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| How Iceland Is Rebuilding Its Economy With Social Media | | 12:15:49 AM | Samantha Murphy |
|  REYKJAVIK, Iceland -- While visiting Iceland for an online marketing conference last week, I found myself in the president of Iceland's living room, scratching my head at how welcoming and eager he was to talk about the country's use of social media and technology to rebuild the nation. The fact that Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson -- who has been running the country for 16 years and just announced last week that he will be campaigning once again for re-election -- invites strangers into his own home is not all that surprising, when you consider the way he runs the country. Sure, it's highly rare for someone in his position to open his door to people he doesn't know, but this is precisely the way he approaches government in this tiny, snowy country in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. "Iceland is a society based on the principle that everyone is a friend until proven otherwise," Grímsson tells me. "Unfortunately, most societies are going in the opposite direction, assuming that everyone is a potential threat. That is a dangerous route to take because you fundamentally destroy the democratic nature of human encounters. That's not how we approach things in Iceland." The country is currently undergoing a resurgence since its economic meltdown in 2008. Iceland opted not to bail out the businesses that were partly responsible for the country's crisis, and has since created a new constitution to move ahead. I made my way to his home, a series of beautiful white buildings on the water outside the capitol of Reykjavik. The taxi driver mentioned he met Grímsson once at an art event. Not to mention, the founder of Nordiac eMarketing Kristján M. Hauksson -- who ran the 2012 Reykjavik Internet Marketing Conference -- said he used to go to the same gym as the president. (Grímsson even gave the keynote at the conference the following day). The president of Iceland's accessibility is unique, as is his approach to embracing the Internet and modern technology to help boost the economy. In addition to the country's quirky Tumblr blog (Iceland Wants to Be Your Friend), its Twitter account and its Facebook presence, Iceland has gone out of its way to spread awareness about the nation and increase tourism. Its 2011 "Inspired by Iceland" campaign encouraged citizens to take travelers on tours throughout the country. Even the president participated, inviting tourists into his home for pancakes with whipped cream and rhubarb jam. Overall, the Internet has played a big role in modern day Iceland. The government recently asked citizens to post online comments and feedback about what they thought of its new constitution proposal. And although the president actually said he wouldn't be running for re-election earlier this year, he changed his mind after Icelanders gathered thousands of signatures online as a part of an effort to keep him in office. But this begs the question: Is all of this possible because the country only boasts 300,000 residents, or could this let's-all-work-together mantra work elsewhere? Government Accessibility "To some extent, the size of Iceland allows this happen," says Grímsson, leaning back in his chair. "However, there are smaller communities in bigger countries that can look at Iceland as a model." Although some believe the president's accessibility could be a risk to his safety, he says it's a far greater risk not to build trust and relationships with his people. "Many say that there should be more barriers up for a president when interacting with citizens and that they could even get killed, but this contradicts the way we want to live our lives," he says. "There is a risk to giving a teenager a driver's license, but we accept that risk and let them drive anyway." Iceland's progressiveness in embracing modern technology is astounding. In fact, Iceland's 2011 Constitutional Council crowdsourced its constitution, turning to social media sites to make the process transparent and to collect input from the public. SEE ALSO: Iceland Unveils Crowdsourced Constitution "In the aftermath of the financial crisis, we realized that this wasn't just an economic or a financial crisis; it was also a social, political and judicial crisis," says Grímsson. "If we were going to allow the nation to regain its strength and position, it wouldn't be sufficient to deal with it in traditional economic and financial ways. We needed a different democratic approach." A draft of the document was posted online, where it encouraged recommendations and comments from citizens to amend it. "You can look at it as an innovative thing, in terms of modern technology, but it's actually just a modern expression on an old Icelandic tradition," says Grímsson. After the country was first settled by the Vikings, residents set up a parliament, an open assembly and open courts. It was based on rule of law and not on executive power. "The tradition of conducting everything in a way that everybody could follow and have access to it was an early part of our history," says Grimsson. "It has become a big part of the identity of Iceland." "Since Iceland is a small society, transparency here probably has a different meaning than larger societies where a bureaucratic state is in place," says Grímsson. "It's never been the case in Iceland. But like many other countries right now, we have a lot of activism created with the help of the Internet and social media." The Power of the Internet When Grímsson announced he wouldn't be running for re-election in 2012 -- which could make him the longest serving president in the country's history -- Iceland's residents started an online petition, urging him to stay in office. "I decided not to serve more in the presidency, and thought I could be useful doing other things," says Grímsson. "However, a lot of people wanted me to continue, and didn't want to open the presidency up during a time of uncertainty." He agreed to run again under the condition that once the uncertainties regarding the economy and other matters were more resolved, he would reserve the right not to serve the full term. "It goes to show that you can get so much accomplished with the help of the Internet at a much faster rate than ever before," adds Grímsson. As for how he plans to approach the campaign, he's still weighing his options. "There is this danger that if you become too fascinated by technologies and communicating with people digitally, it lessens the personal encounters," says Grímsson. "There is also a risk that technology could become the main field of communication, and that could also impact transparency and trust. I wouldn't want that to happen in Iceland." Inspired by Iceland The country has been embracing the Internet to boost tourism, and it seems to be working. Hauksson of Nordiac eMarketing says that Iceland has experienced a nearly 20% increase in tourism in 2011. The campaigns have certainly helped, but public awareness also increased when the world learned of Iceland's economic crisis and its recent volcano eruption. In addition, airlines like EasyJet have expressed interest in flying to Iceland. By logging on to InspiredbyIceland.com, tourists can sign up for free tours, meet local residents and, of course, even visit the president's house. Inspired by Iceland Invitations from Inspired By Iceland on Vimeo. "By participating in the campaign, it carried out the message that everyone is a friend until proven otherwise, and that we can all work together to spread awareness," says Grímsson. "It was very successful and promoted Iceland without huge costs." Grímsson noted that technology is having a greater impact on politics in both small and large communities. "What could have taken months to accomplish is now possible in just hours, thanks to mobile phones and the Internet." He also referenced one of President Obama's speeches in Washington D.C. Amazingly, a crowd in Cairo, Egypt turned down his initiative via tweets and online messages even before he had finished speaking. "Technology is becoming a side show to whatever is happening -- it's giving people the opportunity to be active and influential almost immediately," he says. Do you think Iceland's tech efforts can work in other countries? Can nations learn from its model? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, 221A |
| Pinterest Scams on the Rise: Protect Yourself [PICS] | | Thursday, March 15, 2012 10:43 PM | Sam Laird |
|  The popularity of picture-based service Pinterest also makes it an increased target for scams, according to one online security expert who spoke to Mashable. Pinterest's simple, intuitive interface -- fueling its popularity -- also makes it an easier target for scammers than other social networks, says Catalin Cosoi, chief security researcher at the antivirus software provider BitDefender. Unlike Facebook or Twitter, where clever sentences and closed networks add obstacles for would-be scammers, a simple eye-catching photo can entrap imprudent Pinterest users and spread quickly. "It's very tricky because, so far, for Facebook and Twitter it's quite easy to spot a scam -- you have to install an app or follow a certain link," Cosoi says. "With Pinterest, on the other hand, it's only a picture you have to click on or re-pin." Most Pinterest scams so far involve surveys, and are the most common plots across all social media sites, according to Cosoi. A seemingly great offer for a discounted service or product will first ask users for personal information. That personal information enables more directly targeted attacks and come-ons to unsuspecting users. (See gallery above for examples.) "When a service is new and there are a lot of users joining, there's a false sense of security," Cosoi says. So how can prolific pinners avoid becoming prey? Cosoi says to use extreme caution when providing personal or professional information -- as opposed to tastes and favorites -- online. He also recommends using link scanners and other malware-fighting tools. Pinterest is aware of the spam and phishing challenges it will face with continued growth, and says addressing them quickly is a "tremendous priority." "Our engineers are actively working to manage issues as they arise and are revisiting the nature of public feeds on the site to make it harder for fake or harmful content to get into them," a company spokesperson told Mashable in an email. Pinterest isn't the first social network to face security issues, though, and won't be last. "This is something we'll see everyday," Cosoi says. "As a service becomes more popular, malware writers and scammers will see if they can use the tool for bad, as well." Have you come across attempted scams on Pinterest? What were they like? Let us know in the comments. BONUS GALLERY: Inside Pinterest Headquarters Scam gallery images courtesy of BitDefender |
| Rush Limbaugh Joins Twitter | | Thursday, March 15, 2012 9:25 PM | Kate Freeman |
|  Radio host Rush Limbaugh announced on his Thursday show that he's opened a Twitter account. His handle @limbaugh is not to be confused with Fake Rush Limbaugh at a similar handle, @Iimbaugh (where the letter L is actually an upper-case letter "I") but with only 679 followers. The real Rush already has more than 107,000 followers, but has yet to be verified. His first tweet recommended a story by The Daily Caller about NY Times ads airing on his show and criticized the progressive media watchdog group Media Matters for America. Good story by @jeff_poor @DailyCaller. He gets it right, @mmfa wrong as usual. Read and Retweet: thedc.com/yDY8Dm— Rush Limbaugh (@limbaugh) March 15, 2012 He joined Twitter, he said on the show, to engage his "army" of followers: "Everybody has been asking me what they can do to help in all of this, and I've been saying, nah, just do what you've been doing just, if you listen, keep listening, that's fine, but . there's an army out there that wants to be mobilized, and so, I figured, use Twitter for it. I'm just going to put some things on Twitter that you can help us circulate. It's that simple -- you just retweet them." Earlier this month, Limbaugh stirred up a storm of controversy when he labeled a college woman with a derogatory term after she asked that health care coverage included contraception. After which, big advertisers such as AOL withdrew their sponsorships. Will you follow Rush Limbaugh on Twitter? Will you message him? Tell us in the comments. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, RomanOkopny |
| Peel App Reveals Most-Booed 'American Idol' Contestant | | Thursday, March 15, 2012 8:46 PM | Brian Anthony Hernandez |
|  TV discovery app Peel on Wednesday launched Idol Interactive Experience, a second-screen engagement platform that lets viewers "cheer" or "boo" contestants and judges in real time. Peel data from last night's top 12 performance show reveal which singers are most likely to be eliminated during tonight's results show. Leading the chorus of boos were not-so-stellar performances from Heejun Han, DeAndre Brackensick and Shannon Magrane. The graphic above depicts the intensity level of cheers (in blue) and boos (in orange) for singers as they performed, or as in Jermaine Jones's case, as he was disqualified for his recently surfaced criminal past. Peel users pressed buttons on their iOS devices to express how they felt about the performances and judges' comments. And before host Ryan Seacrest even opened voting to the masses, users got to see the sentiment results from other Idol viewers. For example, the results updated in real time as the contestants sang and the judges gave their critiques. Hollie Cavanagh topped the Idol Interactive Experience's leaderboard for her rendition of Celine Dion's "The Power of Love" (pictured left). Front-runner Jessica Sanchez -- who wooed America last week with Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" -- didn't impress the judges this week with "Turn the Beat Around," but the Peel community still put her in third place just behind Cavanagh and Joshua Ledet. Interestingly, judge Jennifer Lopez garnered the most cheers of the night but also the most boos out of the three judges. Fellow judge Randy Jackson got the most love with 70% positive rating. SEE ALSO: 'American Idol' Judge Turns To Pinterest After Sparkly Pin Ignites Buzz "We think we're still just in the first inning here as far as what social TV is capable of," Peel's vice president of marketing Scott Ellis recently told Mashable. Mashable will be bringing you Peel data every week until a winner is announced, but do you think a tool like this can accurately predict who will be eliminated? Sound off in the comments. Watch the March 14 Performances and Judge for Yourself Thumbnail image courtesy of iStockphoto, powerofforever |
| HootSuite Founder Ryan Holmes Answers Reader Questions [LIVE CHAT] | | Thursday, March 15, 2012 3:58 PM | Scott Gerber |
|  HootSuite's energetic CEO Ryan Holmes founded Invoke Media, the agency that created the highly successful social media dashboard. He has been active in all aspects of HootSuite's operations, focusing on strategy, business and product development, as well as technical and social networking trends. HootSuite is Ryan's fifth startup, with other ventures in a variety of industries. From founding a pizza restaurant chain, to building the top online paintball supplier in Canada, to creating Invoke Media, Ryan has established himself as a multi-faceted professional within the entrepreneurial community. Ryan frequently presents at international conferences, including TEDx, 140tc, OMNA, 140conf, IMA, and Open Network Labs, where he speaks about entrepreneurship, startups and the crossroads of marketing and the social web. When he's not grinding away at the HootSuite office, he can be found rock climbing, doing yoga, paragliding or hanging out with his dog Mika. He is also an international voice for startups, and has been featured and quoted in media sources including the The New York Times, The Huffington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian and Venture Beat. YEC Global is an international mentorship program of the Young Entrepreneur Council, an invite-only non-profit comprised of promising young entrepreneurs. Its goal is to promote and support young entrepreneurs around the world, as well as foster the thriving global entrepreneurial ecosystem by sending delegations to various countries around the world to lead in-person, peer-to-peer mentorship programs, creative sessions, panel discussions and business competitions. The program also offers one-to-two week internships at YEC-member owned companies. |
| Iranian Food Critic Beats Internet Censorship to Build Social Following | | Thursday, March 15, 2012 2:39 PM | Samantha Murphy |
|  REYKJAVIK, Iceland -- There are more than 17 million Facebook users in Iran, but the site is banned throughout the country. Iran also bans its citizens from accessing Twitter and YouTube. Even so, people are finding a way around the censorship with the help of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) and online proxies that work around the system. "People in Iran can use a VPN or proxy to pass the country's filter," an Iranian food critic who goes by the name of Mr. Taster told Mashable. "Iranians can access Facebook this way without a penalty -- if you don't write anything political or against Iran's rules, you will be fine." Mr. Taster -- who has a large Facebook following -- discussed how he is excelling at building a personal brand on Facebook, despite the country's restrictions to keep people off social media sites during the 2012 Reykjavik Internet Marketing Conference in Iceland. "We actually think the proxy is being controlled by the government itself," Mr. Taster said. "The VPN goes dead before an election or important thing, so they can still control the servers." He is one of the many Iranian citizens accessing Facebook and other banned sites. Despite the limitations, he is embracing social media to reach a target audience and grow his brand like many small businesses are doing worldwide. The Mr. Taster Facebook page, which is an extension of MrTaster.com, is a destination for Iranians to look at pictures he's taken of food from his world travels, talk about cuisine and share stories of his adventures. "I try to make the Facebook page fun and interactive," Mr. Taster told attendees. "I post pictures and videos from restaurants I love and make the site a place that people want to keep visiting." The page has more than 50,000 Likes, and a high-engagement rate with its fans and followers. It also brings about 4,000 to 5,000 page views to MrTaster.com from Facebook every day. "Engagement is so important," Mr. Taster said. "People love to interact on online, but they get bored fast, too. You have to keep it fun, authentic and real. I'm honest about the food I try and it opens people up to discussion." Although many other citizens are also building brands on sites banned by the government, the country continues to enforce content-control via its own filter service. Iran has previously used content-control software called SmartFilter provided by or illegally stolen from San Jose, Calif.-based software firm Secure Computer. (The company denies ever working with Iran to set up the filter). The software used by Iran blocks a variety of websites beyond just social media, including pornography sites, news media and political pages. Some countries, such as Egypt, have taken drastic measures to turn off the Internet to prohibit its citizens from accessing certain sites. But Iran relies on the Internet to conduct transactions and e-commerce, so shutting down the web would cause a social and economic backlash. Iranians continue to get around the system by using proxy servers to avoid the ban. The U.S. has been providing a server to allow Iranian citizens access blocked pages since 2003. Navigating around the ban allows brands such as Mr. Taster to be recognized on a national level and also create fans and buzz in other countries. "There is still so much more I want to do," Mr. Taster said. "I set goals for my vision -- from getting new Facebook fans to increasing engagement on the page -- and think of creative ways to get there. I've been holding gift giveaways to get fans excited, involved and willing to share with others." |
| 12 Top Community Managers Share Their Tips for Better Engagement | | Thursday, March 15, 2012 1:22 PM | Lauren Drell |
|  The Customer Experience Series is supported by Webtrends. Unified digital marketing maximizes return on every campaign, every digital channel. Watch the video, get the whitepaper. Engagement is one of the most talked about metrics for ROI. Some argue that the raw number of "Likes", comments and retweets don't mean anything. Instead, they point to a fans' level of investment, loyalty and engagement to determine whether social media is "paying off." A community manager -- or social media manager or brand manager, etc. -- is responsible for growing this community, providing interesting content and increasing engagement, which should ultimately lead to increased revenue. Mashable gathered tips from top community managers to help you boost activity on your social platforms -- they're grouped into various engagement-inducing "actions" below. The individuals we spoke with have built up engaged audiences for brands, such as Gap, JetBlue, Instagram and Jetsetter, so they know a thing or two about community building. Calling for Offline Activity "Connect to something physical: As a business with brick-and-mortar locations, our engagement in social media is only as powerful as its ability to also create engagement in our stores. In January, we ran a New Year's campaign, inviting customers to share their New Year's resolutions on Post-Its in our storefronts as well as on Twitter with the #sweet2012 hashtag. Customers covered the windows of our locations with thousands of Post-Its sharing their goals for the new year, like "run a marathon" and "get a job I'm passionate about" or (my favorite) "ask her to marry me." By the end of the campaign, we'd collected over 2,000 post-its, and saw hundreds of tweets come through our #sweet2012 microsite online. Digital-to-physical tip for brick-and-mortar locations: Hashtags are increasingly part of the savvy consumer's vernacular. You can use them in physical signage to share sentiments or themes for campaigns the same way you would on Twitter, all while providing a 'secret invitation' to tweet and get social." -- McKee Floyd, director of brand development at Sweetgreen "Don't make delighting your community members a one-time incident. Create a lasting relationship with your users: After you establish a personal connection for the first time, reach out to them again for feedback, invite them to a Meetup/Hangout, or send them a holiday card. Demonstrating that you remember and value them as individuals makes a huge difference." -- Teresa Wu, community manager at Google Docs "Encourage members of your community to meet up with one another and form teams based around shared interests or a common location. Help these groups get the tools they need (educational material, access to meeting space, etc.) to become successful grassroots organizations. Promoting these peer networks is an excellent way to jumpstart engagement and help people feel supported by and invested in your mission." -- Morgan Evans, community strategist at Etsy "Do you have a conference, training session or event coming up where individuals will be meeting in person and spending several days together? Set up a community several weeks prior to the event and have them join. Place all logistical materials here and open it up with a simple questions like, "Where are you from?" and "What is your role at _____?" for them. This way, they not only get used to using the community, they are beyond small talk by the time they meet in person. Bonus: House all your materials in the community; no more binders!" -- Mike Fraietta, enterprise community manager at News Corp Letting Them Know You Care "Give the community a voice: Our blog is our main channel for news and community highlights. It's the place we go to feature great photos and users, showcase how different types of people are using Instagram, and give new users tips on how to get more involved in the community. We post daily and are always on the lookout for interesting stories to tell. When we do feature a user, we make sure they know it -- we want folks to be proud of their involvement in the community and know that we appreciate them." -- Josh Riedel, community manager at Instagram "Crowdsource content across platforms: Cross-pollinate content across your social media channels, playing to each channel's individual strength. Websites like statigr.am or HootSuite are great tools to coordinate this type of tactic. At Sweetgreen, we're always on the lookout for our favorite Instagram photos tagged #sweetgreen. We share those on our Facebook Page with a shout-out to the Instagram photog. Our Facebook fans see the image and make the connection to head to our Instagram page, and our Instagram photographers get love from the shout-out. By pairing the creativity of Instagram with the viral quality of Facebook, you double the power of your campaign and engage multiple user bases. Cross-pollination tip for consumer brands: Photos or content featuring your product or branding are priceless. Use a tool like statigr.am to share these photos easily on your Pinterest page or Facebook Page. Always give a shout out to the creator -- they'll appreciate the kudos and keep spreading your brand love." -- McKee Floyd, director of brand development at Sweetgreen "Get to know your customer service team: Jetsetter's member service team answers over 2,000 customer service questions per week via phone and email, but also via Facebook and Twitter. Members love that they can get instant answers to their questions. Communication managers need to be very close to their member support teams. Answering questions via social platforms is a different beast and even the most seasoned customer service specialist will need training on social media interaction. So get to know the folks who interact with your members. Not only does it improve your response time, but together, you can learn a lot about your customers." -- Jonathan Goldmann, social media manager at Jetsetter "Identify leaders within your community and support these people as much as possible. They are some of your most valuable assets. Reach out to them, chat on the phone, buy them coffee, take a walk together. Use these opportunities to listen to how they feel about your brand/business and find out what resources you could provide." -- Morgan Evans, community strategist at Etsy "Fast Company is fortunate enough to have a very supportive and thriving online community of whip-smart professionals who are independent enough to have these really awesome in-depth conversations about our content on their own. Sometimes they want to know you are listening, which means it's your responsibility to read and respond. Other times they want to have a spirited debate and as a brand it's difficult to know when to get out of the way. My advice to you is: step back early! It's much harder to show restraint, but your community will thank you for allowing them to run." -- Sheena Medina, community manager at Fast Company "I work out of our corporate office mostly, but when I am in the restaurants I like to pay close attention to our @-mentions and keyword searches. Once, a guest tweeted that she was served a warm beer to her hundred-something followers. I was able to figure out who she was by her picture and have a manager send over a new, ice-cold beer, even though she never asked her waitress for one. It was definitely a social media surprise-and-delight moment for me, and she left a happy customer." -- Morgan Brady, social media & events coordinator at Southern Hospitality and Strawberry's Sports Grill Responding to Feedback "Ask your customers what they think. This might not sound very exciting, but it's key to our social media and community engagement strategy. We do weekly posts on Facebook, for example, called "Feedback Friday" where we share one of our favorite products and ask our fans, "Have you tried this? What did you think?" This allows us to get customer feedback and also allows us to build community because responders inevitably enter into conversation with one another. We also respond to questions and comments ourselves directly in the Facebook thread. We've found our 'Feedback Friday' comments are overwhelmingly positive and these touts garner more responses than our typical posts, on average. We recently invited our Facebook fans to vote between two bestselling products to determine which one we'd run a promotion on. We received over 600 votes in the form of Facebook comments. Our fans' comments expressed that they were thrilled to have the opportunity to show support for a product that they'd either loved in their box, or hadn't received but wanted to try. We even do this on Pinterest. Two of our most popular boards are the "Your Birchboxes" and "Un-Boxing Videos" boards where we promote images and videos our customers have shared on Twitter and YouTube of their monthly boxes. By encouraging and applauding our community when they tell us what they think, we build both community and loyalty." -- Rachel Silver, community manager at Birchbox "Listen: The community is what makes Instagram so special. From day one, we've made every effort to pay close attention to what our users are saying -- through Twitter, Facebook, email, our App Store reviews and the app itself -- and that hasn't changed. Forming relationships with all different types of users has -- and always will -- help shape our thinking as we work to grow and nurture the community." -- Josh Riedel, community manager at Instagram "Meet effort with effort. Every user who takes the time to engage with your brand should be acknowledged and cared about like they were friends of yours on your personal social networks. That means answer everything, but more importantly care about everything (and everyone) who cares about your brand. Highlighting the people who champion your brand spreads the most goodwill and usually results in the most 'Likes', comments, retweets, etc." -- Jonathan Goldmann, social media manager at Jetsetter Nailing Your Tone "You can't force it. It has to be authentic. When it comes to engaging our members, our philosophy is to keep it real. You can't force or trick people into sharing -- they'll see right through it. We engage our members by presenting them with fun, unexpected, colorful, smile-worthy design inspirations every day. When you discover a design that makes you smile -- whether it's a vintage University of Michigan t-shirt (Go Blue!) or a giant inflatable elephant -- you want to tell your friends." -- Melissa Klein, VP of communications at Fab "Understand that not every brand or company is going to be able to use social media in the same way. Take some time to gain clarity about what your brand is, and let those insights inform your process in the social space." Sheena Medina, community manager at Fast Company Thinking Outside the Box "Participate in interest communities that will allow you to produce and curate content around passion points your brand shares with consumers, e.g. food, music, fashion." -Rachel Tipograph, director of global digital and social media at Gap "Look for inspiration in all different places: You might be surprised what will inspire you to think creatively about engaging your community. While it's helpful to look to other online communities for inspiration, you may also find inspiration outside of the tech world. In the past few days, I've found essays about imagination and community, as well as city planning, just as thought-provoking as pieces like the one you're reading now." Josh Riedel, community manager at Instagram "It's a mistake to think that social networks are designed solely to drive revenue and traffic, so it's best to make your content social by design. Rather than solely marketing your product and promotions, we like to use our content to start conversations around travel and inspire users take cooler vacations." -- Jonathan Goldmann, social media manager at Jetsetter Using Visuals "Photos can be worth 1,000 words (or posts): Our community comes to Jetsetter for our vacation recommendations and reviews, but it's the photos that people are most passionate about. Our photo-driven content gets the most user engagement in Facebook and Pinterest. We have stunning photography and engaged fans who love to share the pictures we provide and talk about their own experiences with that destination. Also, our Jetsetter team is constantly traveling the globe and when they do, they share their own photo albums, which are popular among our members." -- Jonathan Goldmann, social media manager at Jetsetter Making Connections "If you're looking to increase engagement, the question you should answer is: How can we continue to strive for meaning? At its core, social media is about making a real connection with something you care about. And it's about building communities -- which really means building relationships. You don't have to be an "expert" to build a relationship, you just have to be invested and fully present. Your audience will immediately recognize the value you create if every decision you make is centered around bringing meaning to your community. It may sound simple, and that's because it is. All it takes is a few conversations with people that really care, and you're well on your way to an engaged and flourishing community." -- Sheena Medina, community manager at Fast Company "At Zaarly, we do everything we can to build a stronger emotional connection with the buyers and sellers on our site. Sellers are especially important to us, because they're the ones that add value to the marketplace, and who will come back and use Zaarly regularly. There are three forms of engagement that we focus on: Engagement with the product, engagement with the brand and engagement with other users. Product engagement very feature driven -- simply, what can we build into our product that will keep users coming back? Brand engagement is more human -- it's being very responsive when people contact support or talk about us online. It's reaching out to people that are using our platform, and talking to them on the phone for a half an hour. It's following them on Twitter and responding to their tweets, even if they're not talking about Zaarly. Every time you can genuinely engage a user on a personal level, you have the opportunity to strengthen their connection with your brand. Engaging with users is also very human, but in a different way. Now that you have people who are highly engaged with your brand, the goal is to connect them with each other. People like to feel like they belong to a community. When they feel a stronger connection to other people in the context of your brand, they'll naturally feel a stronger connection with your brand overall. Creating private groups on Facebook, or forums are a good way to accomplish this. And you don't have to make the conversation about you or your brand. As long as these people are connecting around a common interest, you'll be building a true community and it will result in a lot of amazingly engaged users." -- David Spinks, director of community at Zaarly "I've recently started using SproutSocial, and it's absolutely stellar for a brick-and-mortar business. The CRM and reporting tools are fantastic, as well as the ability to track Foursquare check-ins, which I take complete advantage of. It tells me who has their Foursquare linked to their Twitter, so I am able to see who they are, reach out and thank them for the visit, find out what they ordered, how the service was etc. I do this proactively at least three times a week. This allows me to gauge popular menu items, customer service (both when praise is deserved for staff and when issues need to be brought to management), the types of crowds particular promotions/events are bringing in, etc." -- Morgan Brady, social media & events coordinator at Southern Hospitality and Strawberry's Sports Grill What's your favorite tip? Tell us in the comments below, and let us know if you have any tips of your own. Series supported by Webtrends
The Customer Experience Series is supported by Webtrends. Start optimizing your digital offers by presenting your users with the most relevant content and personalized experiences possible. Want to get started? Get the whitepaper. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, SimmiSimons |
| Kansas Jayhawks Win Social Media's March Madness | | Thursday, March 15, 2012 12:51 PM | Sam Laird |
|  If the NCAA championship was determined by which school's fans are most tuned in to social media, Kansas would take out Duke in the national title game. Underdogs Memphis and West Virginia would be March Madness's cinderella stories. Tiny Loyola would pull off a first round shocker over Ohio State, and top seeds Kentucky and Michigan State would be headed for second round exits. This is all according to the latest March Madness number-crunching from a research group at the communications agency Schwartz MSL. The group's formula is simple, but effective: Take the combined followers of a school's team on Facebook and Twitter, then divide that number by total student body population. That student body handicap probably explains how a small school like Loyola, with an undergrad population of some 4,000 students, can upset massive Ohio State, which has some 43,000 undergraduates. Kansas scores a "Social Media Power Ranking" of 5.2 on the strength of its 18,000 Twitter followers and 137,000 Facebook fans. Smaller Duke, which finished second in the social media Big Dance, scores a 4.6 behind its 36,000 Twitter followers and nearly 40,000 Facebook fans. It's Duke's second strong showing in nerdy, digitally-focused rankings for March Madness. On Monday, Mashable brought you findings from the mobile app Thuuz, which rates games on a 0-100 excitement scale, to notify users when a contest has reached one's thrill threshold. Averaging those findings from the entire season, Thuuz ranked Duke as the tournament's most exciting team. Kansas ranked fourteenth by excitement, according to Thuuz. To see what the entire March Madness bracket would look like if social media were the decider, click here. BONUS: March Madness Must-Follows |
| Foursquare on Facebook: Hands on With the New Timeline Integration | | Thursday, March 15, 2012 11:23 AM | Sarah Kessler |
|  Foursquare has launched a new Facebook integration that puts a checkin scorecard on Timelines. The new integration rolled out this week and was recently demoed at a Facebook event in Austin during South by Southwest. "Foursquare has obviously already been on Facebook for a while," explains Foursquare project manager Noah Weiss. "What this does is add structure." Users who connect their Foursquare accounts to their Facebook accounts will see a new Foursquare Timeline module that displays recent checkin activity as well as total checkins and top places for the month. It looks like this: When checkins appear in the Newsfeed, they'll be plotted on a map and include other friends that are checked in at the same location. Here's how that will look: Photos posted with Foursquare checkins will also get some Facebook exposure. This is how they'll look in the Newsfeed: Facebook removed its mobile-only checkin feature in August and revamped its location function so that it works more like a tag on status updates, photos or wall posts. The switch makes Facebook less competitive with checkin services like Foursquare and a better platform for such services to integrate with. How do you like the new Foursquare integration? Let us know in the comments. |
| How Rihanna Used a Groupon Strategy on Facebook to Launch Her Album | | Thursday, March 15, 2012 11:13 AM | Todd Wasserman |
|  The Behind the Social Media Campaign Series is supported by Oneupweb, a relentless digital marketing agency focused on search, social, and design for mid-to-enterprise level brands. Take your Facebook marketing to the next level. Download this FREE study, Facebook Marketing: 8 Tactics to Measure and Improve ROI, sponsored by Oneupweb. Even if you're Rihanna, you can't just drop an album these days and rely on your fame to propel it up the charts. Just as A-list Hollywood actors are compelled to go on talk shows to promote their new movies, top-tier singers have to make the rounds when a new album comes out. However, when it came time to promote Talk That Talk last fall, Rihanna was on tour. "It was a timing issue," says Jules Ferree, senior director of digital for Island Def Jam, the label behind the release. "It definitely happens in other instances. It's not uncommon, but it's not ideal." Years ago, you'd be out of luck if that happened, but in the social media age, Universal was able to find a Rihanna substitute of sorts. Doing so harnessed the singer's huge social media following. Rihanna currently has 53.4 million Facebook fans, which makes her the second most popular musician on Facebook, behind Eminem. (At this writing, Lady Gaga was number three with 49 million fans.) With Rihanna consumed by her tour, the challenge was to give all those fans something to do on Facebook, preferably something that promoted the new album. Universal's solution was UNLOCKED, a Facebook app that tapped an idea pioneered by Groupon -- the "tipping point strategy." The app challenged listeners to "like" a page and then go on missions to uncover content. For example, fans were asked to submit a certain amount of fake lyrics to earn the lyric sheet for Rihanna's album. Other unlocks included Rihanna's new "R" logo, the single "We Found Love," Rihanna's new website, the album's release date and its cover. However, such content only became available when a critical mass of fans were on board for the mission. The idea of creating a timeline of events to keep fans engaged over a period of time isn't new. Before social media, labels would prime the pump by having the artists appear on radio shows and leak some details here and there. "Every album release has a certain rhythm to it," says Alex Morrison, executive vice president of AgencyNet, the digital shop that worked on the effort. "Before, we used to drop Now we're lettingfind them." Did it work? AgencyNet has rattled off the following metrics: Fans generated more than 928,000 total "stories." The campaign prompted 118,000 tweets a day during the launch month, which comes out to 5,000 tweets per hour. The effort resulted in 420 million total Facebook Wall impressions. But did it sell albums? Talk That Talk entered the Billboard charts at number three with first-week sales of 198,000, slightly less than Rihanna's last album, Loud, which sold 207,000 copies in its first week and debuted at number two. The single "We Found Love," meanwhile, was the most listened-to song on Facebook in 2011 and has since gone triple-platinum. (Of course, the Facebook campaign didn't run in isolation. The same month the album dropped, Rihanna was featured on the cover of Esquire mostly nude and behind the caption, "The Sexiest Woman Alive.") While the results may or may not prove sales success, Morrison says that's not necessarily the point. In the social media age, artists like Rihanna are brands who are in it for the long haul. It's a far cry from the '50s and '60s, when artists were seen as a disposable component on the assembly line. "The idea of this is we're building a brand platform with Rihanna," he says. "We're marketing not as one-off, but as something where you can really create a brand platform." Series supported by Oneupweb
The Behind the Social Media Campaign Series is supported by Oneupweb, a relentless digital marketing agency focused on search, social, and design for mid-to-enterprise level brands. Take your Facebook marketing to the next level by incorporating these proven tactics to maximize your bottom line. Download this FREE study, Facebook Marketing: 8 Tactics to Measure and Improve ROI, sponsored by Oneupweb. |
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