Last Christmas break was a busy socializing extravaganza with family, friends and business colleagues. There was much wine consumed, gifts given, food eaten and stories told, both tall tales and true. Superficial but interesting conversations were engaged on topics like movies recently watched ..such as “Avatar” and  questions such as … “Is it a paradigm shift in the way we watch and consume movies?” and is it a movie worth going to see?

Most of these conversations were offline and face to face. Some conversations were about social media and social networking and we discussed issues such as “Does Social Media trivialize real human social interaction because it is not face to face?”

On a plane tonight coming back from a weekend on the Gold Coast, where I caught up with friends and family, I read a book by Emmanuel Rosen titled “Buzz..Real Life Lessons in Word Of Mouth Marketing” that discusses the viral effect of conversations online and offline and how word of mouth spreads, especially in how it relates to marketing.

Some of the questions he asks and discusses are

• How do you create far reaching influence or a “Global Cascade” of conversation?
• Do you need to find the “Influentials” that  are the gatekeepers to social networks to start the conversation Buzz?

or do you you only have to find a “Critical mass of of easily influenced individuals”  to create far reaching influence.

A study by Dodds and Watts in 2007 in the Harvard Business Review was about how “Social Epidemics” occur where recommendations for a product like Avatar can be promulgated and enhanced through conversations with friends and colleagues. They found that if three friends recommended a product or brand to a person, in most cases it had no influence but with the fourth mention in the positive that they became “infected” and spread the gospel for that product. So with that, Rosen went on to list the 10 principles that he believes are at work in social networking which has a high degree of relevancy to social media.

So what are the 10 principles at work in Social Networking?

1. Social Networks are Invisible...even in the age of social networking sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook and MySpace

No matter how hard you try you cannot find the “strength of the tie” and this comes down to

• the privacy of the networks
• people don’t reveal their true network ties
• there is a lot of  noise in the data that comes from these sites

2. People Link With Other Who Are Similiar To Them

An example of this is that each sport has it’s own social network, Golfers hang out with golfers and compare notes on things like golf clubs. This “Homophily Principle” has 2 basic implications

• They tend to form clusters
• The more similiar your employees are to your customersthe easier the communications will be

3. People Who Are Similiar To Each Other Form Clusters

This can be simply shown with examples of why do Hells Angels travel in packs or girls in second grade play together. Clusters can informally adopt products together such as “Apple” fanatics.

Note: If you product becomes becomes the standard within a cluster , it makes it dificult for competitors to uproot you from this postion.

4. Buzz Spreads Through Common Nodes

This means that even though we as human beings might have only “6 degrees of seperation” that transferring buzz between different structures or nodes has a high degree of friction.

5. Information Gets Trapped In Clusters

You can have different clusters in the same building or company such as Marketing and PR. Spreading buzz from one group to another is rare. It normally means that a story can be trapped within the marketers or PR.

6. Network Hubs and Connectors Create Shortcuts

There is an example of some German Birkenstock sandals that were discovered by an American Margaret Fraser on a visit to a Yoga trainer in Germanywhere she discovered these really comfortable sandals that on taking them back to the USA and became the master distributor that have now become a $120 Million dollar a year business. The connector enabled a quick way to get the product discovered on the other side of the world.

Note: Venture capitalists are also a good example of the role of the connector between “clusters”

7. We Talk To Those Around Us

The Internet does cross geographical boundaries but those that are in close proximity are the ones we still influence with the most ease

This highlights the following

• Geography still matters
• 74% of all comments are transmitted through simple face to face conversations (Keller Fay, 2007)
• When marketing a product or service that you hope will have a a national or global appeal. It is important to create a presence in every geographical location.
• Traditional marketing based on Zip codes, database marekting and bricks and mortar locations is still important

8. Weak Ties Are Surprisingly Strong

A study in the late 1960′s by Mark Granowetter of Harward showed

“Word of mouth through acquaintances had significantly more impact than word of mouth with close friends and relatives”

The takeaway on this – people outside of our close networks are important in bringing in fresh data – in other words diversify your connections.

9. The Net Nurtures Weak Ties

It’s easy to maintain weak ties on the Internet. The increase in weak ties on the internet can explain why information travels much faster today. The Internet creates millions of shortcuts of weak ties that bridge social clusters.

10. Networks Go Across Categories

Politicians used to be able to take one message to a core group of supporters  and a different one to the general public but not now. The internet and the new social networking channels are blurring the lines among different categories. What  was once a private message to the loyal followers is now public conversation within seconds and minutes.

So how could you apply these 10 principles to creating buzz about your product or service?

Reflecting as you do at the end of one year and at the start of the new, the hottest topics on Twitter in 2009 make an interesting snapshot of what people took time out on Twitter to send messages, start conversations and spread content.

If you glance over some of the top topics on the Twitter list, you see popular media stories like Michael Jackson, Susan Boyle and topics like Google Wave and the Iran Election. Mostly though it is quite superficial and populist. Is Twitter just a reflection of western societies popular TV culture where it’s just about the glamour and the gloss for most part. An article in one of Australia’s top newspapers by James Harkin says “Far from delivering a ”wisdom of crowds”, social networking sites create only a deafening banality”. An article I wrote called “Debunking The “Twitter Is 40% Pointless Babble” Survey also dicusses this in more detail from another perspective.

So here are the top topics for 2009 as seen by Twitter and the Twitter application Klout on what were consuming people’s interest on Twitter.

Twitter

“Among all the keywords, hashtags, and phrases that proliferated throughout the year, one topic surfaced repeatedly. Twitter users found the Iranian elections the most engaging topic of the year. The terms #iranelection, Iran and Tehran were all in the top-21 of Trending Topics, and #iranelection finished in a close second behind the regular weekly favorite #musicmonday.

These are Twitter’s “Top Trending Topics” across several categories—an interesting time capsule of what was happening as this decade came to a close.”

I was begged the other day on Twitter to stop writing and Tweeting about a certain online retailer and a blog comment for a recent post on “17 Revelations On How An Online Retailer Went From Zero to $1.2 Billion” went like this.

“Jeff, you are one of my favorite bloggers but honestly I am so sick of hearing about Zappos I could hurl. The blogosphere needs to come up with a few new success stories.”

I was almost convinced that he  was right to request me to refrain, but as I am an evangelical believer in blogs, I had to write it.

So this obsession though has one more chapter, so I apologise in advance to those who have thus far tolerated my compulsive and annoying behaviour.

So why have thirteen blogs? A very good question that may have some answers.

1. Because they have the resources and they just “can”
2. I have a sneaking suspicion that they feel they have 13 different persona’s (market sectors) that buy their products  so they have a blog for each type of customer
3. It will make the company look real and transparent
4. It will position them as a “thought leader” in different sectors
5. They realize that interesting and unique content including video will  attract attention

Note: I am sure there are a lot more, you can fill in the rest

So here is a snapshot of the Zappos blogs which may provide some inspiration for you to take some ideas back to the office.

Blog One:  Zappos Blog

This seems to aggregate the other blog posts into one location. I did a quick count and there were ten posts for one day (feeling a little blog challenged are we?)

Blog Two:  Couture, also known as the “The business of designing, making, and selling highly fashionable, usually custom-made clothing for women”

Of course the latest two blog posts were about the latest

• Womens Handbags
• Womens Boots

Note: Guess what guys, not one “male” fashion item to be seen

Blog Three: Inside Zappos (for the curious) This includes an ecclectic mix of interesting and humourous content, including videos about the goings on around and about Zappos, as well as the use of certain housewares items. (even a donut eating contest)

Blog Four: CEO and COO (Real and transparent messages and articles from the Top Dog Tony Hseih) including

• A CEO email regarding the Amazon Buyout

• A post by Tony on “How Twitter can make you a Better and (and Happier) Person” where he talks about 4 things

1. Transparency & Values: Twitter constantly reminds me of who I want to be, and what I want Zappos to stand for
2. Reframing Reality: Twitter encourages me to search for ways to view reality in a funnier and/or more positive way
3. Helping Others: Twitter makes me think about how to make a positive impact on other people’s lives
4. Gratitude: Twitter helps me notice and appreciate the little things in life

Blog Five: Running (this is for the running road warriors) The latest 2 posts being interesting articles that will engage the runner in us.

• “Weekly Tips On Preparing for a Triathlon: When You Should Race”
• “Run The Outback” (that happens to be in Australia by the way, my part of the real world)

Blog Six: Zappos TV (To appeal to the video centric crowd with a dose of humour) Two recent examples of the content

• “The Weirdest Office Presentation Ever“
• “Coworkers with smelly feet”

Blog Seven: Coach (this one is to provide some daily inspiration and shine a bit of sunshine into the dark corner of your room)

Example: the “Happiness“  Post

Blog Eight: Rideshop (For those who like getting in the saddle and getting on their boards or skates)

Best Ski Resort of the Week: Big Bear Mountain Resorts

Blog Nine: Outdoor (For those who love to get down and dirty in the great outdoors)

A recent post for the iPod enabled cyclist  was about “Outdoor Playlists for Your iPod: Cycling Tunes“

Blog Ten: Comfort (both mental and physical)

“Stress Management Tips: Managing Information Stress” (I will have to read that one !! )

“History Of Shoes: Ugg Boots” (they were invented in Australia apparently), From Winter Wear To Hollywood Runaways

Blog Eleven: Parents (such as articles about those important things like maternity and kids)

“Maternity Style: Workout Clothing Essentials for Mom-to-Be”

“Thanksgiving Cooking With Kids” (now that sounds like a nightmare)

Blog Twelve: Health And Fitness (for the healthy minded individual)

Such as “The Best ’80s Workout Videos: Sweatin’ to the Oldies (this is could be real scary)

Blog Thirteen (The final one): Fashion Culture (where celebrity and fashion meet)

Of course there is an article on Michael Jackson  “Rocking Rock Star Style: Fashions Inspired By Michael Jackson“

Now have you been inspired about how you could apply the above to your company blog? Would like to hear some inspired comments on what you have included in your blog.

I have recently posted articles on ”9 Ways To Convince The CEO To Use Social Media and Enter The 21st Century“, as well as ”28 Reasons Why The CEO Is Afraid Of Social Media“, so this study presented at Harvard University by the “Society For New Communications Research” (SNCR) in November 2009, was  a rather interesting read. I thought that a summary of their findings would be a great backdrop and  insight into how the CEO and major decison makers are using social media.

In the survey they asked questions like

• Are professional networks being utilized by decision-makers in business?
• Is social media typically regarded as a trustworthy source of information for professionals?
• In what ways do professionals rely on social networks to support business decisions?
• Will social media change the business and practice of enterprise-level operations?

The survey was administered online to 356 participants via online survey with close to a quarter (23%) are CEO of their organization, 50% are “Director” or “Manager”.

Company size ranged from less than 100 to over 50,000 full-time employees and age was well distributed with the greatest proportion in the 36-45 range, 25 countries were represented, with 58% of respondents living in the US and all respondents were either the decision makers or influenced the decision process.

So what were the “30 Key Findings”

1. Professional decision-making is becoming more social,  traditional influence cycles are being disrupted by Social Media as decision makers utilize social networks to inform and validate decisions.

2. Professionals want to be collaborative in the decision-cycle but not be marketed or sold to online, however online marketing is a preferred activity by companies.

3. The big three have emerged as leading professional networks: LinkedIn, Facebook & Twitter.

4. The average professional belongs to 3-5 online networks for business use, and LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter are among the top used.

5. The convergence of Internet, mobile, and social media has taken significant shape as professionals rely on anywhere access to information, relationships and networks.

6. Professional networks are emerging as decision-support tools.

7. Decision-makers are broadening reach to gather information especially among active users.

8. Professionals trust online information almost as much as information gotten from in-person.

9. Information obtained from offline networks still have highest levels of trust with slight advantage over online (offline: 92% – combined strongly/somewhat trust; online: 83% combined strongly/somewhat trust).

10. Reliance on web-based professional networks and online communities has increased significantly over the past 3 years.

11. Three quarters of respondents rely on professional networks to support business decisions with reliance increasing essentially for all respondents over the past three years.

12. Social Media use patterns are not pre-determined by age or organizational affiliation with younger (20-35) and older professionals (55+) are more active users of social tools than middle aged professionals.

14. There are more people collaborating outside their company wall than within their organizational intranet.

15. Professionals tend to belong to “Multiple Social Networks” for business with

• Half of respondents report participating in 3 to 5 online professional networks
• Another three in ten participate in 6 or more professional networks
• More than 7% used more than 10 professional networks

16. The Big Three Social Networks Have Emerged as Professional Networks, so popular social networks are now being used frequently as professional communities with

• More than nine in ten respondents indicated that they use LinkedIn (91%)
• Half reported using Facebook (51%)
• Twitter followed closely with (41%)

Note: The closest next channel only scored 13%. Blogs were frequently listed as ‘professional networks’

17. Mobile Is Emerging as a Frequent Professional Networking Access Point with 94% using a PC and 44% using a Mobile.

18. Usage Of Professional Networks Is Increasing

• Three quarters of respondents visit their social networks at least daily
• Four in ten visit many times each day
• All indicated that their usage has increased over the past three years
• Those who belong to more online professional networks are more likely to visit many times per day
• Small companies are more likely to indicate that they have increased their use significantly

19. Professional Networks Are An Increasingly Essential Decision-Support Tool

• Three quarters of respondents rely on professional networks to support business decisions
• Reliance has increased for essentially all respondents over the past three years

20. High Levels of Trust Exist in Information Obtained From Online Networks

• Offline is strengthened by online engagement – to extend relationships and collaborate
• Information obtained from offline networks still have highest levels of trust with slight advantage over online (offline: 92% – combined strongly/somewhat trust; online: 83% combined strongly/somewhat trust)

21. Connecting And Collaborating Are Key Drivers For Professional Use of Social Media.

22. More than half of respondents expect that in 1-2 years their company will increase social media use to share more content.

23. Over half  the respondents  will increase social media use to do more company-wide communications.

24. Changes in Company External Use of Social Media with More than half of respondents foresee more marketing programs and content distribution in the next one to two years.

25. Social Media is supplementing the traditional professional decision-making cycle with great affect.

26. The era of Social Media Peer Group (SMPG) has arrived and information will travel at a business velocity that has never been seen before enabled by the Internet and Web 2.0 technologies.

27. Challenges are facing marketers who endeavor to mange or control social media network content.

28. Traditional cycles of decision-making are being disrupted by Social Media Peer Group (SMPG) .. I like this new acronym!

29. Managing and influencing professional decision-making will be the major challenge as professionals often do not seek the information that marketers want to share online.

30. The greatest opportunity business has is to engage collaborative influence – via immediacy of impact through social channel.

So how are you as CEO using social media?

It’s been a long week.. flew to the Gold Coast, took a trip to a rainforest, chilled out on the beach, had a great time socializing with friends over a few great Australian wines, saw the B52′s (an American band popular in the 80′s) in concert in Sydney and they didn’t bring their A game (not helped by the fact that the lead singer decided to go AWOL after 2 songs), did some blogging, put some proposals together for clients,  tweeted, blogged again, helped organise my Christmas street party, watched a bit of Test Cricket (that’s a game invented by the English in the 1800′s and played around the world  and watched by about 2 Billion people including India, South Africa and countless other countries) and managed to fit in breakfast every morning.

So what has that to do with Social Media ..nothing, but as I am running out of time and it’s late on a Friday night and because I stumbled across some numbers on social media and some other quite interesting facts, comments and insightful quotes on a video on YouTube (by Erik Qualman also known as @Equalman on Twitter) that I thought you might find it worth reading,  so I decided to share them with you in a textual format (hope you don’t mind). By the way the video is embedded at the end of the following text for those of you who are YouTube inclined.

1. 300,000 businesses have a presence on Facebook
2. Gary Vaynerchuk grew his family wine business from $4 Million to $50 Million using Social Media
3. He found $15,000 in direct mail generated 200 new customers
4. $7,500 Billboard provided 300 new  customers
5. $0 on Twitter produced 1,800 new customers (well.. someone had to spend some time “Twittering” it’s not exactly $0, because time costs but hey.. it wasn’t much in dollar terms)
6. Wetpaint/Altimeter found companies widely engaged in social media surpass their peers in both revenues and profits  (Companies with highest levels of social media  plus18% in sales, Company sales with least social media activity minus 6 %
7. Lenovo saw 20% reductions in call centre activity as customers go to a community (Social Media) website
8. Burger King’s ”Facebook Application investment of $50,000 received greater than $400,000 in PR media value (32 Million free media impressions, thats like reaching the combined populations of 19 States of the USA
9. Blendtec increased sales by 400% with “Will It Blend” YouTube videos
10. Dell sold $3,000,000 of computers on Twitter
11. Only 18% of traditional TV campaigns generate a positive ROI
12. “You can’t just say it. You have to get the people to say it to each other” – James Farley Chief Marketing Officer - Ford
13. 37% of Generation Y were aware of the the Ford Fiesta via social media before its launch in the USA
14. 25% of Fords marketing spend is on Digital/Social Media
15. They are the only US Auto company not to take a government loan
16. Naked Pizza set a one day sales record using social media (68% of sales from Twitter and 85% of new customers from Twitter)
17. VW goes 100% mobile for launch of GTI
18. “Social Media is not only for B2C”
19. Tweets for a cause sent out a Tweet from Atlanta to encourage support of Susan G  Komen for the Cure, the Retweets from @mashable, @G_man, @Zaibatsu and others caused the Atlanta chapter website to receive 11,000 visitors in 24 hours
20. Intuit introduced “Live Community” into their Turbo Tax products 2 years ago – Unit sales up +30% each year
21. Software company Genius.com reports 24% of social media leads convert to sales
22. Barak Obama – 5 million fans on Social Media – 5.4 million clicked on a “I voted for Obama Facebook Button” –  3 million online donors equals $500 million – 92% of donations were in increments of less tha $100
23. University of  Texas MD Anderson Cancer Centre saw a 9.5% increase in registrations using social media
24. Web Host Provider “Moonfruit” with a $15,000 social media investment saw their website traffic increase 300% and sales 20% as well as being on Google’s first page for “free website builder”
25. eBay found participants in online communities spend 54% more $’s
26. Customer support cost is $12 via the contact center vs 25 cents via self-service
27. “Why are we trying to measure Social media like a traditional channel anyway? Social Media touches every facet of business and is more an extension of good business ethics” – Erik Qualcam
28. “You can’t buy attention anymore. Having a huge budget doesn’t mean anything in Social Media… the old paradigm was “Pay to Play”. Now you get back what you authentically put in. You have to be willing to “Play to Play” – Alex Bogusky, Co-Chairman, CP& B
29. @equalman ” When I’m asked about the ROI of Social Media sometimes an appropriate response is … what’s the ROI of your phone?”
30. 71% plan to increase investments in Social media by an average of 40% because: You get “Low Cost Marketing” and “Get Traction” and we have to do it!

What is the CO$T of doing nothing? Do you really want to take that risk?

Click here to view the embedded video.

What are the motivators and drivers that make us engage with social media with such generous endeavour, escaping from the clutches of  TV to instead, check your Facebook or Twitter site, to post photos, write articles, make comments on blogs and shoot videos and post them on YouTube, all for “free”.

Social Media has provided us with the ability to measure how much attention we are getting online and therefore we now have the  ”Quantification of Attention” that has never been measured so broadly and deeply. This attention seeking behaviour drives website and blog traffic.

Have a glance at some the top social media channels and how they measure attention

1. Facebook’s quantification  - the number of friends, fans and comments on photos
2. Twitter’s numeric – how many followers you currently have and recently with the new lists feature “how many lists you are on”
3. LinkedIn’s measurement is the number of connections, searches and views on your profile
4. YouTube’s numbers - video views, video ratings and comments
5. Blog -quantification is comments, backlinks, Google pagerank and subscribers
6. Flickr -  How many people had viewed their photos? How many found them interesting?

Then you have other sites that give you other numbers, facts, figures and statistics.

• Dopplr: They started out letting users share their trips (much as they share photos). Now users can count the number of days they and their friends spend in any city, the total number of miles they fly in any period (and the carbon impact thereof).
• Skydeck: It lets you manage your phone calls – and to count your interactions with others: Does Juan call Alice more? Or is it the other way round? Now you can show your mother how untrue (or true) it is that “You never call!”
• Xobni: Lets you do the same for your e-mail: Whom do you write to most, and who writes to you? Which of your friends have you not pinged since the last online holiday card? Who answers quicker in the morning vs. the afternoon?
• Mint and Wesabe will let you analyze your own spending patterns; Wesabe will also let you compare them (anonymously) with the rest of its user base. Can Mint be far behind?
• Most intriguing is 23andMe, which lets people analyze their own genomes. It offers perhaps the most striking example of the disconnect between numbers and meaning. 23andMe’s information is precise and accurate, and it is intensely interesting. Yet in many ways it has little meaning right now; there’s not enough data to draw the connections between most genes and the related physical manifestations (whether traits or diseases).

Attention and influence have until recently (before Web 2.0), been much less quantified and there was no or very little direct measurement. There was very little counting of the number of friends you had (maybe when you were in Primary school you did, or when you were at high school or college, how many dates you had was an important number). If you were a research scientist you were able to record the the number of citations in other research papers but the average Joe had very few numbers to measure where he stood in society.

Are we moving into an era of quantified virtual attention and influence where your persona online supersedes, surpasses and usurps your offline worlds reality.

Social media allows us to quantify attention at a level never seen before that caresses and strokes the ego in a manner that has been shown to be both compelling and addictive, this is one of the drivers for visiting social media sites,writing and developing free content in text, images and video that is driven in part by the attention that it brings and the ability then to quantify that attention. As in most modern societies, we are in most part freed, from the striving for the lower levels of Maslows hierachy of needs of survival and safety. So we are then liberated to find love, belonging, esteem and self actualization that this social media quantification attempts and allows us to measure.

Esther Dyson says in her article in the Huffington Post

“So what is this fascination with numbers? Is it some latent human information-explosion handling technique that is now being challenged by the proliferation of information online and extended by all the quantification tools that are emerging? Like so many of our human traits, is this a good trait that can be turned into a bad one if it turns from a constructive urge into a pointless obsession?
From a business point of view, this is a valuable new source of unique content: It’s a continuing challenge to keep readers from shifting from one source of content to another, but if you provide them tools to manage content about themselves, it’s much easier to keep their attention and even their loyalty.”

I have noticed that some of my articles such as a recent post  ”How The Top 500 Fastest Growing Companies Are Using Social Media“ that discusses the latest survey statistics and numbers, consistently rate very high in the number of views. It seems quantification is in demand.

Chris Anderson the editor of “Wired Magazine” and author of the book “The Long Tail” and more recently ”Free”, suggests that two different economies now exist side by side

1. The formal economy of business
2. The informal economy of volunteerism” or “free”

The latter is the basis of what he declares to be “an entirely new economic model,” one in which money is “often taken out of the equation altogether.” This is the “amazing gift economy of Wikipedia and the blogosphere, driven by the nonmonetary incentives of

• Reputation
• Attention
• Expression

As social networks extend we are starting to keep score in aspects of our lives that we’re once spared from such hyperrational calculating because if you aren’t getting paid in money you need to get paid with something else and that “something” is attention.

“The quantification of attention and reputation is now a global endeavor,” Anderson warns “It is a market we all now play in, whether we know it or not.The implication is that whether we want to or not, we are forced to count up our friends and consider how to cash in on what they represent”.

As I was writing this article about Social Media trends I remembered a quote that I had come across a while back from Bill Gates of Microsoft… 

“We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten. Don’t let yourself be lulled into inaction.”   

So when you read the list keep the trends in mind and prepare for a very interesting web world by 2019.

Some rather influential  Social Media commentators such as Brian Solis’s rather insightful article on his Blog PR 2.0 says that ”social networks will become our Individual online Operating System“ with Twitter and Facebook and Apple amonst others are vying to be your “One” operating system for social networks. The Trend Spotting blog provided the inspiration, along with David Armano’s prediction in a recent post that “Social media will begin to look less social” and kicks off the the first 4 on the list.

1. Corporations will look to leverage their social media efforts
2. Social business becomes serious play such as Foursquare are touted for the focus on making networked activity local and mobile and has a game like aspect.
3. Mobile becomes a social media lifeline with people accessing social media via mobile phone during breaks due companies banning social media access at work
4. Sharing information no longer means e-mail
5. The Social Media  movement will desire to have quality, not quantity, as people cocoon in the face of the economic crisis.
6. Obama-maniacs both for and against will spawn a new age of activism.  
7. Exclusivity trumps accessibility  in Social Media
8. Everyone becomes a marketer 
9.  Facebook’s SocialRank algorithms emerge to drive the open social web 
10. Tools will develop to reduce noise and deal with RSS overload 
11. Friend synchronisation tools will develop
12. Friend list sanitisers will keep your list clean
13. Social Media tools will help you organise people based on location and business 
14. Organisations will continue to grapple with the social human web  
15. Social Media Indigestion will increase
16. Social Media will become more personalised 
17. There will be consolidation and shuttering of Social media businesses
18. Social Media Identity will become aggregated and segmented 
19. The social media gold rush won’t be as lucrative as everyone thought 
20. B2B goes social media 
21. There will be Social Media Multi-Channel Integration 
22. The transparency debate will continue 
23. Google will buy Twitter 
24. Blogger outreach from PR will get better 
25. Companies increasingly crafting content for Social Media SEO
26. Sputtering economy will entice companies into the social media space 
27. Blogging isn’t dead 
28. Social Media mobile marketing takes off 
29. Social search will become increasingly important 
30. Live as it happens content search will become increasingly important 
31. Better metrics for social media measurement will continue to develop  
32. Twitter will continue to develop legitimacy 
33. Online social media video will come into its own 
34. Customer satisfaction driven by social media communities uprising will make companies see the light 
35. Social media will create Ad Agency disintermediation 
36. With the rise of social shopping the ease with which people are able to see feedback .. with confirmed identities will change the eCommerce online shopping game
37. Social Networks Will Flourish As A Result Of The Economic Crisis
38. Social networking will grow to provide social support to victims of the crisis
39. Ranking The Influencers (the engagers) as a measurable tool for new media
40. Twitter Will Get Recognized For Its Social Search Assets
41. Twitter will start to emerge as a relevant and updated information source
42. Twitter evolves as the ultimate human search
43. Influence will be defined by measurable variables
44. Google will “pagerank” and “map” peoples influence
45. People will really become the media.

So what other Social Media trends will emerge over the next 12 months?

It was when I was reading a Comscore report on how many online videos that the US consumer was viewing each month that I came to a realization that “being found online” was not just about “textual content” anymore but that video was the new ”teeming hotspot”. The latest generation don’t so much as read but “watch videos”  

I was raised  in the era of books, reading and offline content.. because the Internet was not even on the horizon whenI was growing up .. in fact colour TV was simply “amazing”. .. man had just landed on the moon… Ugg boots were “cool” and “Flares” were still the rage.  The  “Yellow Pages” were the place to be and fax broadcasting was the new frontier of marketing.

So if you want to be found you need to be not only using “Google” but  also “YouTube” as it is the second largest search engine after Google.

So after that completely “non-influential introduction”  Do you think online video is an important strategy in getting found Online? Yes or No

Public Relations

A survey of 1,900 business technology marketers by MarketingSherpa rated the optimized press release the most effective emerging market channel. Tad Clarke, Editorial Director of MarketingSherpa, has called the service SEO-PR has pioneered “the tactic known as SEO PR.” Optimizing press releases for news search engines.

As I am in the middle of revamping my company’s marketing strategy, and realise the importance of PR in SEO, I am looking closely at how we implement our PR, due to its importance in “”Being Found”.

David Meerman Scott has written a book that I would recommend that you read  (The New Rules of Marketing & PR) and I am using strategies from this great book in assisting me in developing our marketing plan. I also advise my clients about what they need to do to get found Online and PR is certainly a part of that strategy.

In this article I have taken an excerpt of David Meerman Scott’s insights and how the “New Rules of Marketing” apply to your business and especially how this applies to your companies PR.

David says “The Web has transformed the rules and you must transform your releases to make the most of the Web-enabled marketplace of ideas. In the old days, a press release was – shockingly – actually a release to the press. Before the Web, everybody knew that the only reason you issued a press release was to get the media to write about you.

What are  ” The Old Press Release Rules”?

• Nobody saw the actual press release except a handful of reporters and editors.
• You had to have significant news before you were allowed to write a press release.
• A release had to include quotes from third parties, such as customers, analysts and experts.
• The only way your buyers would learn about the press release’s content was if the media wrote a story about it.
• The only way to measure the effectiveness of press releases was through “clip books,” which collected every time the media deigned to pick up your release.

The new rules of PR in a Web 2.0 World

How to create a press release strategy for reaching buyers directly. The Web has changed the rules for press releases. The thing is, most old-line PR professionals just don’t know it yet. Because the rules for relating to the public have changed so slowly over the past ten years (since the Web has allowed people to read press releases directly), practitioners who learned based on the old rules have been equally slow to change. In fact, most old-school experts have refused to change altogether. It is time to step it up and consider the promise Web 2.0 public relations holds.

• Do you want to reach your buyers directly?
• Do you want to drive traffic to your Web site?
• Do you want to achieve high rankings on the search engines?
• Do you want to attract buyers who are looking for what you have to offer?
• Do you want to move people into and through the sales process?
• Do you want to compete more effectively?

Why you need to learn the new rules? Today, savvy marketing professionals use press releases to reach buyers directly. While many marketing and PR people understand that press releases sent over the wires appear in near real-time on services like Google News, very few understand the implications for how they must dramatically alter their press release strategy in order to maximize the effectiveness of the press release as a direct consumer-communication channel. The media has been disintermediated. The Web has changed the rules. Buyers read your press releases directly and you need to be talking their language. This is not to suggest that media relations are no longer important; mainstream media and the trade press must be part of an overall communications strategy. In some businesses, mainstream media and the trade press remain critically important and, of course, the media till derives some of its content from press releases. But your primary audience is no longer just a handful of journalists. Your audience is millions of people with Internet connections and access to search engines and RSS readers.

Every organization possesses particular expertise that has value in the new e-marketplace of ideas. The Web has made it easy for organizations to publish that expertise in various forms, including press releases, which allows companies, institutions, and non-profits to function much like traditional publishers. Organizations gain credibility and loyalty with customers, employees, investors, and suppliers through content and smart Web marketers now think and act like publishers in order to create and deliver content targeted directly at their audience. As organizations of all types begin to behave like publishers, many are adapting to the rigors of the publishing business and learning the editorial process. At the same time, new rules are emerging as online publishing continues to mature. In an increasingly competitive marketplace, all organizations are searching for the elusive key to success. Well, look no further: Content ( Like Blogs), even in the form of a “mere” press release, will unlock success in almost any product category, even in highly competitive industries where smaller players are beset upon by larger, better-funded competitors.

Reach your buyers directly. Under the old rules, the only way to get “published” was to have your press release “picked up” by the media. We’ve come a long way. The Web has turned all kinds of companies, non-profits, and even rock bands and political campaigners into just-in-time and just-right publishers. Organizations – the new publishers – create press releases that deliver useful information directly onto the screens of their buyers. Until recently, nobody ever thought of companies as publishers; newspapers and magazines published the news. But that’s all changing. Self-publishing Web-style has moved into the mainstream and organizations large and small are doing the publishing… via press releases. As you are making this fundamental shift, what should you write press releases about? Big news is great, but don’t wait.

Write about just about anything that your organization is doing: Like

• CEO speaking at a conference? Write a release.
• Win an award? Write a release.
• Have a new take on an old problem? Write a release.
• Add a product feature? Write a release.
• Win a new customer? Write a release.
• Publish a white paper? Write a release.
• Get out of bed this morning? Okay, maybe not…
• but you are thinking the right way now!

To bypass the media this is what you need to do to apply the “10 New Rules of PR”

1. Think like they do: In order to implement a successful press release strategy, think like a publisher. Marketers at the most enlightened organizations recognize the fact that they are now purveyors of information and they manage content as a valuable asset with the care a publishing company does. One of the most important things that publishers do is start with a content strategy and then focus on the mechanics and design of delivering that content. Publishers carefully identify and define target audiences and consider what content is required in order to meet their needs. Publishers consider questions like: Who are my readers? How do I reach them? What are their motivations? What are the problems I can help them solve? How can I entertain them and inform them at the same time? What content will compel them to purchase what I have to offer?

2. Publish your press releases through a distribution service: Publishers also recognize that simply creating compelling content is not enough; it has to reach interested readers. The best way to publish press releases is to simultaneously post a release to your own Web site and send it to one of the press release wires. There are a number of options for wire distribution of press releases. The benefit of using a press release distribution service is that your release will be sent to the online news services such as Yahoo!, Google, Lycos, and many others. Many press release distribution services reach trade and industry Web sites as well. In fact, you can reach hundredsof Web sites with a single press release. Take a look at the various services and compare them yourself.

A Selection of the Larger Press Release Distribution Services

• BusinessWire www.businesswire.com
• PRWeb www.prweb.com
• PRNewswire www.prnewswire.com
• Market Wire  www.marketwire.com

In order to get your press releases to appear on the online news services, you just have to get your release onto a basic press release “circuit” offered by a press release distribution service. The services also have many value-added options for you to consider. Compare options and in making your choice, remember that when your goal of sending press releases is search engine marketing. Thus, the newsroom and geographical reach offered by a service is less important than ensuring that your releases are included on major online news sites.

3. RSS feeds from online news sites display your press release content. Many press release distribution services also offer RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds of their press releases, which they make available to other sites, blogs and individuals. What this means is that each time you publish a press release with them, the press release is seen by thousands of people who have subscribed to the RSS content feeds. And online news services such as Google News have RSS feed capability too, allowing people to receive feeds based on keywords and phrases. So each time your release includes a word or phrase of importance, people will receive your press releases directly and in near real-time.

4. Simultaneously, publish your press releases to your Web site. Post your press releases to an appropriate and readily findable section of your Web site. Many organizations have a media room or press section of the Web site, which is ideal. The press release should be kept live for as long as the content is appropriate, perhaps for years. For many organizations, the press release section of the Web site is one of the most frequently visited parts of the site. Check out your Web site statistics. You may be amazed at how many visitors are already reading your press releases. When the press release is posted on your site, search engine crawlers will find the content, index it, and rank it based on words and phrases and other factors. To achieve high rankings, pay attention not only to the words and phrases, but also to other search engine optimization factors such as the URL used, the words in the headline and first paragraph of the release, the title tag, and metatags. Don’t use image files for text, as the words cannot be read by search engine crawlers. You should also create your own RSS feeds of your news stories on your site. Use a standard off-the-shelf RSS feed generator so that interested visitors will be able to subscribe to your press release feed directly. [For much more detailed information on the specifics of search engine marketing techniques, check out Search Engine Watch.

5. Optimize your press releases for searching and for browsing. At the broadest level, there are two ways to use and deploy content on the Web and smart organizations understand both angles and optimize press releases accordingly. The first way that people use content is to answer questions (through search engines), thus organizations must optimize content to be found by searchers. This will attract people who are looking for what your organization has to offer. The second way that people use content is that they want to be told something that they do not already know. This is why browseability is so important; it allows users to “stumble” across useful information they didn’t know they were looking for. While many Web savvy marketers understand the importance of search-engine optimization, they often forget that sites must be designed for browsing too. You should deploy site navigational design in a way that provides valuable information visitors might not have thought to ask for in addition to answering any questions they may have. To illustrate this concept, consider one of the Web’s best known sites, Google, which in its purest form exists only to answer questions. With a site or content product organized only around answering questions, users must already know what they want before proceeding. But people also look to sites to tell them something. Contrast Google with another famous site, Drudge Report. Drudge Report doesn’t exist to answer questions; rather, it tells visitors stuff they didn’t think to ask. While it does provide search functionality (far down the home page), Drudge Report provides content that’s meant to be browsed and, when you are creating content for your site, you should too. Press release pages are among the most popular parts of many Web sites based on visitor counts because many people browse these pages as they research topics. Consider organizing your press release section using multiple ways to browse. Maybe create links to releases based on buyer profile (maybe by vertical market or some other factor appropriate to your organization), by product, by geography, and the like, in addition to providing a prominent homepage link to a media center or newsroom. You might also divide releases by different “solutions” or market-target landing pages to help users drill to areas of interest. People who are searching for your release will still find them by searching with keywords and phrases, but people who do their own research and consider a decision over a period of time often browse releases to learn about an organization. They may also need to print them out to present research to others in their organization, so consider providing easy ways to print releases (in PDF format as well as HTML)

6. The importance of links in your press releases, particularly because your releases may be delivered by feeds or on news services and various sites other than your own, creating links from your press releases to content on your Web site is very important. These links, which might point to a specific offer or to a landing page with more information, allow your buyers to link from the press release content into specific Web site content on your site that will then drive them into the sales process. However, there is another enormous added benefit to including links in press releases. Each time your press release is posted on another site, such as an online news site, the inbound link from the online news site to your Web site helps to increase the ranking of your site. This is because the search engines use inbound links as one of the important criteria for the page ranking algorithms. So when your press release has a link to your site, you actually increase the ranking of the pages that you link to – yours.

7.  Focus on the keywords and phrases that your buyers use.  One thing successful publishers do, which Web marketers should emulate, is understanding the audience first and then set about to satisfy their informational needs. A great way to start thinking like a publisher and to create press releases that drive action is to focus on your customer’s problems and then create and deliver content accordingly. Use the words and phrases that your buyers do. Think about how the people you want to reach are searching and develop press release content that include those words and phrases. Too often, press release content simply describes what an organization or a product does. While simple information about your organization and products might be valuable to a subset of your buyers, what many really want from your site is content that first describes the issues and problems they face and then provides details on how to solve the problems. Particularly when your buyers search, they use the words and phrases important to them. Once you’ve built an online relationship, you can sell into the needs and potential solutions that have been defined, but you need to help them find you first. First, determine who your target audience is and figure out how they should be sliced into distinct buying segments. Once this exercise is complete, identify the situations in which each target audience may find themselves. What are their problems? What keeps them awake at night? What do they want to know? What words and phrases do they use to describe these problems? The answers, by the way, may be very different from the way you would label them. Don’t get trapped by your own jargon; think, speak, and write like your customers do.

8. Your Buyers Don’t Want Gobbledygook. Though you may have a well-developed lexicon for your products and services, they don’t necessarily mean much to your potential customers. As you write press releases, focus on the words and phrases that your buyers use. As a search engine marketing tool, press releases are only as valuable as the keywords and phrases that are contained in them. Avoid words like flexible, scalable, groundbreaking, industry standard, or cutting-edge, and other forms of what I call gobbledygook. The worst gobbledygook offenders seem to be B2B technology companies. For some reason, technology marketing people have a particularly tough time explaining how products solve customer problems. Because they are a bit fuzzy, they cover by explaining myriad nuances of how the product works (peppered with industry jargon that sounds vaguely impressive). What ends up in press releases is a bunch of “industry-leading” solutions that purport to help companies “streamline business process,” “achieve business objectives,” or “conserve organizational resources.” Huh? Your buyers (and the media that covers your company) want to know which specific problems your product solves and proof that it works as advertised – in plain language. Your marketing and PR is meant to be the beginning of a relationship with buyers and to drive action (such as generating sales leads), which requires a focus on buyer problems. Your buyers want to hear this in their own words. Every time you write, yes, even in press releases, you have an opportunity to communicate. At each stage of the sales process, well-written materials combined with effective marketing programs will lead your buyers to understand how you (specifically) help them.

9. Content Drives Action. An effective press release strategy, artfully executed, drives action. Companies that understand the new rules of press releases have a clearly defined goal – to sell products, generate leads, secure contributions, or get people to join – and deliver content that directly contributes to reaching that goal. At successful organizations, press releases draw visitors into the sales-consideration cycle, then funnels them towards the place where action occurs. The action mechanism is not hidden nor is the organization’s goal a secret. When content effectively drives action, the end of the sales process – an ecommerce company’s “buy” button, the B2B corporation’s “please contact us” form, or non-profit’s “donate” link – are found in logical places, based on content that leads people there. For many companies, Web content also has a powerful, less tangible effect. On the best sites, content does more than just sell product – it directly contributes to an organization’s positive reputation by showing thought-leadership in the marketplace of ideas. Many people view a well executed series of press releases as highly influential, with regards to a company that they are considering doing business with. Press releases mean your company is “busy” and a lack of press releases can indicate that you are not moving forward. In the new world of marketing, consistent quality press release content brands a company or a non-profit as an expert and as a trusted resource to turn to again and again. Press releases are often considered as an important buying criteria, especially in a complex B2B sales process.

10. Drive people into the sales process with press releases. Savvy marketing professionals understand that sales and marketing must work together to move prospects into the sales pipeline. This is especially important in a complex B2B sale that has long decision making cycles and multiple buyers that need to be influenced. The good news is that press release content drives people into and shortens the sales cycle for any product or service, especially ones that have many steps and take months or years to complete. Here’s how you can make this happen:

• Understand your sales process in detail. All sales processes are definable, repeatable and understandable and effective marketers use the Web to move people into and through the process. You need to get together with salespeople, sales management and product managers to understand exactly what happens in the sales cycle. You should answer questions such as: How do people initially find your company or product? What words and phrases do they use? Understanding the process in detail allows you to understand how in the process press releases can be used.
• Segment your prospects. Consider press releases based on the buyer persona, perhaps by job title or by industry. A prospect is much more likely to enter the sales cycle by clicking a press release that talks about solving her problems.
• Create thought leadership content to sit at the top of the sales funnel. People in the early stages of the sales cycle need basic information on the product category, especially “thought leadership” pieces. Don’t just write press releases about your company and your products; be thought leaders and write about the industry and higher-level strategic issues surrounding your product or service. When doing initial research, people don’t want to hear about you and your company; they want information about them and their problems.
• Provide content that is compelling enough to get people to “raise their hand.” In your press releases, deliver something of value that you can trade for a registration form. A link from your press release to an informative white paper, online event (such as a Webinar), or online demo will help move your prospect further down the sales process – and, in exchange for the right content, she will happily “raise her hand” to express interest by filling out a form. Remember, you’re still not ready to sell a product or service (yet); you are still relationshipbuilding. (By the way, these links will also help raise the search engine ranking of the pages you point to.)
• Measure and Improve. Measure what content is being used and how. Understand through Web metrics what’s working and constantly tweak the content to make it better. Meet regularly with salespeople to gain insights into the sales cycle and how your press release content helps, and can better assist, the process. The Web is iterative – you can and should make adjustments on the fly.

The “New” News Cycle: The news cycle has changed, and with it, so must many of the rules of the game. With Web-based access to information, consumers have real choices for how they learn about the world around them – alternatives to the filter of mainstream media. Not too long ago, the only way for corporations to influence news was for their PR people to issue a press release (intended for media only) and then hit the phones to talk up journalists. Editors and reporters were in a power position as the filter between organizations and the public. With the old news cycle, all PR people knew the rules: The ultimate goal was to get some magazine or newspaper to write a positive story that would appear weeks or months later. Then the happy corporate flack would put the media hit into a clip book to prove their value to the organization. No more. Information control is decentralized. The best PR and marketing pros know that Web-based communication delivered directly to their constituents is highly effective. Now, press releases circumvent the media and appear in real time on millions of desktops. Bloggers almost instantly comment on product announcements, and smart communications pros treat these “new journalists” with respect. Of course, magazines and newspapers are still vitally important, but in the new news cycle, the value of the media has shifted to adding context to the news and identifying trends. Marketers are beginning to understand what the new news cycle means to their communications efforts and are harnessing the power for their organizations’ benefit.”

Here are some of the best blogs and posts that I came upon last week on my web journey, that I managed to tweet about. I hope you find them useful and enlightening 

1. “How Companies and Non Profits are Monetizing Social Media”

This article by Laurel Papworth  is about the various social media monetization strategies and the powerpoint presentation (embedded) shows some case studies and examples, including social network size, the revenue streams, valuations and profits.

2. ” 10 Twitter Best Practices For Non Profits ”

This Blog by DIOSA Communications discusses how non profits who are most successful at utilizing social networking Web sites like Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace and how they know from trial, error, and experience that a “marketing and development approach” on social networking sites does not work.

It’s about community building around your mission and programs. Just having profile on Twitter (or MySpace, or Facebook) does not magically produce any results. You have to work these profiles. Find the person on your staff who loves Web 2.0 and enjoys working the sites and/or find a marketing/pr intern from your local university that needs to do a senior project! If they are getting college credit, then you know they have to stay around for at least a semester.

3. “8 Non Profit CEO’s That Tweet”  

Beth Kanter reveals some good advice and  insights along with 8 Non Profit CEO’s that tweet

Recently, BusinessWeek published a slideshow of CEO’s who use Twitter, noting the dramatic rise of CEO’s who use Twitter to clue customers in on new services, help them with questions about their products, and generally get a little bit personal with customers, business associates, and the public.

There are some other benefits to having your nonprofit’s CEO be on Twitter, these might include:

• Source of news
• Brand Building
• Focus Group/Research
• Networking Tool
• Monitoring
• Drive Traffic to web site
• Humanizing your communications

Of course, if your CEO is going to Twitter, they have to be keep a consistent schedule and be authentic.    There’s been a bit of debate about celebrity Twitter users who have “ghost” twitterers or simply people helping them tweet.

She did a brief scan to see if there any nonprofit CEOs who Twitter.  Here’s a few that she found:

4. ”26 Great Social Media Presentations For Non Profits”

This post by Rebecca Leaman lists 26 great new presentations on social media with more coming out almost daily, now that we’re deep into conference season, and many are directed specifically to the needs of non-profits. If you’ve been thinking of launching or expanding your organization in social media, Slideshare is a good starting point for information and advice. But it can be time-consuming to pick through a wide range of slideshows to find those that are up-to-date, actionable, and appropriate to nonprofits.

Here’s a hand-picked selection of presentations to get you started.

5. ” 7 Tips For Effective Call to Action – For Your Web Site or Blog”

This Blog by “Hubspot” highlights 7 tips on a calls to action and how nearly every website should have a goal and some action they want their visitors to take. The goal may be to generate leads, buy products, click on ads or even just subscribe to an RSS feed.

A call-to-action is the copy or graphic you use to entice and persuade your readers to take that action. Well-designed calls to action can dramatically increase a site’s rate of conversion to its goal.

So what’s a well-designed call to action? Here are 7 Tips.