Instagram
[fts_instagram instagram_id=256737344 super_gallery=yes image_size=100px icon_size=50px space_between_photos=1px hide_date_likes_comments=yes center_container=yes image_stack_animation=yes type=user]
Twitter
[fts_twitter twitter_name=elliance]
It’s getting hard to remember life before social media – much more so since mobile devices enabled its wholesale invasion of every corner of our lives. One of the conundrums I’ve observed people encountering is that of how heavily committed one should be to keeping up with the goings-on of his or her social set. If I’m following 1000 people on Twitter, do I need to read all of their updates? If someone engages me constructively online, is there an obligation to reciprocate? Is it okay to go on hiatus for days or weeks and, if so, is there some etiquette I should follow? For my personal life, I chose a policy of obligation-free, occasional engagement. I am very unselfconscious about the regularity with which I read or post to social websites. A month away from Facebook is of equal value to me as flooding Twitter with nonsense, and I take and leave them interchangeably. But I’m an individual, I’m … Continue reading
Posted in: Social Media, user experience, ux
Leave a comment
Search results have gone social. There’s no doubt about it. Earlier this year, I wrote about Google releasing its own social network, Google+, and quickly integrating that content into regular search results for those visitors who are logged into a Google account. Bing is now taking a similar leap, re-vamping its entire search interface to include a social sidebar on the right-hand side of the results page. Where Bing had previously integrated some social information directly into search results, it’s now mainly pulling it off to the side in order to assist in the search experience instead of compete with it. Image via Microsoft News Center. Bing’s rolled out a lot of new features as part of the “New Bing.” I won’t go into all of them here since other experts have done such a thorough job explaining them in detail. I will pull out a couple of the elements that I feel are especially significant, as both a searcher … Continue reading
Posted in: Search Marketing, Social Media
During these times when consumers tend to ignore billboard ads, block telemarketing calls, and fast forward through television commercials, inbound marketing is a hot topic. Tactics typically categorized as inbound marketing are ones that encourage interested prospective customers to come to you, as opposed to simply purchasing their attention through advertising and other methods of pushing out marketing and sales communication. Inbound marketing tactics include activities like blogging, search marketing, social media, and content marketing (producing videos, creating infographics, writing articles, etc.). While both inbound and outbound marketing certainly have their merits, the benefits of incorporating inbound marketing strategies into your long-term plan are unmistakable. According to a 2012 Hubspot report, “inbound marketing-dominated organizations experience a 61% lower cost per lead than outbound marketing-dominated organizations.” While a lower-cost outcome might not be surprising for organizations that don’t spend as much on traditional, costly tactics like advertising and direct mail, what is interesting is how strong the leads turn out to … Continue reading
Posted in: Marketing Strategy, Search Marketing, Social Media
Has it been a busy week for you, so far? Because it sure has been for us. Our SEOgrams iOS app is back on the App Store after our recent transition to an Enterprise developer license; we completed and delivered a huge site map for a major university; and we’re busy wrapping up wireframes for two exciting new mobile projects. But that’s only half the story. Everything we do exists as part of the constantly evolving media landscape in which we operate, and was it ever busy out there this week. For starters, SXSWi (the South By Southwest Interactive festival), wrapping up today in Austin, has produced an impressive amount of buzz as usual – this time thanks to a stunt that turned homeless people into mobile 4G hotspots. Second, let’s talk about link citation. It used to be sufficient, when citing an online source, to link to its URL (as in the previous paragraph). No longer, though, if the folks behind curatorscode.org have their … Continue reading
Posted in: Social Media
It was a dark and stormy brainstorm session. Ideas were flying. “What if we could connect them to people who came before them and then show them the ones they could influence after?” “What if we use a narrative device, juxtaposing past stories with current stories. The platform could provide a dramatic backdrop for the rhetorical argument.” “Will anyone fill out a form? Let’s not make them log in.” Marketers worldwide are hard at work dreaming up campaigns and interactive whiz-bang features that will inspire or impel users to engage. As someone who waves the social media flag in the new world order, I think I can speak for all of us when I say that we want people to get involved, share their enthusiasm with others, be our brand ambassadors. And sometimes we’ll settle for just liking a pretty picture or new yogurt flavor. And therein lies the problem. All the world’s a stage. We’re scattered, untethered, bouncing like … Continue reading
In January, Google search results received a major overhaul. The dominant US search engine debuted “Search Plus Your World,” a new results format that takes personalization – and visibility of Google+ content – to new heights. What is Google+? Google+ is Google’s social network. It offers many of the same features as Facebook (building connections, sharing news, photo, and video content), with a few fresh elements (like group video chat, or “hangouts”) mixed in. It launched early last summer and, within two weeks, had recruited 10 million users, the same size user base it took both Facebook and Twitter more than two years to reach. Although its users tend to be less active than Facebook’s (according to December comScore data, Facebook accounted for 1 in 7 minutes spent online around the world), Google+ has now skyrocketed to 100 million users. And, as of January, it boasts content visibility in a portion of Google’s 400 million daily search queries. And, it’s … Continue reading
Posted in: Search Marketing, Social Media
My colleague, Debbie Wilson’s true story about Crocs. Enjoy Being a first time mother, my husband and I capture every moment we can on video. We post videos on YouTube on a regular basis to share with family and friends. My husband wears Crocs and my son, Jordan loves to play with his Daddy’s Crocs. It is quite amusing to see a small 11 month old child playing with Daddy’s size 14 huge shoes. He puts them on his hands and claps with them. I posted the video, as usual, on YouTube. The day after posting the video on YouTube, I received a personal message from a man who runs Social Media for Crocs, Inc. He said he saw my video, thought it was soooo cute and asked if they could use it on the Crocs blog. http://blog.crocs.com I was thrilled and excited and gave my permission. I received a response back offering me a complimentary pair of Crocs. I … Continue reading
Posted in: Social Media
A few symptoms: 1. Unbeknownst to them, their brands are being discussed on twitter, blogs, Facebook, YouTube and other hangouts. 2. Many don’t realize that their brands are losing the PR wars in social media space. 3. They are too busy obsessing over formulating corporate guidelines and policies instead of testing and embracing social media and going on the offensive. 4. Most of them are unaware that search engines reward socially active brands, which generate fresh content. 5. As a result, many of them are missing opportunities to surround and engage their target audiences with keyword driven social media tactics. Opportunities missed include: 1. customer service 2. brand building 3. sales 4. PR 5. branding
Posted in: digital communication, Social Media