider a “commercial” break (word from our sponsor) in the middle of the podcast just like a radio show.
Offer your audience a call to action that is only available to the podcast listeners.
Consider a short form for podcasts on topics of high interest that will interest people to fill out the form.
Podcast idea example: OTA- over the air delivery of broadcasting. Example: iPhone can download music or a podcast or push a podcast out to subscribers.
Consider this scenario: A VP of Sales assembles internal subject matter experts to record a podcast with up to date product and competitive info that needs to be distributed to their glogal salesforce ASAP. They then push out the podcast to their salesforce using OTA. Rather than relying on a long voicemail or email, the podcast is delivered to their sales force quickly because they were previously subscribed to the “sales podcast” for just such occasions. Sales people can listen to the podcast even while traveling and stay up to date on time sensitive information.
There are almost no rules in podcast marketing. Do whatever makes sense for your audience and your content.
At Find and Convert we’re all about measuring. We provide our SEO clients detailed metrics. You know, the usual stuff including unique visits, page-views, time on site, conversions, bounce rates, keywords, referral sources, yada, yada, yada. I’m not trivializing it by any means. The metrics we track for SEO and PPC are very important.
But, as more of our clients enter the brave new Web 2.0 world the question is how do we measure results? Great question! Not a simple answer….But, there are ways to measure results from your Web 2.0 campaigns.
If you’re blogging, you can measure RSS subscriptions. You can measure how many others link to your blog. Who are they?
You can measure how many social bookmarks you receive from popular sites like DIGG and StumbleUpon and how easily your social media content is found in Technorati and Del.icio.us.
You can certainly monitor and measure the comments on your blog. You can see the tone of comments and the trends in the comments. In fact, you may find comments to be invaluable “research.”
Don’t overlook your web stats reports. You can track referral sources from social media sites. When you see social media referrals increase, that’s a trend to watch. If you run campaigns in social media sites, track your web stats carefully to observe traffic from these sites and time spent on your site. Make sure to have conversion strategies in place for these referral strategies so you can track them easily.
Don’t overlook tools such as Google Alerts and Yahoo Alerts. In Google Webmaster you can track links from social sites.
Internet Marketing strategies require planning, measuring and revising. The methods and tools used to measure Web 2.0 results vary somewhat from measuring SEO and PPC, but not drastically. The web analytics field is evolving. Keep up to date and profit from the results you can measure.
Podcast Show Notes: Social Networking 3.0 - Why Are We Talking About 3.0?
Because we have to understand the enormity of the interactive web, IE., social media optimization strategies are here to stay. We have to plan for social networking 3.0 now.
I believe in tackling things in bite size chunks. So, anyone who has not jumped into Web 2.0 needs to start now (in bite size chunks). Those who are already active in Web 2.0 can accelerate their strategies by understanding what the future has in store with regard to social networking/social media.
Background:
Summary of a Podcast from a Stanford University Panel session: July 2007
Panelists from MySpace, Facebook, Ning, Demand Media, Wall
Question posed to panelists: What will social networking look like 3, 5 and 10 years in the future?
Not possible to predict entirely, it’s easier to innovate than predict the future.
The way people will use social networking will change by connecting with people where ever you are in real time through mobile devices. With more broadband connectivity increasingly available and reliable, the types of collaboration will expand with video, slides, pictures, and file attachments and other kinds of media delivered over the air (OTA).
Ubiquity in social media will become more prevalent. Everyone has at least one email address so that will be your common denominator for your profiles in social networks.
User generated content is what social networking is about. Social networks will become more vertical based on interests, niches or demographics. Vertical communities will explode!
Social Networks will explode according to the millions of interests and passions of groups of people. The ability to engage with others as one identity regardless of how many interests we have will become easier. I will be able to interact as a “golfer,” “dog lover,” “fisherman,” (three examples of personal interests) as well as my professional role at Find and Convert. In the current social networking environment, I must set up different profiles for each interest and interact with others from each “persona.”
The concept of profiles may even become obsolete - especially multiple profiles. Social Networking will become integrated into software applications and websites (we are starting to see it already). We will allow people to intereact with each other on websites and software applications.
In 10 years the workforce will be comprised largely of people who have grown up in an online Social Networking environment. There won’t even be social networks (as we know them today) because they won’t be thought of as social networks. They will be ubiquitous (integrated into most applications and websites).
Question: When will today’s social networks become open (they are closed today)? Currently, we have to maintain separate profiles, Myspace, Facebook, Ning, LinkedIn.
Facebook is already open….What does closed and open mean in social networks?
People want to take their identity with them from one social network to another. Facebook for example has opened up their social network for developers to build apps that can be added and used by anyone in Facebook. It’s considered complicated to “port” your identity to other social networks. But, people have different profiles based on different interests. For example a dog lover can interact in a social network with other dog lovers. The same person may be a photographer and want to interact with other photographers in a social network. They are different profiles but the same person.
So you have the concept of a portable profile. You should not have to check multiple inboxes and multiple blogs. So you can respond to people according to your interest such as photographer, or dog lover, or IT manager.
Question: Monetization: In social networking 3.0 what are the new ways to monetize?
The advertising revenue model is only growing. As social networks get more vertical more targeted advertising is possible. It’s a huge market that is only getting bigger. 1.3 billion people are online and less than 15% are in social networks. Viral videos, etc. offer more opportunities for targeted advertising.
Another monetization opportunity will be in the ability to dress up our profile to maximize our profile’s exposure. People will buy forms of self expression to dress up their profile. In B2B it can be buying applications to use in a social network, e.g., a link to Outlook.
As the long tail is more accepted by marketers, social networks will continue to grow in very specific niches.
Current example: Classroom 2.0: a community of educators who is interested in exploring productive applications of technology for use in education. It’s ironic that many educators are negative about Web 2.0, yet many of them are very positively exploring social networking.
So, what does all this crystal ball stuff about social networking 3.0 mean to a marketer in a business today?
It’s important for all marketers to understand what trends loom in the horizon. Marketers must have insight into potential trends that could positively or negatively impact their business.
There are many examples of businesses that didn’t look out in the near future and got blindsided, IBM/Microsoft, Beta/VHS, Apple iPod/music distributors. The CEO of Data General (a defunct computer company) once said the PC was a passing fad in the mid 1980s.
Disruptions occur in markets and social media 3.0 will be an evolutionary disruption. As marketers we need to be aware of it to understand it and avoid making costly mistakes, as well as to exploit marketing strategies available to us today, next, next month and next year. We can exploit marketing strategies that may become available to us in Web 2.0 and Web 3.0.
Did you hear that marketing has been re-defined again?
In the 80s and 90s there was “relationship marketing,” and “one-to-one marketing.” The funny thing about the different words used to describe marketing is that they have always had one thing in common. All marketing (since the beginning) is about communicating to prospective customers over and over again (reach and frequency).
Regardless of how the communication takes place - advertisement, direct mail, phone call, email, website, search engine, seminar/webinar, trade shows - it’s always about communication.
Fast forward to today. Web 2.0 has reshaped the way many marketers think. In a world of Web 2.0 we have websites, blog sites, social media sites, podcasts, wikis, user generated content, etc. where communication takes place in a many-to-many way. In other words, we are having conversations! So, doesn’t it make sense to say that marketing is about conversations?!!!
Absolutely….Let’s look at some examples…I produce podcasts on web marketing topics. People (around the world) find my podcasts in iTunes and on the web through social media and they subscribe. Some of them engage me in conversations. My brand exposure improves and so does my business…
A software company executive visits Facebook to seek out and find groups on relevant topics. She joins select groups, engages in conversations on topics relevant to her industry and she learns things that help her make decisions about her marketing mix…
A consumer services company starts a blog about topics related to their service. These topics offer people tips and hard to find information which builds a community and loyalty. The blog visitors also visit their website. Their brand is strengthened and so is their business.
In each example shown here the common denominator was conversations. The new definition of marketing is indeed about having conversations with our customers and people they care about. The influence of the communities in social media is so powerful, we simply can not ignore it!
I marvel at how so many marketers say “I don’t have the time to blog or visit social networking sites and get engaged in these conversations.” I just hope all my competitors don’t have time for these conversations. As for me, I couldn’t fathom not having time for these conversations. I’ve seen enough proof.
In 2007 we jumped on the Web 2.0 bandwagon. We started this corporate blog. We started producing podcasts. We started advising clients to take a “bite” out of the Web 2.0 opportunity, and some have and some haven’t.
We believe 2008 is the year to take the plunge. Ok, maybe you should dip your toe in the water first. We actually recommend the dip first. Web 2.0 is an umbrella term for social media on the web. There are so many ways to harness it, dipping your toe (or a few toes) is the way to start.
If you’re reading this blog post, you’re already involved. We know that understanding the potential of Web 2.0 can be overwhelming. The most common objection we hear is “we don’t have time for it.” If you think you don’t have time, you’re right. I just hope your competitors don’t have time for it either. Get my point?
How long did you ignore email, cell phones or (if you’re old enough) the PC when it was first launched? I can name the former CEO of a computer company (no longer in business) who publicly stated “the PC is just a fad, it won’t last.” While you may not have that sentiment about Web 2.0, my question is - are you on the side lines or leveraging the marketing potential of Web 2.0? What is the marketing potential you ask? Blogs, social media sites, podcasts, RSS feeds - these all offer you ways to strengthen relationships with your customers and prospective customers. Guess what - they are looking for you in Web 2.0 properties. Are you there?
Forrester Research is doing research on the adoption of Web 2.0 marketing strategies among B2B marketers. You can take their survey here. They’ll send you the survey results.
Now, I have a favor to ask. You probably know marketers who don’t visit blogs or know little about Web 2.0. Forward this post to them and give them a nudge to dip their toes in the Web 2.0 water. And, remind them their competitors may already be there.
I was hoping to see a story about a young entrepreneur who is being compared to Bill Gates (another Harvard dropout), Steve Jobs, Sergey Brin and Larry Page. In fact, Lesley Stahl, the 60 Minutes correspondent asked Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerburg about the comparison to Brin and Page, and Zuckerburg’s response was priceless. He stared – in fact gazed at her, paused and said “is that a question?” His smug response tells me that he considers such talk irrelevant.
Stahl went on to describe how Facebook began from Zuckerburg’s early days at Harvard, through its evolution with his former college roommates into the social networking giant it has become in just four years. The background coverage was good. The video of company culture was good, a typical Silicon Valley environment. But, the segment went downhill when Stahl dragged the interview into the Beacon advertising debacle. Ok, so it was a mistake. Zuckerburg apologized for it. So move on!
Where was the talk of how the fastest growing demographic is “old people” (adults over the age of 25)? To give Stahl some credit she did mention it. I could have coughed and missed that though. There was no talk of how businesses are using groups and networks to create communities and to share and exchange ideas. There was some coverage on how application developers can upload applications, but the example showed was Scrabble, a consumer application.
Of course there was coverage on its staggering market capitalization evidenced by Microsoft’s investment of 1.6 % of Facebook’s stock for $240 million. That led to discussion about how Facebook produces revenue. The impression I got was that Stahl was looking for ways to poke holes in the company, especially as she kept referencing his young age – the “toddler CEO” – though she credits this expression to Kara Swisher - a blogger.
Facebook has a lot of potential to be a really useful and productive tool for both consumers and businesses. Whether or not it excels at both remains to be seen. The projection to reach 200 million profiles this year also remains to be seen. If it does, I think a significant portion of that growth will come from “old people” like me.
All I know is that I created a profile and a group in Facebook on web marketing and I have visited similar groups. The conversations and communities are very interesting. I don’t use Facebook to socialize on a personal level and I find there are plenty of people who (like me) will interact on my topics of interest.
In my opinion 60 Minutes missed the boat big time! They could’ve talked about the phenomenon of social networking and the impact Zuckerburg’s Facebook is having. They could’ve talked about how Facebook is crossing generational lines (they did mention it) and how this is the real story of Facebook. They didn’t really give their viewers a sense of the potential of social networking both for consumers AND for businesses alike.
Instead, they focused on the negative by devoting so much time and attention to the Beacon issue and even a lawsuit that Zuckerburg faces from some disgruntled Harvard students.
No wonder so many business people shun interviews from the network television stations.
Form your own opinion of the 60 Minutes story of Facebook and share your comments.
Blogging will continue to grow, especially among small businesses.
Micro blogging will become more popular but it’s still in the early adopter stage, unless Google comes out with a “killer micro blogging” app through Jaiku.
