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Archive for the ‘Social Media’ Category

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10 Elements of Successful Viral Videos

In Social Media on 12/28/2010 at 3:49 am

How many times do you hear marketers say, “How do I create a viral video?” or worse, “I’ve created these three videos. Now make them go viral!” The truth is you can’t, but there are a few things you can do in the video production stages to maximize the chances of the video you are creating to go viral.  You can also sponsor content that is already deemed popular or partner with YouTube celebrities and influencers who already have a large following.

However, the below presentation I’ve created specifically focuses on creating viral videos.

Check out the top viral videos with Youtube Trends at http://youtube-trends.blogspot.com/.

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CollegeHumor.com CEO Shares Ten Urban Legends on Web Content

In Social Media on 06/09/2010 at 11:11 am

Whether you’re a big brand, a small business, or simply someone looking to build your own personal brand via online video, what other better way to start than taking advice from the CEO of CollegeHumor.com? A very funny, shaggy-haired, Dennis Crowley (Foursquare CEO) look-alike, Ricky Van Veen, presented a list of 10 myths about Web content yesterday at the Mashable Media Summit.

Watch Veen’s opening remarks here.

Myth # 1: People will watch my branded content.

 You must ask yourself first, ‘Why would anyone watch this content?’ If 75% of your content’s purpose is to entertain and 25% is to sell, they you are already starting off with a handicap because you are competing with TV shows. The key is to have truly unique content that can’t be seen anywhere else. One mistake that brands make when creating content is worrying too much about legal and PR. Brands have to more flexible and less self-serving.

Myth # 2: People will be patient with content.

 Thirty percent are gone after the first 30 seconds, and one-third of all Internet activity is done simultaneously while the audience is watching television.

  1. Take down the barriers to access your content
  2. Get to the Point

Myth #3: People will find my content.

People won’t just stumble upon your content. One needs a seed strategy to push it out and generate buzz and word-of-mouth to make it viral. One way to do this is to team up with an already-established brand.

Myth #4: The internet is a level-playing field.

 A link on Drudge Report yields more results than some dude’s blog. Veen suggests tapping into the power users with a large audience.

Myth #5: We have no idea why things go viral.

 While there are no rules for making videos viral, they all share one commonality–they give users a reason to pass it on.

  •  Videos should be short, approximately two to three minutes long
  •  A hook should come in the first 20 seconds
  •  Clear title
  •  Sweet spots College Humor taps into: Topical issues and “Candycorn” (cultural touchstones that everyone knows, but doesn’t actively think about).

 Myth # 6: Experience leads documentation.

We have a new generation that puts documentation above experience. It’s all about Flickr feeds and Facebook status updates. It’s basically high-tech bragging.

- If you’re a marketer, create experiences that allow people to show off how cool they are.

Myth # 7: Let’s build our own community and tools.

Don’t build your own features — if you want people to share photos and whatnot, use Facebook and Flickr. You get much more exposure and reach in that way.

Myth # 8: Let’s keep things professional.

Personality drives your brand. At CollegeHumor, we post photos of staff as well as videos and other content on their site.

Myth # 9: Traditional media is irrelevant to the Web.

The Web content creators eventually want to move into the film and television space. The Web hasn’t quite yet figured out how to monetize its model, while film and television have been making money for years.

Myth # 10: People will create good content for me.

Getting people to create content is hard, getting people to create good content is really hard.

Veen wrapped up the presentation with the announcement of the partnership between College Humor and Pepsi’s SoBe that will launch SoBe Studios — a project that creates branded video content. As part of this project, a new three-part web series, “Mr. Vicarious,” featuring comedians Paul Scheer and Nick Kroll, will premiere today.

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Three Riveting Startups You Should Know About

In Digital Media, Social Media on 05/21/2010 at 4:09 am

Ah, home, sweet home! It’s been a long and tiresome day, but very rewarding.  After work, I headed over to a Digital Flash NYC event that featured two Mashable panelists, a diverse set of questions from the audience, and an open bar. Hopefully, the open bar liquor had something to do with the ditzy question from the back of the room–“Why would I read Mashable? I’m interested in fashion; who is wearing what”–asked by a former teacher.  Either way, I met some amazing, new start-ups that I just couldn’t wait to write about. So here it goes…

  1. Catchafire.org connects volunteers within the areas of design, social media, advertising, legal, public relations, marketing, and others, with non-profit organizations. If you are a volunteer, you simply select your skill areas and the social cause you’d like to support, integrate your LinkedIn profile, and select a project of your choice. If you are a non-profit organization, pick a project from the project menu, and wait to see who your match is.
  2. Pixable aggregates your and your friends’ photos from multiple Web sites, including Facebook, Picasa, Flickr, SmugMug, and Photobucket into one central site and allows you to create and print photo books.
  3. EZTexting, founded in 2006, provides a simple, affordable text messaging platform for small to medium-sized businesses. The company allows businesses within the education, hospitality, religion, politics, non-profits, and technology industries to develop and execute a text messaging campaign within minutes.

What are some of the newly launched startups you’ve stumbled upon? Let me know.

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Emerging Social Media Moms

In Social Media on 05/09/2010 at 8:43 pm

Like many social media moms, Irene Bernshteyn, a New York stay-at-home mom, turned to Facebook and blogging to gain exposure for her hobby-turned-small-online-business, Baby Chic.

Mommy bloggers have become a strong online force, helping marketers to reach mothers, a powerful demographic that often controls household spending. With over 30,000 mom bloggers and their strong following, they are capable of activating an online network of thousands of people within their community who quickly interact through a number of viral channels, including Twitter and Facebook.

“Facebook is a huge exposure. There is a movement called “Link Love,” where I check the fan pages of some jewelry makers I like, and then I can post my links on their discussion board. In turn, they “like” my store’s fan page and post their links–it’s like free advertisement of their business,” said Bernshteyn.

While some social media moms still rely on one another to cross-promote their Web sites and prompt online participation, many seek out and cultivate powerful relationships with brands that seek to reach a similar audience. In light of Mother’s Day, let’s celebrate social media moms and their impact on social media marketing.

Four emerging social media trends for mommy bloggers:

  1. Oversharing – more and more moms are moving beyond blogging and are joining location-based networks such as Foursquare, and other sharing-based sites such as Plancast, which allow moms to share their plans for the future, and Blippy, which allows them to discuss their purchases.
  2. Blog sponsorships - while many brands recruit moms to generate buzz about their products through blogger outreach or place traditional display ads, more are beginning to sponsor individual mom blogs that align with the brand. Participating bloggers are already customizing content, contests, and giveaways.
  3. Self-owned communities – mommy bloggers will expand their efforts beyond individual blogs and fan pages into self-owned communities, built using white label forums/social networking platforms and plug-ins. Pioneer Woman has already paved the way for this trend.
  4. Campaign consultants – According to Mom Blog Magazine, brands will soon hire mommy bloggers to consult on campaigns in the ideas and planning phases instead of after a social media crisis hits the fan that requires reactionary advice.

Here is a list of top 25 influential moms in the Twitterverse according to the Mom Blog Magazine.

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How Online Shopping is Becoming More Social

In Social Media on 05/04/2010 at 6:19 am

People have always turned to friends and family for advice when making purchase decisions. Social media has expanded people’s connections and allowed for new ways to interact. According to Manage Smarter, 83 percent of online shoppers said they are interested in sharing information about their purchases with people they know, while 74 percent are influenced by the opinions of others in their decision to buy the product in the first place. Forward-thinking advertisers have embraced digital word-of-mouth marketing via social networks and blogger outreach, environments where customers like to spend their time. And although social commerce is still in its early stages, many retailers are already experimenting with cost-effective marketing channels such as Facebook and Twitter, user ratings and reviews, Facebok connect, online communities, and the most-recent Facebook “Like” feature that customizes one’s shopping experience and allows friends to comment and share the merchandise liked by that individual.

Apparel store, Levi’s Jean is an early adopter of the social plugin “Like.” Each product is paired with a “like” button, allowing views of who on Facebook likes the item, along with their profile photos. The brand also built an online “Friend Store”, where shoppers who are logged into Facebook can see a list of their friends’ favorite Levi’s products and seamlessly shop with their friends and share your online shopping decisions.

“By allowing our shoppers to publicly “like” their products, they are influencing the current product and future product assortment. Additionally, it makes shopping more fun. Imagine shopping for your back to school jeans with your best friend who lives 2,000 miles away,” said Megan O’Connor, director of digital and social marketing of Levi Strauss (in a recent eMarketer interview.)

Since the button’s launch two weeks ago, more than 50,000 websites have implemented Facebook’s new social plug-ins, including the “Like” button.

To add the “Like” button to your Web site, simply fill out this brief form and receive the code.

To view shared links and likes of your Facebook friends across most-popular Web sites, visit likebutton.me.

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Ten micro-blogging services you may have missed

In Social Media on 05/02/2010 at 2:36 am

American author Mark Twain once paraphrased French mathematician Blaise Pascal’s famous comment by saying, “If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter.” Both Twain and Pascal would have commended the birth of microblogging, shorter and more convenient versions on the conventional blog posts. While Twitter, a social-network that allows users to communicate in 140 characters or less, is the most-popular microblogging service, it certainly isn’t the only one. Other services that share a similar concept to Twitter exist, and are more country-specific, photography-based, or oriented towards professionals.

Here is a list of 10 micro-blogging services you may have missed:

  1. Frazr is a country-specific version of Twitter, focused primarily on the French and German markets.
  2. DailyBooth is a a photoblogging website designed for users to take a photo of themselves every day with a caption, in order to document and share their life.
  3. Jaiku combines microblogging with other capabilities like adding icons to posts, file sharing and allows the Twitter user to attach a file to their posts.
  4. Trillr is a service intended for coworkers, partners, and customers to communicate. Answering the question, “What’s on your mind?” the service is enhanced with user directory and group discussion features.
  5. Joint Contact is project collaboration tool for sharing and managing information that is used by business owners, project managers, freelancers and independent professionals. ?
  6. Spoink is a multimedia microblogging service that integrates blogging, podcasting, telephony, and SMS text messaging.
  7. Present.ly allows employees to instantly communicate their current status, ask questions and post media that are tracked or “followed” by others. Unlike Twitter, Present.ly provides a secure and private way to share updates among members of a company, without them being visible to the outside world.
  8. IdidWork is a task-based update tool that provides teams with the ability to keep a log of their completed tasks as well a to-do list. It allows one to track a history of their progress, share with their team, and receive feedback from their manager.
  9. Mixin allows users to “share your agenda, discover opportunities from your social circle and easily make plans with your friends.” It aggregates Facebook events, your friends’ agenda and birthdays at the same place and allows users to sync their iCal,gCal, and Outlook calendars in order to directly publish activities from there.
  10. OraTweet, created by Oracle, the world’s largest enterprise software company allows companies, universities, and organizations to run their own in-house microblogs that keep their communications private and secure, encouraging the development of internal communities.

Microblogging has gained world-wide appeal and has been vital in disseminating emergency information during disasters and tragedies, fundraising, organizing the community, and building relationships between brands and their customers.

What do you microblog about the most? What do you like or dislike about microblogging? Leave a comment.

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Beyond Facebook and Twitter: 5 Ways to Leverage Tweetups To Drive Business

In How-to's, Social Media on 04/24/2010 at 5:27 am

Social media can be leveraged to build deep connections with existing and potential customers. When people think of social media, they think of sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. However, social media extends beyond these popular social networks with millions of active members across the globe. Tweetups, in-person, impromptu meeting organized by Twitter users across different geographic locations, can be just as important in helping business owners connect with their potential consumers.

Extending conversations initiated in social networks such as Facebook and Twitter to offline can strengthen these relationships and convert fans and followers into brand advocates. Tweetups are especially beneficial to local businesses or national businesses that wish to advertise in specific region. For example. NASA is hosting a special Tweetup in May, where they will randomly select 150 of their Twitter followers to view a shuttle launch in person at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. At Kennedy, NASA Twitter followers will take a tour of the center, view the shuttle launch and speak with shuttle technicians, managers, engineers, and astronauts. Another great use of Tweetups is by the Grammy Award-winning British singer, Imogen Heap, who leveraged Tweetups in New York and Los Angeles to turn online interactions into real-life connections, providing her Twitter followers with exclusive first listen of her album, “Ellipse.” In addition, one of the most-popular Tweetup events is the National Hockey League’s (NHL) first Tweetup (now taking place in over 20 cities across the U.S.) kicking off the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the league’s NYC store back in April 2009.

How can Tweetups help your business?

  1. Meet with existing or potential customers. Invite people who are interested in what your business has to offer. For example, Tommy Hilfiger and Lucky Magazine are hosting a Tweetup today, April 24, in NYC to draw customers into the Fifth Avenue store to shop their Spring collection.
  2. Connect you with people in your local community who are passionate about your industry. By bringing people together around a common interest, you help them to get to know each other better.
  3. Activate offline and inspire online actions. Another benefit to these Twitter-based gatherings is the amount of messages your attendees will spread before, during and after the event. Twitter users will tweet their experiences, photos and possibly blog about the event.
  4. Introduce and help fuel demand for new products or services. Invite an expert to speak about the products and issues that the brand and customers both care about in order to establish or increase your business’ credibility.
  5. Build your content inventory that can be repurposed across the interwebs. If you are struggling for content on your Facebook, YouTube or Twitter page(s), hosting events and capturing content at those events, including videos of experts, how-tos, photos of guests or captured by guests can all make engaging, diverse UGC posts across these platforms.

Hosting a tweetup is simple. All you need to do is suggest a date, location, and time on Twitter. Your followers chime in if they want to join you, and you instantly have a gathering!

Visit twivite.com for a list of all upcoming Tweetups in your area!

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How NYC businesses are using Foursquare to drive more customers

In How-to's, Social Media on 04/18/2010 at 4:50 pm

New York resident, Rob D’Asaro, checks in whenever he has a cup of coffee at Starbucks, takes out cash from Citibank, or has a need to dry clean his suits at Youme Cleaners.

Users get points participating in various activities, such as checking in at a location for the first time, traveling a certain distance between check-ins, or checking in often at the same location over time. A user with the most-check ins at any given venue is granted “mayor” status. A user can also earn “badges,” which reward a combination of behaviors. For example, one earns the “Local” badge if s/he checks-in at the same location three times in the same week. One can also earn the “Far Far Away” badge if s/he checks-in at NYC locations above 59th Street.

Although earning badges means nothing more than having the right to brag to your friends, those badges that are officially supported businesses across the country, such as Pinkberry offer Foursquare users discounts and/or tips when they check-in at their venue. Many businesses, such as Atomic Wings in NYC award “mayorship” with special discounts. Atomic Wings gives the mayor of its venue an extra 15 percent off. Others may award those who check-in at the venue using Foursquare a free product or an upgrade. For instance, Xoom Juice, a New York smoothie bar offers users a buy one, get one free smoothie. It’s East Village neighbor, Butter Lane cupcakes, offers a free cupcake every day to the first ten people to check in to Butter Lane on Foursquare. The Lite Choice of Gramercy Park rewards Foursquare users with free upgrades to a larger size cup or cone.

With Foursquare declaring April 16th an official FourSquare Day, the largest, global social media holiday, even more businesses have jumped on the location-based network’s bandwagon, offering its customers the sweetest deals! For a list of FourSquare Day events and participating local businesses around the nation, visit http://4sqday.com/cities.

Here are five ways NYC businesses are leveraging Foursquare that you can apply to your own:

  1. Re-award your most-frequent customer/”mayor” with free or discounted products. For example, a worthy promotion may be, “If you’re the mayor, you drink for FREE on Thursday nights.” Not only will you be strengthening your customer relationships with a potential brand advocate, but you will also spur some friendly competition amongst Foursquare users to de-throne the current mayor and take their place.
  2. Offer first-time customers a special discount in order to keep them coming back.
  3. Offer a complimentary product with a purchase of another. For example, Bogota Latin Bistro at 141 5th Avenue, New York, NY offered a complimentary “Bogota Promo” drink with purchase of a main entree for all Foursquare check-ins on Foursquare Day.
  4. Make Four Square users feel special. For example, New York Vinters offered a two-hour complimentary class with Executive Chef Chris Meeker who taught Foursquare users how to make delicious, gourmet pizza, in the comfort of your own home on Foursquare Day.
  5. Attract new customers with “specials near by.” Notifying users who check-in at a nearby venue of special discounts can be a great way to drive new customers who may have otherwise not known about your business.

Is your business utilizing Foursquare? If so, leave a comment and let us know how you are leveraging Foursquare to drive new customers and engage existing ones.

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Google plunges knee-deep into social media with a UGC search stories video creator

In Digital Media, Social Media on 04/13/2010 at 9:42 pm

Internet search can give a lot of insight into someone’s life. It can reveal our personality, desires, needs, behaviors, and passions. Remember the Google television spot that aired during the Saints-Colts Super Bowl game this year? “Parisian Love,” Google’s very first Super Bowl commercial, and one of the most-talked-about 2010 Super Bowl ads, shows how the internet and search engines are integrated into everyday life. As part of its search stories campaign that launched in November 2009, “Parisian Love” tells a story of a young man who studies abroad in France and along the way uses Google to find the girl of his dreams. Now, Google is inviting users to create their own version of the “Parisian Love” search story with their new Google Search Stories Video Creator tool located at youtube.com/searchstories.

In today’s consumer-focused world, every successful brand is shifting towards consumer-centric advertising that combines more granular targeting and measurement with cross-platform integration in order to satisfy the digital demands of today’s digitally savvy customers. After dipping its toes in the Super Bowl television advertising, and testing the social media waters with Google Buzz in recent months, the internet search giant is embracing user-generated content, allowing anyone, regardless of their video production skills, to create their own Google search stories and share the videos through their extended social networks, including Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, just to name a few.

Three simple steps in creating a search story:

  1. Enter a sequence of 7 search queries (words or phrases) into the Google Search Stories Video Creator Tool. The new UGC functionality tells a story when the search results are revealed and automatically formatted into a Search Story video
  2. Select the music that is most-appropriate to the topic of your search story from the soundtrack library and add it to your video
  3. Preview your video. Here you will have one more chance to edit your search queries or simply change the music. If you are satisfied with the story created, you will write in the title and description of your search story as well as select the genre of your story, which can match the genre of the soundtrack music. Once your video is complete, you can upload it to YouTube (assuming you have a YouTube or Gmail account) and share it across the interwebs.

Google will post some of the most creative and fun user-created stories to the official YouTube Search Stories Channel.

Here is a sample search story. Now, go make your own and share it with the world!

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Five cost-effective new media technologies for small business owners

In Digital Media, How-to's, Social Media on 04/10/2010 at 7:50 pm

New media is evolving at the speed of light. Small business owners want to embrace it and all of the advantages it offers, but are often afraid to break away from the norm and use new media technologies in new and innovative ways. Many business owners believe that establishing a branded online presence across social media platforms and optimizing the business Web site to show up in search results is highly technical and complicated. Although learning about these affordable and interactive Web 2.0 technologies and how to use them effectively requires a bit of time investment, the outcomes of effectively promoting products and services to a targeted audience will pay off tremendously. Get started with these five innovative, multi-channel (audio, video, events, and mobile) new media technologies and strategies.

  1. Build your credibility with podcasting – create podcasts on iTunes or have your own radio show on www.BlogTalkRadio.com while interviewing experts in the field and establishing your credibility. Customers can download the podcasts into their MP3 player and hear your message on-the go, while driving to work or running on a treadmill.
  2. Foster customer-relationships with video – Create your own channel on a live streaming video channel such as Ustream and invite your Facebook fans, Twitter followers, blog readers, or email subscribers to meet you there. You can use video capture tools such as theflip.com, logitech.com, or jingproject.com to create video product demonstrations, Webinars, how-tos, and allow your audience to ask you questions, while you learn about their needs and challenges. This is also a great way to get instant real-time feedback on any new products and/or services.
  3. Increase natural search traffic to your Web site with offline activations - host an event and invite bloggers, where they will write about it and shoot YouTube videos, helping you spread word about your business. Leverage offline meetup.com and/or tweetup groups in order to generate online buzz about your events to people who may have common interests. Meeting with people offline is the best way to develop meaningful relationships.
  4. Drive sales and repeat business with mobile SMS - leverage text messaging to announce store events and on-the-go discount coupons. The use of text messaging allows the business owner to instantly communicate information of value to those you wish to engage, and learn more about your customers. It also builds up the business’s CRM database, allowing for lead generation and repeat business. People love discounts, and in turn, businesses must offer them an incentive to give up their information. A free service like www.Jott.com allows business owners to create and send text messages via a voice message, which the Web site will then translate into text and send out on their behalf.
  5. Transform customer service with iPhone apps – Square iPhone application allows any merchant, from store retailer to a concert ticket seller, to accept credit/debit card payment using the Signature Swiper. Developed by the creator of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, the Square iPhone app costs only $1 and includes the card swiper. The person paying for the transaction can then sign for the items right on the iPhone screen, and choose whether or not to receive the receipt via email or SMS message. When you receive the receipt, it will show you the GPS location of where the transaction is made. This is very helpful for fraud prevention.

Do you have success story examples of small businesses that drove sales, increase brand awareness and loyalty with new media technologies? We want to hear from you!

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