Do you ever feel a strong urge to update or check Facebook?

Is the desire to Tweet overwhelming and you have this compulsion to “Tweet” for no particular reason?

Are you starting to wonder if you have a social media addiction?

Well joining the self help group “social media addicts anonymous” may not be far away as a recent study by Chicago University has revealed that social media is in fact more addictive than sex, alcohol and cigarettes!

Pinterest the New Addiction

Pinterest is the new addiction in town that has everyone blogging, tweeting and sharing the news on Facebook and it is the new “hot” social network on the block.

It is a social media network that cannot be ignored.

According to Shareaholic’s recent report that used findings from more than 200,000 publishers and 260 million monthly unique visitors, it is driving more referral traffic than Google plus, LinkedIn and YouTube combined.

It is interesting to note the power of Pinterest to refer traffic despite it only having 4.9 million users compared to Google plus with more than 90 million users and LinkedIn with over 130 million members.

I have been using Pinterest for only a couple of months but my traffic stats show that in the last 3 days it is driving more traffic than Google Plus and LinkedIn for the Jeffbullas.com blog.

Forrester claims it is over-hyped but if it is assisting your business to increase engagement, drive traffic and raise your online visibility then I am happy to use an over hyped social network.

What Makes it so Addictive ?

I don’t know if you have noticed or not but Facebook has redesigned its user interface with its new Timeline which allows much larger and engaging images.

Google plus was launched with a design that provides a larger canvas to display high definition images and photos in all their glory.

2011 has seen the rise of the new “Visual” social networks.

Visual engagement addiction has never been more obvious than what has been revealed by Pinterest.

People find photos compelling and will share them much more virally on social networks than a link or text post. Photos are the most shared media on Facebook (250 million a day).

Pinterest has tapped into this and created a visual online pinboard that inspires with images and photos that invite to be shared and repinned.

Some have called it an “Inspiration Network”

Use the Power of Addiction

There is something I have learned over the last few years is that even if it is over-hyped but has addictive qualities, then it is a powerful distribution network and should be considered in your business marketing plans, especially if your business has a highly visual component such as fashion, food or photography.

Even if you don’t think your business has strong visual  elements, then take a cue from General Electric which uses Pinterest to post images of “Badass Machines“.

How do I use Pinterest?

You would think that social media marketing wouldn’t be a very visual topic that would use the Pinterest platform very effectively. In fact there is almost a visual element to anything and you may have noticed the “Infographics” trend that has rapidly grown over the last 12 months which has surprised me.

What I am trialling on Pinterest is pinning “Infographics” that are relevant to my target audience and currently with 60 pins and over 550 followers it is highly apparent that it taps into this visual touch point.

So I would encourage you to have some fun with Pinterest and tap into your creative side and find visual elements of your brand that will inspire and drive some sharing.

How are you using Pinterest?

Read More

It’s 2012, and yet I feel more calm about our future than ever before.

The Internet has saved our asses, and we should celebrate.
I’ve been on the Web for a long time, but every once in a while I have one of those tremendous moments when I have a mental flashback to these last 20 or so years…  It happened today… one of my favorite Adele songs, writ large in a YouTube fan culture spectacular.

Someone had pruned the 71 best YouTube covers of the track from the 350,000 or so available.

Woven into a mash-up of all the covers in perfect synchrony.

A Snippet of Magic

I think it must have been magic that produced it.

I mean, even if I had the skill, would I spend that time on a small gift to the Internet?

But that’s what we’ve been doing. Building a capability network of epic proportions.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Leveraging the power of six degrees of separation.

Uniting in common purpose and effort in ways that we had been rapidly losing.

New Possibilities Created by Connections

Here are 10 ways I see us transforming as a culture, based on the possibilities now afforded to us by connections and technology:

1. Challenging the Status Quo

Before we could reach out to anyone on the planet, did we ever see anything as amazing as the projects and successes associated with challenged paradigms in the world?  With collective marketplaces that match previously disconnected buyers and sellers, fans of every color, ‘it takes a village‘ projects like Open Source, and collective effort never before seen in the world.  We are challenging the status quo, building things, creating things, connecting with each other, self-organizing around important issues, and yes, changing the world little bit by little bit.

2. Changed by Exposure to Diversity

We pay attention to the small details of people’s lives, delight over their family photos, and share at the level of family with a whole bunch of people.  We’re supported when we need to be. We talk about issues and conundrums and joys.  People are connecting and being exposed to both comfortable and diverse perspectives.

That will serve us well.

3. Support is Now Visible

We support people and things we like, on sites like Digg and Reddit

4. Learn More from Each Other

We learn from each other. You can find everything from make-up tips to channeled extraterrestrial messages on YouTube. And if you have ever doubted that kids are learning things these days, check out this very interesting exchange between a student and his English teacher.

5. Crowd Sourced Wisdom

We share our knowledge, wisdom and experiences. Quora is a place where you can ask any question in the world, and expect a reasonable answer.

6. Creativity  and Inspiration is Unleashed

We share our creative ideas and inspirations. Pinterest has redefined the digital portfolio/catalog.

7. Increased Appreciation of the Unique and Handmade

We still have a healthy respect for the unique and the handmade.  Etsy has enabled many a domestic entrepreneur and infused our culture with an amazing richness of creativity.

8. Truth is Exposed

We still haunt Twitter waiting for a cause or idea to support.  Retweets are our weapon in an effort to expose information and transform thinking.  It’s still an incredibly powerful tool, as its signal can not be easily stopped (following censorship laws or not).  ’Can’t stop the signal!’

9. We are More Authentic

People in the social media space are finally talking more about authenticity, which might help minimize some of the junkier parts of our lovely information city.

10. Anyone can Contribute

We acknowledge that everyone has something to contribute, as long as you’re nice about it.

Tools for Total Transformation of Our World

I’ve been commenting on the Internet and its specifics for a while.  But for now I just want to comment on the wonder of it all.  That in our hands we have a tool that could allow a total transformation of our world, by first transforming our values through visceral experiences and real-time sharing of information.  The Planned Parenthood debacle (and the response to it) is an incredible example of this in action.

We vote with our clicks, and that’s some real power.

All of this underscored by a documentary I watched today.  It’s one of those everyday miracles of the Internet era.  A creation that just a couple of decades ago would have cost many thousands to produce.  Now all you need is the motivation and the time.

The Power to Reach Anyone

But more importantly, here’s how the Internet has changed us: we have been given power to reach anyone, tools to do it with, and reasons to think we might effect change with a vote, e-mail or blog post.  Changing people’s minds and seeing consciousness grow is one of the delights of information mavens.

Relishing in diverse and divergent thinking is another

We are having conversations in unparalleled ways with unparalleled access to the people and forces who can help create change.  We are also increasingly choosing the information we choose to expose ourselves to, and that’s a very good thing.

Now if we could only start getting paid for our contributions…but OMG, I can help change the world, just by using this far-reaching Internet voice.

That’s amazing.

Guest Author: Lisa Galarneau is a socio-cultural anthropologist who studies emerging cultures and trends in technology, information and media.

More Reading

• 18 Key Observations about the State of Blogging in 2011
• 6 Social Media Networks to Watch in 2012 [Plus Infographics]
• 10 Things You Must Know about the State of Social Media in 2011
• 7 Top Trends in Social Media
• Is This the Future of Books?
• 5 Insights on the Future of Social Media
• Is Blogging the Future of Publishing
• 30 Predictions of the Future for Twitter
• 45 Social Media Trends and Predictions

Image by h.koppdelaney

Coca Cola has been part of popular culture for over 100 years and has been called a “Vision Brand“.

Its marketing and communication is purposeful and connects with its audience in a way that makes it stand out from its competitors.

Its mission is not about selling products but to create significant positive change in the world that makes the world a better place.

Coca Cola’s mission statement

• To refresh the world
• To inspire moments of optimism and happiness
• To create value and make a difference

Recently they have realised that their marketing strategy that has worked well for them for decades needed to evolve and as such they are moving from “Creative Excellence” to “Content  Excellence”

Creative excellence has always been at the heart of Coca Cola’s advertising and they have decided that content is now the key to marketing in the 21st century on a social web.

Content for Coca Cola is is now the “Matter” and “Substance” of “Brand Engagement”

So what can we learn from Coca Cola’s new marketing strategy?

Lesson 1: Create Liquid Content

The purpose of content excellence is to create “Ideas” so contagious that they cannot be controlled this is what is called “liquid content”.

On a social web people can easily share ideas, videos and photos on social networks such Facebook.

So create content that begs to be shared whether that be an image, a video or an article.

Lesson 2: Ensure your Content is Linked

The next part of the equation is to ensure that these ideas create content that is innately relevant to

• The business objectives of your company
• The brand
• Your customer interests

This is “Linked” content…. Content that is relevant and connected to the companies goals and brand.

Ensure that the content communicates your message that is congruent with your mission and values.

Lesson 3: Create Conversations

Coca Cola has realised that the consumer creates more stories and ideas than they do so the goal is provoke conversations and then “Act” and “React” to those conversations 365 days of the year.

The new “Distribution Technologies” of Twitter, YouTube and Facebook provide greater connectivity and consumer empowerment than ever before.

Don’t just publish but interact with your audience and tribe.

Lesson 4. Move onto Dynamic Story Telling

On traditional media in the past, story telling was static and a one way street. Television and newspapers shouted at you with no means of interaction.

Coca Cola has come the realisation that to grow their business on the social web they need to move on from “One Way Story Telling” to “Dynamic Story Telling”

This means you need to allow the story to evolve as you interact and converse with your customers. You need to converse with your customers in many media formats and social networks.

Storytelling has moved on from static and synchronous to multifaceted, engaged and spreadable.

Lesson 5: Be Brave and Creative with Your Content Creation

Part of the new Coca Cola content strategy is applying a 70/20/10 Investment principle to creating “Liquid content“.

• 70% of your content should be low risk. It pays the rent and is your bread and butter marketing (should be easy to do and only consumes 50% of your time)
• 20% of your content creation should innovate off what works.
• 10% of your content marketing is high risk ideas that will be tomorrows 70% or 20%…. be prepared to fail

This provides a blueprint regarding moving on from just developing white papers, to trying some content that is more visual, courageous and engaging in web world that has embraced multimedia and interactive content.

The 30 Second TV Ad is no Longer King

Coca Cola has come to the conclusion that the world has moved on from the 30 second TV ad. So has the the Old Spice brand and many other businesses who are embracing social media as part of their marketing strategy.

We need to move towards a genuine consumer collaboration model that builds buzz and adopts a more iterative approach to content creation.

Learning how to fuel the conversations, act and interact has never been more important.

Consumers ideas, creativity and conversations have been set free with the evolution of social networks, learning to leverage and wrangle those conversations to increase your brand visibility is now a vital part of your marketing.

What About You?

Do you create conversations with your marketing? How many people are talking about your stories on Facebook?

Is your content liquid, linked and multi-faceted?

More Reading

• 10 Reasons Why “Liquid” Content Should be Included in Your Social Media Marketing
• What are 10 Addictive Types of Content?
• How to Increase Your Blog Traffic by 55% with One Button
• 5 Motivations for Sharing Content
• 20 Ideas for Social Media Content that Engages
• Is it Better to Share on Google, Facebook or Twitter+
• 9 Questions to Ask your Customers When Creating Content

Image by KB35

It has been a big year in social media  and the relentless evolution of social publishing networks that are transforming how we communicate, market and do business.

The hesitancy to implement social media marketing is dissipating as many CEO’s and senior management have started to embrace the power of the social networks.

Some of the highlights included

• Google+ launched and reaches a user base of over 50 million by the end of 2011
• Twitter continuing to grow despite minimal changes and still no sustainable business model emerging (simplicity is still its number one feature)
• Facebook evolves into a more visual network with higher definition and larger photos featured in its new timeline feature
• Facebook commerce (F-Commerce) becomes established
• StumbleUpon makes a comeback
• Pinterest suprises everyone with it growth after only 12 months
• Tumblr starts to make headlines with its phenomenal user base

In looking at the most popular articles three things are apparent

1. Facebook is “the” social network that occupies most people’s focus and attention
2. Facts ,figures and statistics are always popular
3. Infographics are “hot”

Here are the top ten social media posts from 2011.

1. 50 Fascinating Facebook Facts And Figures

(64,446 views)

The rise and rise of Facebook is producing a scramble by marketers and companies to leverage its huge global database and traffic.

Google is looking over its shoulder as Facebook grows at over 10 million users a month and sits currently at number two on web traffic rankings according to Alexa.com.

Last year Facebook surpassed Google for the top ranking for total time spent online.

2. The 10 Best Facebook Campaigns

(59,911 views)

Facebook marketing campaigns seem to be going all warm, caring and fluffy recently as brands realize that solving problems and helping those in need can be a very effective marketing tactic.

Three of the Facebook campaigns in this list have an altruistic reason behind their campaigns, from donating $500,000 each to 20 schools to raising funds for the “Make A Wish Foundation”.

The marketing goals for the Facebook pages vary but quite often the simple goal of just increasing their fan count to their Facebook page seems to be top of the list as brands have worked out very quickly that being able to communicate to 1,000′s or even millions of fans via a simple status update is very efficient highly leveraged marketing. Companies have also realized that people’s main reason for becoming a fan for the most part is not so charitable, but is about having access to the latest special offers and freebies.

3. 20 Stunning Social Media Statistics Plus Infographic

(45,719 views)

Do you wonder why your productivity has dropped over the past 2 – 3 years?

There is a time sink and it’s not television!

Those of us who are connected to the internet and that is 2 billion of us, have been distracted by social multi-media publishing machines that are pumping out staggering amounts of content with enticing high definition images and videos!

You cannot escape their allure as they tempt you to log in when you are out and about with either with your laptop, iPad or smart phone.

These enticing, tempting distractions are robbing us of time that should be spent doing productive work like washing your car, cleaning the house or doing your tax… and I know how much you all enjoy those activities!

4. The 10 Best Social Media Campaigns

(18,735 views)

Since social media has become an integral part of our lives, marketers have used their creative talents to develop social media campaigns with various degrees of success which can be measured in a variety of ways.

One very successful social media marketing campaign that was run in 2009 was the competition for the “Best Job in the World” which was based on the simple concept of posting a one-minute video application on Tourism Queensland’s Web site explaining why you should be chosen as caretaker of Hamilton Island on the Great Barrier Reef and you might get to blog and cam your way through a six-month gig that paid about $100K U.S.

5. 30 Terrific Twitter Facts And Figures

(16,884 views)

Twitter has always suffered an image problem and is not usually taken very seriously by the general public. Its name doesn’t help with some people even saying that ‘Twitter is for twits’. Despite this glamor and brand problem this has not held back its growth after its humble origins and launch in 2006.

Since then Twitter has gained popularity worldwide and is estimated to have 225 million users, generating 65 million tweets a day and handling over 800,000 search queries per day. It is sometimes described as the “SMS of the Internet” and its 140 character limit keeps the messages short and simple.

Its attraction as a social web media platform is maybe in its simplicity and real time messaging that enables breaking news and information to hit the web instantly without filters and censorship.

6. 10 Top Small Business Facebook Page Designs to Inspire You

(16,732 views)

Facebook pages is the place where a lot of inspiring innovation, marketing and design is happening on the social web.

Major brands are often worth checking out as they can wow you with the the latest in innovation such as Facebook stores, inspiring embedded videos and designs that look like they cost a fortune. If you want to obtain some good ideas it is a good business practice to emulate elements of the most popular Facebook pages in the world such as Lady Gaga or one of the top company Facebook pages StarBucks.

7. Social Media Marketing – 10 Inspiring Infographics

(16,130 views)

n 2011 social media marketing continued to make its impact on business and brand promotions. Google+ was launched (with an investment of over $500 million in development costs), Twitter became embedded in the new Apple iPhone 4s and Blogging didn’t die.

Some surprising results and unexpected networks and social media platforms have made their mark this year .

• Tumblr is now attracting over 90 million unique visitors every month
• StumbleUpon driving over 50% of all social network traffic
• YouTube is attracting 50% more views than 2010 and threatening traditional TV advertising and marketing

8. How To Take Your Company’s Facebook Fan Page from Zero to 40,000 Fans

(15,761 views)

It was last year that I met a Facebook marketing specialist, Mike Watkins at a marketing event. I was impressed by his story about how he had taken the SUPRE’s fashion brand’s Facebook page from zero to 40,000 fans shortly after Facebook released the “Page” option to add to its “Profiles” and “Groups” membership options. I met him again recently for a video interview that I will be publishing in the next few days, in the meantime I would like to share his story.

9. 50 Awesome YouTube Facts and Figures

(15,322 views)

YouTube is a modern phenomena. The social media platform’s original concept is rumoured to have been inspired by the idea of being a video dating site with the unlikely title of “Tune In Hook Up”. In the end it launched as a simple video sharing site that has helped reinvent the web from a one way static channel to an interactive web eco-system (along with social networking channels such as MySpace, Facebook and Twitter) that has enticed and compelled us to engage globally with other internet users using a variety of rich multi-media and social sharing platforms.

10. 50 Amazing Facts and Figures About Google

(14,154 views)

Google has become an integral part of our lives and the word has even become a verb as we are often heard to say let’s “Google” that. I have even heard the web giant referred to in hushed tones during heated discussions and when a controversial fact or figure is being debated across a dinner table or at the local bar as to whether it is true or false and a person will pull out their iPhone and say “let’s check Lord Google”.

What type of articles and topics do you want to read in 2012?

Read More:

Image by yoppy

Facebook has become the online home for both people and business. It has become “the” social network .

Who would have thought that the result of Mark Zuckerberg’s broken heart in 2004 would would create a social network that is projected to reach 1 billion users in August 2012.

That is nearly one in two of every Internet user on the planet. (Maybe we should have more dramatic events in our personal life to provide the fuel and passion to change the planet and our lives!)

Should You Close Down your Website?

Some businesses have even made Facebook their primary web asset and closed down their website. (not recommended as Facebook has been known to suspend “pages” with no notice and no apparent reason).

Websites in the past were boring, text based, one way static platforms that didn’t allow conversation or communication (except for the ubiquitous contact form).

Many CEO’s are still loath to participate but this is diminishing as they are earning the reputation of being “flat earthers” for not realizing that the world is round and social. (remember Galileo who put forward the crazy notion of the world being round )

Facebook has changed the web dynamics and provides a ready to use multimedia platform and social network that communicates in real time with fans and customers. This provides instant feedback that is vital in a fast moving commercial world.

The “Big” Facebook Pages

So which brands and entities are the top performers on Facebook and collected tens of millions of Facebook fans?

Top Brands

• Coca Cola
• StarBucks
• Oreo
• Red Bull
• Converse Allstar

Top Superstars and Entities

• Lady Gaga
• Facebook
• Rihanna
• Eminem
• YouTube

How can You Increase Your Facebook Fans?

One of the best tips to increase your Facebook fans is to provide what is called “liquid content” which is content so contagious it cannot be controlled. This will make people visit and “like” your page.

I have had some fun lately on Facebook posting, images, quotes, cartoons and comics that are fun and sometimes seemingly frivolous but what I have noticed is that the engagement level has increased dramatically (by more then 50%).

This in turn drives your content further into the Facebook network and increases the likes through increased sharing. The other benefit is to improve your Facebook Edge Rank  and consequently more fans see your Facebook page updates in their Timeline.

The continuing evolution of a more visual web is what you should keep in  mind when creating or posting content. Highly visual content performs much better than text or links in driving likes and shares and commments. (but don’t forget to include deep linked content as it is your foundation)

The celebrities have the resources to pursue best practice with designers and developers on tap, but what are some basic tips to assist you with your goal of increasing your Facebook fan base.

7 Tips to Increase your Facebook Fans

These are the core principles that the major Facebook brands use to build their fan base and should provide you with some ideas to get you started.

1. Define Your Target Market

You need to know who you are talking to so that the words and content that you use are congruent with what they like.

2. Get the Tone Right

You need to act the same way your target market so as too gain their trust. Get to understand them

3. Identify which Types of Engagement are Effective

Have some fun and don’t be afraid to experiment. The reactions (or lack of) will be the guide for the engagement types you pursue.

4. Look at it as a Long-Term Investment

You are building an online asset and like investment in property or saving it will take time. So persist and be patient

5. Keep it Real, Relevant and Relaxed

It is important to be “you”. If you are a blogger then the Facebook page is an extension of your personal brand. Don’t force it

6. Create a Schedule for Updates

This doesn’t have to be complex. Once a day used to be the rule of thumb but I have been experimenting with 2-3 updates a day and it seems to be working well. A large brand such as fashion will need to

7. Monitor and Measure

Facebook Insights is a great tool that provides measuremenst of elements such as Facevook Fan growth and even Virality of your content.

So what success have you had increasing your fan count and what tactics have you tried?

The Importance of a Facebook Fan Base

Click Image to Enlarge
Source: The Importance Of A Fan Base Infographic

More Reading

• Social Media Marketing – 10 Inspiring Infographics
• 6 Fantastic Facebook Marketing Infographics
• 20 Stunning Social Media Statistics Plus Infographic
• 11 New Twitter Facts, Figures and Growth Statistics plus [INFOGRAPHIC]
• Past, Present and Future of Blogging: 3 Infographics
• How Do You Use LinkedIn [INFOGRAPHIC]
• How Do You Use Twitter [INFOGRAPHIC]

Image by voodooangel

In 1997 the first social network was created called sixdegrees.com and was the forerunner of the modern social networks that started to gain traction in 2002.

The first of the modern next generation social media networks that followed in 2002, had the the funky name of Friendster, which to my ear sort of sounds like a hybrid cross between a “Friend” and a “Hamster”.

As with any good idea it was quickly copied (“ripped off” is another phrase that comes to mind) and MySpace was created and launched in 2003.

This social media network dominated for the next 5 years as teenagers became addicted to the interactive and multimedia rich, self publishing web platform that allowed them to share music, content and information with their friends.

The addictive power of the social network was on display to many parents as dinner tables around the world were deserted by teens after gulping down their meat and potatoes, as they rushed off to their computers to continue their “MySpacing”

In 2008 Facebook surpassed MySpace and became the dominant social network.

Since then we have seen the rise of the “smart phone” connecting people to the web without wires or a desk bound computer.

This mobile social web has allowed everyone to become a publisher no matter where they are.

The Information Tsunami

At a conference in 2010 Eric Schmidt the then CEO of Google stated

“Every two days, we create as much information as we did from the dawn of civilization up until 2003”

This information includes content such as emails, tweets, Facebook updates, Photos, YouTube video uploads and text messages.

Social networks have largely contributed to this tidal wave of  information and content

• Videos Uploaded to YouTube – 48 hours of Video uploaded every minute and YouTube receives 3 billion views per day
• Photos Uploaded to Facebook – 250 million photos are uploaded to Facebook every day
• Tweets on Twitter – 200 million tweets per day
• Email – Over 100 trillion emails a year or more than 300 billion emails a day
• Text Messages in 2011 – more than 7 trillion

Many teens are averaging over 3,000 text messages per month.

Much of this is content is not of great quality in fact it is estimated that 89% of all emails are spam.

So as a Social Media marketer, business owner or CEO, how do you harness, focus and take advantage of this information and content “Tsunami”

Is Traditional Marketing Broken?

If you want to get serious about social media marketing for your business or organisation the foundation of any focused effort is having great content to publish and promote.

Other terms for this marketing approach are

• Inbound marketing
• Content Marketing
• Pull marketing

These all provide a description for an alternative paradigm to traditional marketing that is all about interruption marketing including telemarketing, cold calling and traditional advertising that pushes messages “at” you.

Technology now allows us to block calls, skip channels on your TV or record and watch later.

The secret behind content marketing that is published and promoted on social networks including blogs, Facebook and Twitter is attracting loyal tribes of readers and viewers.

This allows you to attract and pull customers to you that will engage, read and view and then buy.

The 10 Commandments of Content

Here are 10 building blocks that you need to include in your plans for marketing your business on an increasingly social and mobile web.

1. Get Focused

Who are you speaking to? Provide content that communicates with your customers and prospects in a language they understand.

2. Create Goals for your Content

What are you trying to achieve– capture emails, provide leads, nuture prospects or improve your visibility to search engines.

Do you want to make the content so entertaining that it makes your brand memorable and remarkable and do you want the message to become viral. A funny video may achieve this.

When designing your content make sure it is not content for contents sake, but is assisting you in growing your business

3. Become a Publisher

The democratisation of publishing and marketing means that you now don’t have to wait for your local printer to print off 10,000 marketing brochures and then organise them to be letter boxed .

Now you can write a blog article, email it to your “opt in” subscribers, tweet the link to your Twitter followers and promote it on Facebook.

4. Solve Problems

Everyone has problems and helping your customers and prospects solve them will take them from interested readers to raving fans. Write content that shows people how to fix their problems that are relevant to your industry and market.

5. Include Calls to Action

Don’t forget to include calls to action with your content. It could be to subscribe, share or register for an eBook or whitepaper.

Creating small calls to action will lead prospects towards the ultimate goal for any business and that is to put some money down or place an order.

6. Talk like a Human

Corporate speak was invented by copy writers but a while back people started switching off.

Being “Authentic” is the new black and being real is the “new marketing” that is a message that cuts through

7. Show What Works

Case studies that “show” how your product is used are much more effective than “telling“. Create content that showcases how other customers are using your product and services to achieve success.

Nothing like a bit of “social proof” to create credibility, trust and action.

8. Have some Fun

The original 10 commandments didn’t mention having fun but it helps enormously to present you and your company as having a sense of humour. This doesn’t mean making every piece of content a comedy act but lighten up and show your other side.

Orabrush YouTube Video – This companies use of humour and social media helped them sell 1 million toothbrushes that reduces bad breath.

Click here to view the embedded video.

9. Publish Everywhere

Publishing was expensive and just placing an ad in your local newspaper could cost you thousands.

Now you can publish on dozens of social networks at no cost within minutes. Despite there being thousands of social networks, publish on the social media channels that are used by your customers.

Make your content ubiquitous – place it everywhere from hub (blog or website) to outposts (Facebook, YouTube and Twitter) where your customers hangout!

10. Create Multi-Media

Not everyone likes reading, in fact the younger generation generally reads and views content in many formats including online videos on YouTube. The social web is about rich multi-media that engages interest and communicates visually and not just the “written word“.

Publish your content in several different formats and media types that your customers will like and enjoy. Some examples of these are video, audio (podcast), photos, whitepaper, info-graphics and eBooks.

I know I have 10 commandments listed here but I am sure that you may have discovered some more.

How have you used and optimised your content for your social networks and marketing?

Look forward to hearing your stories.

More Reading

• What are 10 Addictive Types of Content?
• How to Increase Your Blog Traffic by 55% with One Button
• 5 Motivations for Sharing Content
• 20 Ideas for Social Media Content that Engages
• Is it Better to Share on Google, Facebook or Twitter+
• 9 Questions to Ask your Customers When Creating Content

Image by ideacreamanuelaPps

It is projected that Facebook will have one billion users by 2013. The world has just over two billion internet users globally which means that nearly one in two people on the web is a Facebook user.

Facebook as a marketing medium cannot be ignored despite the misgivings of senior management (who grew up in the analog world of Print, TV and Radio) to commit marketing dollars to something their daughter uses to post Saturday night party photos on!

Many CEO’s do not know the difference between a “Brand” Facebook “page” and a personal Facebook profile!

The penetration of the digital social web world into our lives is not a fad that is going away, it is here and it must be embraced.

Bricks and mortar retailers are bringing down the shutters while online shops are feasting on their carcasses and going global with the viral marketing power of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Some Revelations

• 93% of Facebook users share shopping suggestions
• Brands are only responding to 50%  of brand page posts
• 80% of users who received a response to their post made a purchase as a result of the interaction
• 47% of companies have generated leads from Facebook
• 41% of companies have closed deals from Facebook
• Average cost of  obtaining a fan is $1.07
• Almost two-thirds of businesses surveyed use Facebook as their main marketing tool
• 87% of Facebook fans said they are satisfied with a particular brand. Only 49% of non-fans said they did
• The cost per click using Facebook advertising for e-commerce is 31 cents

1. Anatomy of a Killer Facebook Ad Campaign

Source: AES Connect

2. Social Media Makes the Sale

Source: AllFacebook

3. Digital Marketing Report

Source: Webmarketing 123

4. The Cost of Marketing on Facebook

Source: Flowtown

5. The Importance of a Fan Base

Source: KISSmetrics

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• 6 Fantastic Facebook Marketing Infographics
• 20 Stunning Social Media Statistics Plus Infographic
• 11 New Twitter Facts, Figures and Growth Statistics plus [INFOGRAPHIC]
• Past, Present and Future of Blogging: 3 Infographics
• How Do You Use LinkedIn [INFOGRAPHIC]
• How Do You Use Twitter [INFOGRAPHIC]

Image by _tar0_

Video blogging isn’t for everyone. You need to have the right equipment, commitment and passion.

The correct equipment means lights, cameras and then its action time and ensuring you get the basics right and avoiding making the basic mistakes.

This is the last article in a three  part series where we look at how to put together a professional looking video on a budget.

So if you missed the first two you can quickly leap to them below.

• Part One: Equipment
• Part Two: Audio and Lighting
• Part Three: Post-production

The Post-production

Now that all the filming is done, we will look at how to compile and package your video so that it is professional and pleasant to watch.

Video blogs need to be set out like an article. It will have a main topic and then subsections within this.

A video blogger needs to be prolific; it can’t take hours to package your video each time so we recommend that you create a series of templates that you can reuse to define your subsections, title background screen and so on. These templates are made up of graphic elements that will give your videos a recognisable style and can include branding and contact details.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Templates

Remember that these backgrounds and templates can only work if you have shot the video with a blue or green screen chroma-key background, which can then be keyed out and replaced with graphic elements.

To begin with you can create your opening title screen backdrop. Remember to keep your introduction short and informative. Then you can add an animated title backdrop that introduces the speaker. This can be used for guest speakers too.

Talking Heads can be Boring

Most video blogs will use the “talking head” style but this can become visually uninteresting so create a series of backgrounds. Obviously they need to be relevant so you can make a neutral one that just has some texture, otherwise you can add pictures, video or a slideshow.

When making a list you can create bullet points next to the speaker, or even cut the speaker out completely and just keep the audio while listing the points. But what the speaker is saying and what you show doesn’t need to always be exactly the same, you could add an infographic, for example, that will enrich your point. Keep in mind the audience’s assimilation rate. This is how long it will take to absorb the information on the screen. You need to find a balance so that the viewer is happy that they have had time to understand what’s on the screen but not so long as to bore the viewer.

6 Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

There are a few simple things that can make all the difference to your video.

Sound is another import thing to focus on. First I want to focus on music and then I’ll just list some tips on how to adjust your audio in post-production. Adding music can give your video a lot of texture and an ambiance that can be very effective. But there are a few things to keep in mind.

1. Firstly, be careful to find royalty-free music. It’s illegal to use copywritten music without paying a usually hefty royalty fee.
2. Then you need to consider that the relationship between the subject matter and the speed or style of the music has to match. If I’m being really serious and talking quite slowly having something jaunty and fast in the background isn’t going to work. In the same way, if I’m talking excitedly about a subject I’m passionate about and this slow, poignant music is playing, it changes the whole atmosphere of the piece.
3. If you are putting music behind a voice, you need make sure that it is soft enough so that we can still clearly hear the person speaking — if it’s too loud, the video is really messy. But it also can’t be too soft, which sounds like somebody left the radio on the other room.
4. When there’s a pause in the narration you can push the music up. But also don’t be afraid not to have music. You can have silence when the speaker is on and then just use the music to bridge the sections.
5. Really importantly, you need to make sure that the music corresponds with your subsections. Often people will put a song on, let it run and end and then add another, but it’s really jarring if this happens randomly in the middle of a section. Rather work backwards; put the end of the song at the end of a section and just fade the music in at the beginning, even if you are starting in the middle of the song. This sounds less jarring than ending in the middle.
6. Make sure that your audio levels are consistent; they shouldn’t fade in and out or change at all and if you have picked up some ambient noise, try to soften it in postproduction.

That’s it for our tips for packaging an online video blog professionally. I hope you have got some good ideas out of this. Happy blogging!

About the authors: Francois Karstel is the owner of Sound Idea Digital, a full service digital agency. You can connect with him on Twitter @soundideadma, Robyn Bloch is a digital journalist at Sound Idea Digital. You can connect with her on Twitter @soundidea or visit: Sound Idea Digital

Image by KTVee

The rumours and predictions that Facebook would  be the death of blogging seems to have been greatly exaggerated.

Blogging has instead evolved into a media rich ecosystem that is performed by individuals and companies to great effect.

Blogging platform startups such as Tumblr (founded in 2007) that emphasises ease of use, have seen serious traffic and growth

• Site averages  more than 2 million posts every day
• It is currently the 10th largest social network
• Attracts over 27 million monthly visits – which is up 218% from July 2010

Blogging can position  people as experts and thought leaders. It provides a home base portal that can provide a resource for their viewers and readers.

Blogging is not just about writing articles, as the advent of broadband networks available on mobile and fixed devices has seen the rise of video bloggers from cooking to travel. Visual and video communication is now quite often preferred to reading.

So how do you put together well produced videos as a blogger?

This is the second of a three  part series where we look at how to put together a professional looking video on a budget.

• Part One: Equipment
• Part Two: Audio and Lighting
• Part Three: Postproduction

Lighting

Now that we’ve dealt with getting the correct equipment to produce a professional blog video, we will look at how to set up lighting and audio to create the best quality, professional looking and sounding video.

Three-Point Lighting

You will need five lights to create the perfect lighting scenario. But you can get away with less. In fact you can get away with one light, a window and a reflector board. Three-point lighting is a common technique used by both videographers and photographers. It is used to give life and texture to the face, to define the body and to light the backdrop evenly.

Key light

The first and most important light is the key light. This light is placed at a 45 degree angle and is higher than the camera. This lights the side of the subject’s face. If the light is focused directly on the face of the speaker, you will lose all definition, sense of texture and dimensionality, blanking out the face. The key light highlights the person’s features. If you only have one light, use it as a key light. You can place the subject by a window with the key light on the other side. The window light will act as the fill light. The light must be bright but not so much so that it creates a harsh, white light, which potentially blanks out the features on that side of the face. The light’s strength can be reduced or increased by changing its distance from the subject.

Fill light

This light is less bright than the key light. It is placed on the opposite side of the key light, at an angle of around 25 – 30 degrees at the same height as the camera. This light fills in the shadows on the other side of the face. You can lower the intensity of the fill light by using a diffusion material (this is a supple plastic, slightly opaque, sheet that pegs in front of the light) or by moving the light back.

Back light

This is placed behind the subject (but obviously not direct behind him or her so it is in the shot). This light just defines the back of the person creating contrast between the background and the subject.

Background lights

These are two lights that evenly light your chroma key background. The subject must be far enough away from this lit-up wall so as to avoid the colour of the wall “leaking” on to the subject.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Audio

Your mic needs to be close enough to the subject so that it only picks up the voice and not the ambient sounds of the room. You need to test and watch the level of the sound on your camera. The sound level needs to be balanced. If it is set too high it will spike and “clip” causing distortion. If too soft the signal to noise ratio will not be optimal. The signal has to be as high as possible without clipping. A good level is around 70%. This gives you enough room for louder words but is not too low so as to pick up too much other noise.

Setup and Shooting

Video blogging needs to be done often to be properly effective, so it can’t be a huge hassle to set up. If you can spare a corner to leave your lights up permanently then that would be best. If not, mark the position of the lights with masking tape so you don’t waste time adjusting them every time you want to do a blog. The same goes for your sound. Spend time finding the perfect level for your environment and note it down, then, barring any changes in noise levels, you can always just adjust it to that level.

When shooting your blog you will invariably make a mistake with the script. You’ll then need to scroll back a little on your auto-cue and redo that line. But you will also need to change the shoot composition. This is so that you have something to cut to when you cut out the blooper line. If you don’t change from say a medium shot to a close-up then you’ll have a jump cut. This is when a person’s head jumps from one position to the next in the same shot. It looks shabby and can be easily solved by changing angles or the shot composition.

In the third and final part of this blog series we will look at how to use the editing and postproduction process to best package your video.

Have you set up lighting and audio before? Can you add to these suggestions?

About the authors: Francois Karstel is the owner of Sound Idea Digital, a full service digital agency. You can connect with him on Twitter @soundideadma, Robyn Bloch is a digital journalist at Sound Idea Digital. You can connect with her on Twitter @soundidea or visit: Sound Idea Digital

More reading

• Beginners Guide on How to Video Blog on a Budget – Part One
• 4 Key Elements for a Viral Video
• 50 Awesome YouTube Facts and Figures
• 25.4 Billion Reasons Why Search Engines Want Your Social Media Video Content
• How To Create And Promote Your YouTube Video In 8 Simple Steps
• 32 Lessons For Online Video Social Media Marketing Success

Image by Travis Gray

Twitter is the second biggest social network after Facebook. Its growth has accelerated after it was embedded in the new Apple mobile operating suystem (iOS5).

Despite its popularity, its user experience is not as inviting or as multimedia rich as Facebook and Google+.

Since the launch of Twitter over 5 years ago, users have moved on from a “text” web and are demanding more visual and multimedia centric content.

You only have to notice the fast trending popularity of “Infographics” to realize that the social web requires information presented efficiently and visually with high definition images and media.

Twitter had Forgotten the Enterprise

Twitter has until now, not provided a separate interface for “Brands” that Facebook provided with its “Pages” nearly 3 years ago and the recent Google+  ”Pages” launch for business.

Facebook’s growth accelerated when it announced its “Pages” three years ago.

Google+ knew that it was vital to address both the personal and business market and just one month ago launched Google+ “pages” for companies and brands.

Facebook’s success with its Pages has highlighted the need to provide separate “social network” interfaces that provide synergy, functionality and features that allow consumers to connect with brands.

The result “social commerce”

Twitter today announced two major changes to its interface that addresses these shortcomings .

1.Twitter for Brands

Twitter is providing a new brand interface that has three key elements.

1. They can be customized with large header images

Advertisers can use the new Twitter “brand “to display their logo and tagline more prominently than under the standard format, where branded elements of the page design are often partially covered by the time line of tweets.

2. Brands can also choose to keep a particular tweet at the top of their time line

That top tweet also auto-expands to reveal an embedded photo or video from Flickr, YouTube or other sources, without requiring the user to take action.

3. They separate out a brand’s @replies and mentions

This way companies messages are not diluted by all the other tweet “noise“.

Disney’s Twitter “Brand” Page

Twitter has realized that the interface for a brand requires a different design to increase synergies between “buyers” (personal Twitter users) and the “sellers” (company Twitter users).

Twitter’s launch partners include American Express, Best Buy, Bing, Chevrolet, Coca-Cola, Dell, Disney, General Electric, Hewlitt-Packard, Intel, JetBlue, Kia, McDonald’s, Nike, PepsiCo, Staples, Verizon Wireless, NYSE Euronext, Heineken, Subway and Paramount Pictures, specifically for the release of Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol.

2. Twitter’s “New” Look

Twitter continues to “tweak” its interface but this change is more significant than it initially appears and this will be rolled out over the next few weeks for personal Twitter users.

What are the main elements to this Twitter evolution?

1. Three new buttons, Home,  @Connect and #Discover

• Home button provides all the updates from people and brands you are following
• @Connect shows who has mentioned you and suggestions for accounts that you might want to follow that are relevant to your interests (the customization and personalization of the web for individuals continues to evolve)
• #Discover takes the “hashtag” prominence to a new level and shows what’s trending and directs you to newsworthy stories and videos (based upon your interaction with the site)

2. Tweets now appear on the right side

Previously they were on the left but now they have been moved and take up less real estate

3. Tweets can be expanded

There is a new “open” button that displays media such as photos and videos.

4. Embeddable tweets

Website owners will also be able to embed a tweet onto their website, giving site visitors the ability to favorite, reply to, or retweet a tweet without even leaving the web page.

Twitter’s YouTube Video Showcasing its New Design

Click here to view the embedded video.

If you have an iPhone or Android device, you can check out the “New Twitter,” by simply downloading the new app from the App Store or Android Market, then logging into the web interface.

Do you like these changes?  How do you think it will impact your Twitter and social network presence?

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