It’s been another busy week in social media. Facebook announced it’s IPO (initial public offering which means anyone can now buy shares) so there’s been a flood of posts about the now public information on Mark Zuckerberg, what he spends his money on and how much he earns. I’ve decided to ignore this in my links below because as yet we don’t know what, if any effect it will have on our user experience.
New Google Privacy Policy
This story has been around longer than a week. Essentially Google are merging their 60 different privacy policies into one making it easier for users to understand. I’ve been searching for a good, user friendly article on the topic and this one from Hubspot popped up. I quite like the simplicity of the new policy, although any change tends to worry users this just simplifies what was already there. It’s also fun to see who Google thinks you are, click this link and you may be surprised at the results. I’ve had lots of friends assigned the wrong gender or being aged significantly. For me the results are disappointing, they can’t work out who I am at all (see above).
There’s been a steady growth in news stories about Pinterest since the new year but this week it exploded. It seems a day hasn’t passed without a new story hitting my feed about how much traffic it drives to websites. I’m pretty new to Pinterest, like many of the new users I joined when Facebook added it’s new Timeline apps. It’s fun and easy to use and gives us even more incentive to include fabulous images on our websites. I’m going to be posting my first Pinterest tutorial later on today to help you get started with the basics.
For those of you who have missed the phenomenon Pinterest is a social bookmarking/sharing site where you ‘pin’ cool images you find on the web to virtual pin boards within the site. If you bookmark directly from a website a click on the image will bring you to the page it originated from.
Last week I talked about the new Twitter policy that will ‘withhold’ tweets in certain countries. This week popular Google owned blogging platform ‘Blogger’ has followed suit. When content from a blog is considered inappropriate for a region the page will re-direct. I’m still unhappy with this sort of censorship and wonder how it will effect the future of the Internet. This post from Read Write Web asks if it’s better to have no Twitter / Blogger or to have a censored version. It’s a good question, to me both solutions are censorship but I imagine that both can be easily bypassed if you have the tech knowledge.
One of my favourite reads of the week from Jay Baer on the Convince & Convert blog is the story of an Influencer marketing campaign. Indianapolis is hosting the 2012 Superbowl and as part of their marketing strategy they used Klout (that gives you a score out of 100 for your social media influence) to choose 46 people to help promote the town and the event. The 46 were given a goodie bag and tickets to the event in exchange for sharing on social sites. If you read on you’ll see that the campaign didn’t go exactly to plan. It’s a great read even to see from the inside how an influencer outreach plan works. It’s even convinced me to have another look at Klout!
My two top takeaways are not to let spammy links from other people clog up your wall and to tell people why they should like your Facebook page.
15 Cool Twitter Tools
For those of you who are likers of my Facebook page you will know that I run a weekly feature ‘Monday Morning Cool Tool’ where I showcase a simple social media tool that is either fun or will help you with your marketing. I love gadgets and I think my love of social media tools springs from this. That’s why this article on ‘15 Twitter tools to boost your online presence and productivity‘ grabbed my attention. I’ll be playing with these over the next few weeks for my Facebook article, but be warned they will eat time!
Facebook is often considered a purely Business to Consumer, or Consumer to Consumer tool but there are some tools out there that allow you to forge business relationships. Here’s my videocast on how to use Facebook to build business relationships.
If you read or write a great social media article this week leave a link in the comments below and they may appear in next weeks roundup.
It doesn’t take long to find heroes in the social media world. OK I really hate the word hero, I know everyone has their good and bad points so perhaps the term ‘leader’ is a closer description. I know I’m not alone in my choice of top social media leaders, I admire Brian Solis for his deep analysis of the psychology of social media and how it changes business, Mari Smith for knowing everything about Facebook, there’s even a few in Ireland but I’m not going to embarrass them by naming them here. For me Chris Brogan is top of the heap. I’ve been reading his blog for as long as I’ve been interested in social media but it wasn’t until I saw this video that I was totally sold.
So what was it that attracted me to him from this video? It was his giving more than you take, or sharing rather than broadcasting philosophy. This is something I try and mirror at Spiderworking.com and although I don’t quite manage his 12:1 suggested ratio of sharing v promoting, giving more than taking is a rule that will stand you in good stead whenever you use social media. But it’s not just that video, Chris is a full on blogger, he blogs daily but still finds time to Tweet, update Google+ videocast, write books and work. This is the stuff our leaders need to be made of. Although this is a work ethic most of us would struggle to attain it does give us a goal to aspire to.
Last year when Google+ was launched I felt I began to find out more about Chris, he’s very open on his social network and shares a lot about his life. This human side is something that many business owners forget about, sharing your interests can help you find conversations that make business relationships stronger. It may seem trivial but my love of cats, cycling and cakes often become an ice breaker at network meetings.
Of course no leader is perfect! In the interest of balance I thought I’d try and discover his flaws. Chris doesn’t seem to be the biggest fan of Facebook, in fact when Google+ opened he famously left a profile image on his page saying ‘Moved to Google+’ (although I note his profile is still there and converted to timeline). Even in the video above he refers to Facebook as “…people from High School that you didn’t like trying to re-friend you”.
He has such a huge following that it’s easy for him to see benefits of Google+ or any other network he chooses to join. These benefits may not be there for the rest of us yet. For me the jury is still out on G+ as a social network and without a passionate following the size of his it can seem like a struggle. It’s easy to loose your perspective on a new network when you have a ready made community as Chris does. Google must be delighted to have such a strong advocate on board but for me it’s going to be when more ‘normal’ people start using the network that we will see the real benefits.
These are both minor quibbles, I find it hard to find anything to dislike about Chris or his approach, I even Googled ‘I hate Chris Brogan’ and ‘I don’t like Chris Brogan’ with virtually no results.
It’s for all of the above reasons that I’m really looking forward to attending Social Media World Forum (#SMWF) in London this March. He’s the keynote speaker and I’m sure there will be loads to learn from him. If you want to join me the event takes place on 27th & 28th of March 2012, tickets can be bought here.
If you can’t make it in person I’ll be tweeting, follow the tag #SMWF to keep up with the events on the day.
Do you have a top business leader, one that would make you travel to a conference to see them speak? Who am I missing? Leave your suggestions below.
Here’s my roundup of the top social media stories that I’ve read this week. I’ve really enjoyed reading some of these and learnt loads from others… and the Twitter censorship one even got me a little bit mad! Drop back next week for another social 7.
1. Hanging out with Obama
It looks like Obama will retain his crown as ‘social media president’ as he plans to host a Google+ hang out at the end of the month. He will hang out with ‘up to 9 others’ and answer questions submitted via social media. I’m wondering how they will select the 9 lucky people who get to join the hangout!
2. Twitter Censorship
Twitter announced last night that they will be ‘witholding tweets’ from being viewed in specific countries. Although they state on their blog that:
“Some [countries ideas on freedom of expression] differ so much from our ideas that we will not be able to exist there. Others are similar but, for historical or cultural reasons, restrict certain types of content, such as France or Germany, which ban pro-Nazi content.”
I can’t help but feel a little worried at this development and although Twitter seem to have thought this out well is it the beginning of a fully censored social web?
I got an email from Picnik, the web based photo editing site at the beginning of the week announcing that they would be closing in April. Although it’s not an application I use often myself it is an invaluable tool for non-techies who need to create profile images for social networks or resize and edit images for blog posts.
Luckily there are alternatives. I’m investigating Aviary that rather cleverly announced it’s Facebook app shortly after the Picnik announcement. Here’s more on Aviary from the Venture Beat blog.
(yes I cheated and added three stories to this section, but it’s hard to fit it all in to 7 sometimes!)
5. Could you be fooled by a Twitter bot?
I found this a fascinating read. A team of researchers not only managed to spark conversation on Twitter via a bot but they also managed to connect humans to each other and increase human to human interaction.
6. Google+ SEO – A Guide
SEO, or at least Google optimisation is in the midst of a massive transformation. This is a huge but worthwhile guide to Google+ and how it impacts search. One that I’m going to have to delve into deeper.
7. The Importance Of Blogging For Business
A crowdsourced article on the blogging for business from Write On Track. Including tips on why you should blog, the basics of blogging and how to get readers.
As long term readers of my blog will know I’ve been videocasting for over 2 years now. A recent look at my YouTube stats tells me that the majority of my viewers are Men between 40-60 based in the USA. Not exactly my target market but I know from customers and friends that there are enough people in Ireland watching them to still be of benefit to me. I’ve also gained new customers and leads through my videocast and now when I go to a big networking event at least one person always recognises me from my videos, this makes it a lot easier to break the ice.
I was delighted to spot two Irish businesses videocasting in 2012.
Dee Sewell from Greensideup created her first video on her phone and edited on Windows Movie Maker, this proves that almost anyone can make a video, you no longer need fancy equipment now you can shoot and even edit on your phone.
So if you’re inspired to get video blogging in 2012 Here’s my tips for getting started on the right foot
Shoot Landscape
Always shoot video landscape, so that the frame resembles your TV screen. There are so many devices you can shoot video on now that the traditional landscape frame seems to be abandoned by some. Portrait videos are appearing on my Facebook stream and although this is fine for personal posts for business we need to conform to the current norm.
Keep it short
The attention span of YouTube viewers is notoriously short so it’s important to keep your videos short and to the point. I try to keep mine under three minutes (but often fail). If it’s longer you need to be able to keep it compelling throughout. There is a fascinating matrix on your YouTube analytics that shows you ‘audience retention’ it allows you to see on average how long people watch your video for.
Framing
Think about the framing of your shots. I found this handy guide to framing shots for all occasions. Although it refers to photography it is just as relevant for video. If you are filming yourself make sure you are framed properly, that you have the top of your head in shot but not too much space above your head. See the examples below.
If you want to include something else in the frame; a banner or something that symbolises your business make sure it’s fully visible in the shot. Check that it doesn’t look like something is growing out of your head or arm as this can prove distracting to your audience.
Start Small
If you’re not ready for a full length video yet try shooting some quick tips and uploading them to Tout. I’ve just started using this for my weekly ‘Twitter Tip’. You can only post 15 second updates so it’s good practice at being concise. You can shoot them straight from your phone and if editing is required it’s generally just to top and tail the shot. I’ve been using iMovie for iPhone to edit and there are a number of Android apps that are just as good. VidTrim Pro gets good reviews. If you are using a good Android app for video editing do let me know.
Look Directly At The Camera
The lens of the camera is your audience so it’s important to make eye contact with it. Make sure you look directly down the barrel of the lens when addressing your audience. Eye contact will help you hold your viewers attention the same way it would in real life. When setting up your shot try and position your camera at eye level so that you are neither looking up or down at your audience.
Don’t be vein!
It can be one of the hardest things to see yourself on video and hear your own voice recorded. Recording video on a regular basis will help you cure this. Record yourself every day for around a minute and play it back just to get used to the process. Don’t obsess about the way you look.
Tony Blackburn smile
BBC Radio 1 DJ Tony Blackburn once said that he always smiled when he talked on the radio and this smile would translate into his voice. This is (obviously) even more relevant when making video. You don’t need a Cheshire Cat style grin but a smile will help you connect with your audience in a way a frown never will.
Re Take
I think it took me around 30 takes to get my first video right. I manage it a lot quicker these days but as my Christmas gag reel will tell you it sometimes still takes me a good few goes to get it right. Don’t worry if it takes you a long time to get it right, be strict with yourself, if you stumble over a word or get something wrong, start again!
Uploading to YouTube
I could write a whole blog post on optimising your videos for YouTube, but many people already have. But here are the basics
Title – Give your video a strong and compelling title explaining exactly what it’s about. ’How To’ or ’10 ways to’ videos seem to get the best views for me but as long as the title is enticing people will be interested enough to click play.
Description – If you want viewers to visit your website make sure you add your web address (including the http://) into the description box. Write a short synopsis of the video underneath this.
Tags – Use relevant tags to notify YouTube users what your video is about. The relevance is important as you want to attract users who are looking for your video. Attracting the wrong viewers will just result in viewer drop off early on in your video.
Are you video blogging? Do you have any tips I’ve left out?
This week we’ve had an announcement from Facebook, the SOPA blackout and I’ve read some great articles on Google+, social media measurement, and a couple of home grown articles. Here’s my pick of the week.
SOPA
The SOPA blackout was the big story of the week. Wikipedia, Boing Boing & Reddit led the way in a blackout against SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) in the US. So far it looks like the campaign has succeeded with many senators withdrawing their backing of the bill. A big hat tip to Kro IT Solutions and Carnsore Broadband, two of the Irish companies that also observed the blackout.
It was lovely to see so many diverse sites and people coming together over this one issue. Google in the states blocked out their Google Doodle and Mark Zuckerberg took to twitter as well as updating his subscribers on Facebook with his statements against the bill, a rare example of these two rivals agreeing on something.
Here’s Storyful’s collection of information about the SOPA blackout and an explanation of the act itself.
This parody song ‘The Day The Lolcats Died’ had me in stitches
New Facebook Apps
Facebook announced 60 new apps that will integrate with the new Timeline profiles. I was delighted to see some of my favourites on the list including Goodreads and Foodspotting. These apps will have deeper integration with Timeline and will introduce new verbs into the Facebook lexicon. So watch out for ‘Amanda has read’ or ‘Amanda is eating’. It will be interesting to see how this develops, will these updates just irritate friends?
Not a new article but one I discovered this week, this brilliant post on measuring social media, the metrics you need to measure and how to collate them. It even includes a handy download to simplify the process.
A great start to understanding measurement although it lacks a focus on ROI (return on investment) it does give you the tools to measure the virility of your campaign
QR Codes
QR codes are endlessly fascinating to me but until now I’d failed to see the relevance of linking them to information rather than a web page. This post from Convince and Convert blog was an eye opener. Some great ideas that has changed my rather one dimensional thinking about them.
A Best Practice Guide To Using Online Video
I predict that 2012 is going to be the year of the videocast. I’ll be talking about this more in the next week or so. If you’re thinking of starting, or have started but feel you need some guidance here’s a great post on some best practice tips via Social Media Today.
Google+
Two excellent posts from Social Media Examiner this week on Google+ for business. So good that I couldn’t choose one so am cheating a bit and featuring them both here.
If you’ve read a great social media article this week, or if you’ve written one leave it in the comments below and I might fit it in to next weeks roundup.
I met someone last week who wondered if I still ran Spiderworking.com. The reason? She ‘Liked’ my Facebook page but hadn’t seen any updates from me in months. Since Facebook made it’s latest changes to the newsfeed at the end of last year reports have been coming in of page updates not appearing in the stream. Page owners also saw a significant drop in their page and post views and a new statistic appeared on our pages ‘talking about’. All of this combined means that if we really want users to see our updates we need to encourage interaction, the ‘talking about’ stat has become the most important insight on our page.
So how can you encourage more interaction on your Facebook page? I’ve been experimenting and here’s what I’ve found works so far.
Always look for feedback
Whenever I post something to Facebook I ask for feedback, instead of posting a link and saying what it’s about, I think about why I’m sharing it and add my thoughts and ask others for their opinions. I try to end most posts with a question mark. This has been a valuable tool for me and has helped me gather ideas and content for blog posts amongst other things.
Other effective tricks I’ve seen other pages use for getting feedback are posts with a missing word (see below), or asking for ‘three words to describe’. Giving likers something simple to do will encourage more engagement than asking for a long opinion.
If your posts are no longer appearing on the newsfeeds of all your fans you need to be reaching them elsewhere. Posting links to Facebook posts on Twitter and asking for feedback is an effective way of widening the conversation beyond those who pick up your stories on Facebook. Facebook users no longer need to like a page to comment on it so you may find you will get more interaction from new users this way.
I try and post one Facebook discussion a day to Twitter and have found it effective for getting new comments, all of these are hugely valuable not just for encouraging sharing but again for garnering opinion on topics that I can translate into blog posts or content in the future.
Use a variety of content
It’s widely agreed that images and videos have better edgerank than other types of content. Images and video are also more visually attractive to users, they will catch your eye the way a status update or a simple link won’t. When I’m posting a status update I try and find an image that illustrates my point and add it to the update. It’s important to include a variety of content types on your page and I wouldn’t recommend using the image trick for every update. People get tired of the same content and you will discover that video and links will reach different users than images and status updates.
Running a competition on Facebook will get lots of people talking about your page. Use an app like ShortStack that allows you to configure sharing, this way people who enter will be prompted to tell their friends. If you have an active user base running a photo contest that is judged by Facebook users will encourage competition entrants to share your page with all of their friends.
This should really have been my first point. Creating compelling content that people will want to share will always encourage interaction and shares. I always recommend creating a content schedule for Facebook, you can download a blank schedule word document here. Think about when you are going to post and what sort of content you are going to post on each day. This will make it easier for you to find content to share and encourage consistent posting.
Carry a camera and a notebook with you everywhere and look out for photo opportunities that will work on your page. I find the voice memo device on my phone invaluable and am always recording snippets of ideas when I have them.
What have I left out? How do you encourage engagement on your Facebook page? Let me know… leave a comment.
One of the things I enjoy most about my job is the reading and research. I could spend all day reading the fascinating articles that pop up in my Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Google Reader streams, so much so that I have to limit the time I spend doing this every day. For 2012 I thought it would be fun to share my top reads of the week with you. So here’s my first round up. If you read a great article this week that you’d like to share leave it in the comments box and you may find it popping up in next weeks roundup.
Facebook ads in Newsfeed
Facebook rolled out ‘featured stories’ this week. These are ad’s that will appear in a users news feed. It will be interesting to see how this one pans out. Will Facebook users resent seeing adverts directly in their streams? Will companies be cautious of using these ad’s in case it upsets potential customers?
Google Search Plus Your World
At the beginning of the week Google announced that it is changing the way we search by making it more social and prioritising results from our Google+ contacts. For a better explanation on how it works and a good example involving werewolves read the Matt Cutts blog.
101 Social Business ROI Examples
I discovered this story yesterday and it’s since become quite controversial. Why? Social ROI (return on investment) is a hot topic within the social media world. We’re always looking for new ways to measure it and this post outlines some fantastic examples of successful campaigns. It’s controversial because of it’s title. These are success stories but it doesn’t go into enough detail. It doesn’t tell us what goals were set, what matrix’s were used to measure it or what costs were involved in running the campaign.
If you’re in Ireland and want to find out more about measuring the results of your social media campaigns check out Measurement.ie a one day conference on the subject in Dublin. Run by Damien Mulley and sponsored by DoneDeals.ie it’s one I won’t be missing.
Chris Brogan On Twitter
Whenever I see a post titled ‘Get More Twitter Followers‘ my heart drops. In this case though it’s all good advice. There’s no advocating automated following, mass following or anything else that would boost numbers without adding value. Chris Brogan shares his ideas on how to build your follower count by nurturing your community and posting valuable content.
How To Keep Your New Years Blogging Resolutions
I’m cheekily adding in one of my own links here. This week I asked people what their social media new years resolutions were and I found that almost everyone (including me) listed blogging more. In fact this post is part of me fulfilling that resolution. Here are three tips on how to keep those resolutions but I’m always looking for new suggestions.
Beatrice Whelan’s Prezi on SEO for Bloggers
On Monday we had our first KLCK Bloggers meetup of the year and this is Beatrice Whelan’s excellent presentation on SEO for bloggers. I also asked some of the attendees to share the tips they had picked up for our videocast. You’ll find that on our Podcast page later on today. I should also mention that it was Beatrice that introduced me to Matt Cutts whose article features above.
Lorna’s Blogging Experiment
Another one inspired by the bloggers network, Lorna Sixsmith conducted an experiment on blog traffic and the Google keyword research tool. Enough to ensure you start taking search engine optimisation seriously on your business blog.
There seemed to be a common theme at the KLCK Bloggers Network on Tuesday night, as we made our introductions many of the members said it was their New Years Resolution to blog more or to start a blog. My own resolutions include blogging more both on my own blog and on Bloggertone. With that on mind I asked Facebook what their resolutions were and yet again blogging scored high.
But how can we ensure that we stick to our resolutions? How can we be sure that at the end of the year we’ll look back on our plans and wonder what happened? Here’s three ways I’m going to keep the momentum going.
Mind Mapping
A mind map is a diagram of tasks and ideas structured around a single word or idea. They are a great way of clearing all the good ideas from your head and putting a visual structure on them. I started mind mapping last year and I’ve found it a great resource, when I’m stuck for a blog idea I can simply open up my mindmap and choose and idea to work on from there.
And for information on getting started with MindMapping I’ve found this article very helpful.
Carry a Notebook
We’ve all been there, we have an excellent idea but we’re so terrified we’ll forget it before we get a chance to write it down that we try and fixate on it, commit it to memory for life pushing everything else out of our mind to hang on to it. I have the best ideas when I’m out cycling, changing my environment and exercising always seems to get my mind working at full capacity and I carry a notebook so that I can write my ideas down leaving room in my head to create more. It can be a bit inconvenient to keep stopping and writing stuff down but I always return with a bundle of ideas. Having a notebook beside your bed can also be a good way to free your mind and allow it to sleep. Instead of churning ideas over in your mind, commit them to paper and you’ll find you sleep much better.
Of course there are alternatives, most phones have voice recording apps now so it’s easy to make a verbal note on the go and as most of us carry our phones with us everywhere you are never without a way to record your thoughts.
Content Calendar
Planning can really help you stick to your goals and by creating a content calendar you will always know what it is you are supposed to be doing and when. There are lots of tools that allow you to create calendars but whether you decide to use Google Calendar, a word doc or even write it down in a diary it’s the process of creating the strategy that is important.
I always start by creating a rough plan for the year, think about any seasonal events that relate to your business, think about themes that might carry through specific months.
Next think about the sort of blog posts you want to write. Some will just be general posts like the one I’m writing now. But what other sort of content could you create? Can you include case studies, book reviews, interviews, videos, weekly or monthly round ups of industry news?
The final step is to slot these ideas into your calendar. I would commit to a maximum three month calendar and review it at the end of each month to discover which posts gain the best readership and traction.
Do you have a secret to keeping motivated with blogging? Share it below and I’ll share them on our Facebook page.
As the first day of the new year dawns I’ve been thinking about how social media may change in 2012. I can’t claim to be a clairvoyant and have to admit that these predictions are based solely on my own use of social media. I imagine I’m not an a-typical social media user but my two week break from using it for business has given me more of an insight into what ‘normal’ social media users do. So here goes…
Niche Networks
Social Media will not stop at being a place where you just share content or make friends, it is going to become a way that we record our lives. This concept could seem scary to some, Timeline from Facebook allows you to see your entire life on Facebook is getting mixed reviews for exactly this reason. Anyone that saw the last episode of Black Mirror will understand the extremes that backing up your memories could lead to. However, those of you who like me who find yourselves rifling through your brains for memories might see an advantage to backing up your memory online. In many ways this is how I use Niche networks.
I’d always considered Niche networks to be Internet forums, or ‘Ning’s’. However I’ve found in 2011 that I’m using more and more smart phone based networks. Applications like ‘Instagram‘ ‘GoodReads‘ ‘iMapMyRun‘ have iPhone or Android apps but also connect to the traditional internet. With Instagram I’m discovering more about people’s lives and obsessions through photographs, with GoodReads I can share my book reviews and get recommendations for others, with iMapMyRun I can record my own cycle routes and find cycle routes that others in the local area have recommended. These networks aren’t about accumalating friends or followers they’re about sharing with likeminded people and discovering more about the things that interest you.
Facebook and Twitter act as the hub for these activities, each of the apps above can be pushed to these networks and it allows you to find groups of people within your social graph that share specific interests. Facebook Timeline ensures that these achievements and thoughts are there for good… or at least as long as Facebook exists. In fact Timeline is a very clever ploy in this respect. Are you likely to want to leave your memory backup behind and abandon Facebook?
Google+
I still think it’s too early to predict the success or failure of Google+, it’s very new and although I see active users rising it’s the one network I’ve abandoned over my Christmas break. Although I’m not leaving it for good it still seems too much like work for me.
It’s success or failure is in some respects irrelevant as the impact it has had on other social networks has been huge. Facebook has tidied up and clarified some it’s own features, real improvements with Facebook lists and the formulisation of the subscribe feature amongst others have only come about because of the advent of Google+. We’ve also seen a new Twitter arrive, a Twitter that really competes with Google+, we can now see media such as images and videos in the Twitter newsfeed, would we have seen this without G+?
The impact of Google+ will keep pushing innovation in the other networks we use in 2012 and it will be interesting to see the social web evolve as a result.
News
Newspapers are still struggling to survive in the digital world. Consumers have begun to view news from a variety of sources, loyalty to a particular publication is dwindling. For this reason I don’t see the subscription model working for social web users. If I want to read an article on a particular subject it could come from anywhere and I’m not likely to subscribe to a newspaper just to read one article.
I see the solution to this being news aggregators, I’d be more likely to pay a subscription to an app or a website that allows me to read news from a variety of publications, a ‘reader’ that would be a gateway to the articles I want to see. As far as I’m aware there is no such service currently available. The iPad/iPhone app FlipBoard comes closest and if we are to pay for our news in the future this is the only way I can see it working.
I’d like to hear your ideas on how we will use social media in 2012 too so leave a comment if you have one.
One of the highlights for me of the SMM11 event in London earlier this year was the presentation by John Morter, the man behind the ‘Rage Against The Machine for Christmas No1 Campaign’. He was amusing and gave us lots of handy takeaways. The one that resonated with me the most, possibly because it’s something I had been advocating myself for some time, was his tip to change your Facebook page avatar when you have a new offering or important news. The change in profile image will draw people’s attention and maybe make them take a fresh look at what you do.
With Christmas on it’s way Facebook is awash with seasonal avatars and for those selling gifts or Christmas products adding a bit of festivity to your page reminds people that you are there, a fresh avatar attracts new post views and can even be a spark for a conversation.
This year we chose to add antlers to our logo. Last year more dramatically we made it snow. The reaction has been great and we’ve seen lots more interaction since we made the change. It also gives us something else to talk about, we asked our ‘Likers’ to share their pages with us and you can see both their and our designs below.
There are a couple of downsides to being festive, you must remain true to your brand, a cartoon Reindeer or Santa whilst suitable for some companies doesn’t suit others. You need to make sure your brand shines through so that your avatar doesn’t get lost in the sea of Santa hats.
Think about how you can modify your logo to reflect the season without hiding your branding. When creating your festive profile picture imagine your decorating a shop, how you decorate depends on who you want to come in the door, once you have identified this create something that reflects it.
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