Persuasive Picks for the week of 03/29/10

Artwork: Chip Taylor10 Signs You’re a Social Media Addict
CIO.com’s Kristin Burnham shares the results of a recent Retrevo Gadgetology survey that shows how addicted people are to their online social communities. She also provides some additional survey questions of her own to help determine how addicted you are.

9 social media topics that need to die
This Ragan.com guest post by Amber Naslund from Radian6 debunks nine  ideas in social media that we’ve all heard repeated – and that at one time were practically touted as gospel. The post provides a nice wake-up call for those still new to the social media space.

Attacks Exploit Growing Use of Social Media
Michael Cheek highlights findings from the “Blue Coat Web Security Report for 2009” which shows that cyber criminals are migrating to social networks as fast as the rest of us.

Dating Advice for PR Pros
This post on Jeremy Porter’s Journalistics blog provides an entertaining read that compares media relations to the process of dating. Don’t miss this one!

What Makes Videos Go Viral – And Should Marketers Even Care?
While there’s no magic formula for creating a successful viral video, the most popular ones do share a few common characteristics. This MarketingVox post shares some of those as well as the success that Coca-Cola had with their recent vending machine viral campaign.

– Artwork: Chip Taylor

Persuasive Picks for the week of 03/15/10

facebook-et-1Facebook overtakes Google, Twitterers prefer social to news
The SiliconRepublic’s John Kennedy shares a variety of stats and projections from a recent study issued by Hitwise. The study confirms that traffic to Facebook has outpaced Google. In addition, Twitter is continuing to emerge as a key source for news and media sites.

Twitter’s @anywhere could prove risky for users
Computerworld’s Sharon Gaudin provides a rundown of Twitter’s new @anywhere functionality and explains why this offering could prove risky to brands.

How SEO Can Build Brand
This post from SEOConsult begins the exploration of the relationship between Search Engine Optimization and the profitability of your business.

Is Google Wave getting Buzzed?
Google Wave and Google Buzz are two new apps that many web-workers are still struggling to figure out. Both were launched in radically different ways. While users are still trying to figure out how these products fit into their workflow, it seems that Google itself is also still trying to determine what’s next for these new offerings. To be continued…

It’s the Social Media Strategy Struggle
WebWorkDaily’s Aliza Sherman shares a list of helpful social media strategies that she learned from her experience at this year’s SXSW Interactive Conference.

Persuasive Picks for the week of 03/08/10

turbotax-facebook-page Social Media Lessons from the Big Brands: Intuit Edition
While most big brands are still just experimenting with social media, some have jumped in with both feet and are finding success. This post from Chris Crum explores how tax and financial software giant Inuit has integrated social media strategies into many facets of their business.

18 Use Cases That Show Business How to Finally Put Customers First
In this MPDailyFix guest post, Jeremiah Owyang shares a great set a use cases to help companies “scale to keep up” in the rapid-paced world of social media.

Social Media Marketing: Are You Spread Too Thin?
Its not too difficult to get carried away trying out the latest and greatest social media tools and platforms. Before long, you find yourself swamped trying to keep them all updated. Fast Company Expert Blogger, Rich Brooks, shares advice – hint: keep focused on business goals.

Do You Have a Social Media Disorder?
Noah J. Nelson from YouthRadio.org notifies us of several new (and very humorous) “personality disorders” that have surfaced with the rise of social media in this reprint on the Huffington Post.

The Truth About the Average Twitter User
Mashable co-editor Ben Parr shares the hard facts about Twitter usage from a recent study by Barracuda Networks.

Persuasive Picks for the week of 03/01/10

Measuring Social Media with Web Analytics, Part 1
You’ve implemented a perfectly planned social media strategy and now that you’re humming along you’ve got an equally well planned way to measure your success right? That’s what I thought. There are many ways to measure, and Nathan Linnell walks readers through using web analytics as one option in this first entry of a multi-part series.

Online News Overtakes Print Media. The Future Has Arrived.
Kristen Nicole shares her take on the recent survey results from the Pew Internet and American Life Project that online news sources have surpassed print as they primary way people get their daily news fix.

CIOs: Stop Ignoring Social Media
In this Forbes.com post, Mike Schaffner provides commentary on IT’s slow adoption of social media, both internally and allowing access to it throughout the rest of the company.

Employees as an Overlooked Resource: 5 Ways to Equip Employees to Help with Marketing
Shel Holtz his thoughts on how some companies are missing the boat when it comes to leveraging employees to assist in marketing efforts and shares several helpful tips for enabling them to do so.

Women dominate mobile social networking scene
While most of us think that today’s kids are the ones who are obsessed about all things in the mobile device scene, BizReport’s Helen Leggatt shares the results from a recent Nielsen Interactive report that found women are the real group who are mobile obsessed.

Persuasive Picks for the week of 02/22/10

sara_lee_fb Any Way It’s Sliced, Appeal of Social Media Grows
The integration of social media into marketing strategies continues to march into the mainstream, and this NY Times post provides many examples of big brands that are embracing social media as part of their current campaigns.

9 things I’ll never do again with social media
The Orange County Register’s Jon Lansner asked nine friends to share something that they’ll never do on their social networks any time soon. Some of the responses are entertaining, but they also provide some basic practical advice.

Five easy ways to maximize your social media content
Sometimes the simplest ways to boost the impact of your online social efforts can fall by the wayside. James Gurd from the eConsultancy blog provides five easy things you can (and should) do to help maximize your efforts.

Social Media Makes National Pancake Day Huge for IHOP
Chris Crum from WebProNews shares a look into IHOP’s (International House of Pancakes) use of social media techniques to promote this year’s National Pancake Day.

Digital Marketing Guide: Social Media
David Berkowitz from Advertising Age created this Q&A based social media guide that provides great answers to many common and current questions.

Persuasive Picks for the week of 02/08/10

Why Google Buzz is brilliant and deadly to social media 1.0
GoogleBuzzLogo68As fanfare over the iPad announcement dies off, Google amped up the online world with a new feature announcement. In this post, Christopher S. Penn shares his views of the positive and negative implications of the all new Google Buzz feature in GMail.

The Value of the ReTweet
Donna Maria from the Indie Business Blog explains the value of “re-tweets” through the result of a month long Twitter experiment she conducted with her fellow colleagues.

Toyota: Way too little, way too late & what they should have done
While the whirlwind of bad press haunting Toyota is far from over, B.L. Ochman recaps the events that started it all, how Toyota reacted and what they should have done to ease the harsh reactions.

Why Social Media Is the New Agency-Client Relationship Builder
Conversation Agent, Valeria Maltoni focuses on the need for companies to consolidate their agency relationships down to one that can provide multiple services (like we do!).

Examples of social media policies
The topic of a Social Media Policy comes up within almost every company when they first begin to engage in the space. This post by Drew McLellan provides a list of many existing examples to help you get started on your own policy.

Persuasive Picks for the week of 02/01/10

Four ways social media can save you time and money
Larry Weintraub walks readers through four areas of business that can benefit from social media and provides practical tips on how to be proficient with each.

Hackers turn to social media to attack companies
This SFGate article provides food for thought for companies who have employees engaging in the social media space, and the vulnerabilities that come with the territory, as hackers find new ways to exploit internet users.

How the enterprise is going social
This CNET.com post by Dave Rosenberg recaps Gartner’s recent predictions of both success and failure for the social side of enterprise.

Social media: Listen less and sell more
Spring Creek Group principal, Clay McDaniel, suggests that 2010 is the year to leverage social communities to produce real sales – and provides some useful tips on how to move in that direction.

Tips for Promoting New Blogs
Enterprise companies and small business alike are starting blogs as part of their social strategies, and all of them run up against the same challenges. Thomas McMahon from the TopRank Online Marketing Blog shares 12 tips for getting your new blog noticed.

Persuasive Picks for the week of 01/25/10

foursquare_logo_girl6 marketing opportunities on Foursquare
Many are predicting that 2010 will be the year of mobile marketing. If thats the case, then iPhone and Blackberry app Foursquare is on its way to being a leading platform in that space. Tony Felice from iMediaConnection shares 6 ways marketers can take advantage of this increasingly popular mobile app.

Facebook Marketing Tips: Make the Most of Your Fan Page
Online Marketing Blog Copywriter, Michelle Bowles shares a few great tips on making the most of your Facebook Fan Page and provides examples of real pages that are inline with her advice.

Coca-Cola’s Super Bowl Ad Plans Include Social Media
Stuart Elliot from the WSJ’s Media Decoder blog provides a run-down of Coca-Cola’s Super Bowl campaign that includes a combination of traditional tv ads and online focused social media efforts

50% of Marketers Shifting Funds From Traditional to Online; Social “Top Priority”
Marketing Pilgrim’s Andy Beal shares the results from a recent report from the Society of Digital Agencies that indicates marketers are continuing to put more time and effort in the online social space.

Social Media As Customer Service
Lauren Fischer from SimplyZesty explores the trend of businesses adding social media platforms to their customer service workflows. A link to a Forrester presentation is also provided.

 

Persuasive Picks for the week of 01/18/10

topo5social Small Business Leaders Prefer ‘Passive’ Social Media, For Now
This MediaPost.com article by Ben Hanna shares the results of a recent Business.com study that revealed small business owners are still slow to engage in more “active” social media resources.

Why All Media Soon Must Be Social
Kirk Cheyfitz, CEO and Chief Editorial Officer of Story Worldwide, suggests that “social media” is not to far away from being plain “media,” and he provides a few excellent stories to strengthen the idea.

Social Media Development — Three Case Studies, Part 1 of 4
Conrad Hall kicks off a four part blog post series that chronicles three bloggers who have been very successful using social media to build their businesses while having their blogs at the center of their strategies.

Reporters and editors increasingly use social media to source, research stories
Freelance writer Helen Leggatt shares some impressive statistics from a recent Cision/George Washington University survey that shows how journalists are migrating to social media at an incredible rate.

Can Domino’s Turn Around Their Cardboard Reputation?
Rohit Bhargava highlights Domino’s recent campaign that spans both traditional and social media spaces, where they have invited (and publically shared) customer criticism – both good and bad.

Persuasive Picks for the week of 01/11/10

CokeCoke drops campaign sites in favor of social media
Will Cooper from NewMediaAge explains Coca-Cola’s shift away from creating campaign-based micro-sites to utilizing social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube, in an effort to place their brand where people are – rather than trying to drive people back to their own sites.

 

Social Media Success Means Learning to Let Go
Sean Donahue from MarketingSherpa reminds traditional marketers that when engaging in the social media space, “You have to be comfortable with the idea that you’re no longer in control of the conversation.”

The Killer Pitch? – When PR Agencies Can Do This – Look Out . . .
This post from SiliconValleyWatcher‘s Tom Foremski suggests one way PR agencies might be able to craft the perfect pitch – and mentions our Founder, Christine Perkett. What do you think?

Helping Social Media Mature in 2010
HighTalk blogger George F. Snell III provides three reasons why businesses still aren’t engaging on the social web, along with three ways to change their ways of thinking.

IT must integrate social media tools into business architecture
ComputerWorldUK’s Anh Nguyen advises enterprise organizations to work more closely with IT Management in order to enter the social media space more smoothly.