If you have
additional links, sources or ideas that might be helpful, I'd encourage you to
add some via a comment below or tag me in Google+.
Of course, Google put the social world abuzz with its announcement that it would be retiring Google Reader in July. For a non-social technology, it certainly produced a good amount of social chatter as a result of the news. Of course, the best interpretation of Google's strategy was summed up in a tweet by @Pinboard:
"We need to focus. Keep the self-driving cars, magic glasses, laptop, handheld OS, and Brazilian social network. Ditch the feed reader."
— Pinboard (@Pinboard) March 14, 2013
Industry
- What's the difference between viral and spreadable content? Creating and curating "spreadable" content is a more effective long-term strategy than trying to think "viral." Spreadable content will effectively feed an aligned, collective audience and grow your presence online.
- An infographic that looks at social customer service as the next competitive battleground notes that 85% of your business could be lost due to poor customer service and that a 1% improvement in first call response can net $276,000 in operational savings for an average call center.
- The Pew Research Center has released its report Teens and Technology 2013. Some of the findings include the following:
- 78% of teens have a cell phone
- 74% of teens access the internet on mobile devices (phones & tablets)
- One in four teens are "cell-mostly" Internet users
- Big data continues to be in the news. IBM is now offering a new Customer Experience Lab that is designed to harness big data for C-level executives to help craft business strategies based on insights.
- Last week, we mentioned the BrandConnect sponsored content section of the Washington Post; this week, there's a commentary on MarketingProfs about where this is all headed: The Ethics War Over Sponsored Content: Marketers Know Better Than Journalists How This Battle Will End. The summary? Follow the money...and the audience.
- Content is no longer king. With the number of screens and constant stream of content, context is king, according to the Harvard Business Review blog.
- One size does not fit all for mobile video. Consumers use phones differently from tablets when it comes to video viewing, according to a study by the Rovi Corporation (via eMarketer) - and the use of mobile web vs. app usage varies by country.
- Nielsen has profiled "zero-TV" households, and it has more than doubled since 2007 to more than 5 million households. This is a segment that will start being included in measurement samples for 2013-14. Of them, 75% have only one TV and 67% get their content on devices other than TVs.
Platforms
- Social@Ogilvy took a look at Facebook's Graph Search on a panel at SXSW. As part of that they shared 5 Tips to Make the Most out of Facebook Graph Search
- Big news out of Facebook: the biggest social network is working on incorporating hashtags into its service. Known chiefly through Twitter and adopted by Instagram, a hashtag - a word with the "# symbol proceeding it - centers conversation around a topic rather than keeping it to people that users are already connected with.
- Pinterest has introduced web analytics to help bloggers and businesses understand who is pinning content from their websites.
- Looking for a way to get your message heard? If it's good news, odds are it will have a better chance of spreading on Facebook and Twitter, according to a recent study.
Measurement
- Are we measuring the wrong thing in social media? Why do we treat it like the Super Bowl and measure reach when it's more about relationships? Danny Brown takes a look at the problem with reach as a viable metric. In short, it's based on hope that eyeballs are available, rather than on the true audience size.
Legal
- An update to the FTC guidance on disclosure in social media: the agency has given an example of how to disclose an ad message on Twitter: just put "Ad:" in front of the tweet. They have also indicated that #Spon will not work as an abbreviation for "sponsored," and that a hashtag after a link is not sufficient, as people may not read all the way through.
- Another look at the details of the FTC Dot Com disclosures from Loeb & Loeb. At issue: making claims clear in short form. The suggested format for any claim that is tweeted is to use the three characters "Ad:" in front of the tweet.
Bookmarks/Read-Watch-Listen Later
- Altimeter Group has published their latest report, The Evolution of Social Business: Six Stages of Social Media Transformation. Ford was interviewed for this report and it has many considerations that reflect where we need to take our business.
- The future of business is shared experiences. From a Forbes interview of Brian Solis., author of the new book What's the Future of Business: Changing the Ways Businesses Create Experiences. Brian visited Ford last year and gave a talk to Jim Farley's global leadership meeting.
- The key to good content marketing (and better ads) is to think like a storyteller. Want some examples of Ads Worth Spreading? Six Pixels of Separation has you covered.
- All of the links above are available on Delicious.
Commentary
Shel Holtz looks at
some of the numbers behind Facebook's EdgeRank for brand pages (a drop of some 38% according to one study)
and compares them to recent numbers that show for individuals, their friends see about one third of their posts.
He makes a very salient point: that employee ambassador programs are essential for a brand
to maintain and expand its reach. This makes great sense when you
consider that people trust people like themselves and that word of mouth is the
strongest driver of purchase consideration.
Image source: ShironekoEuro (Flickr)