Author Archive

5
Jan

The Social Media Events that Defined 2011

Social networking sites now reach 82 percent of the world’s online population, representing 1.2 billion users, or nearly 1/6 the population of Earth. It accounts for 19 percent of all time spent online. (Comscore) In 2011, social media not only was further integrated into our lexicon and media consumption, it became a communication platform for important events around the world.

Some of the biggest events in 2011 like the Arab Spring and the death of Osama bin Laden were announced via social media or spread via social media.

Arab Spring

Time Magazine

Time Magazine’s 2011 person of the year was The Protestor. This speaks to the power of the Arab Spring movement that shook the Middle East and sent shock waves around the world. The Arab Spring began with the Tunsian Revolution at the end of last year and continues today. Protestors have organized on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube and blogs to spread the word and gain support for the movements in Egypt, Israel, Yemen, Libya, and Syria. Even as individual countries began to shut down access to the Internet and individual platforms, protestors kept finding new ways to get the word out.

Accoring to Yahoo! News, one of the most popular hashtags of 2011 was #jan25 which marked the beginning of the protests in Egypt which ended February 11th when President Mubarak stepped down from power.

Protests in Baharain, Syria, and Libya were also spread via social media and included shocking moments like the photo of Gaddafi’s body that went viral and when a NATO commander announced the end of the Libyan war via Facebook.

The Occupy Movement
Protests moved stateside on September 17, 2011 and by October 15, 2011, the protests had spread to 1,000 cities in 82 countries. (Wikipedia) The #OWS movement has been supported through a variety of channels. On September 25, the hacktivist group Anonymous uploaded a YouTube video threatening action if the NYPD showed brutality against protesters. A massive march in NYC was organized via Twitter on October 5th. On November 19th videos from several different viewpoints of the students at UC Davis getting pepper sprayed received millions of views via YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. On December 20th Anonymous released the personal information of NYPD officers who evicted OWS protestors.

These are just some of the major moments that have been fueled by social media to mobilize protestors and keep the Occupy Wall Street movement alive.

Other Memorable Moments
#japan was one of the most popular hashtags in 2011, following the tsunami in March.

Steve Jobs, the man who defined technology communication, was memorialized after his death via Tweets, Facebook posts, and montage videos.

Many of us may remember where we were when we heard of the death of Osama bin Laden. I saw the news via my Twitter stream, others found out via Facebook, and any other platform that was able to spread the news.

Who knows what 2012 will bring as technology and social media continue to infiltrate our communication habits. The new trend of image based social media including Instagr.am, Pinterest, and Tumblr blogs may be the next platforms for getting the message across.

You know what they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Sources:

Occupy Movement Stats: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Occupy_Wall_Street)
Most Popular Hashtags: (http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/right-click/-egypt—tigerblood-top-list-of-twitter-hashtags-for-2011.html)
http://mashable.com/2011/12/07/social-media-uprising-activism/

19
Sep

Are You Using and Measuring Social Media Effectively?

Posted by Danielle (0) Comment

It is hard to believe how fast this year has gone and how fast the marketing landscape continues to change. Over the past eight months social media has woven its way even deeper into the fabric of American culture, affecting every part of how we communicate with each other. You can’t turn on a sitcom, sporting event, or award show without seeing a Twitter hashtag. Rarely do you see a print or television ad without a Facebook or YouTube URL. We know that marketing and advertising are in a period of rapid change, but as we reflect back on the year and look forward to the future, it’s important to figure out where you marketing efforts fit into that changing landscape.

For companies that are just now investing in social media, they are already behind the times. Brands have moved past basic Facebook pages and custom Twitter backgrounds into fully custom and interactive social media experiences that are seamlessly integrated into the rest of their branding and marketing efforts.

Based on a recent survey from Bizo, 63.4% of marketers say they plan to increase social media efforts versus 45.5% for e-mail and 45.3% for content marketing. Among those who already manage social media campaigns, 97% say social media is now more important to the marketing mix than last year.

While there is an increasing emphasis and understanding on the importance of social media in the marketing mix, the debate still continues as to the purpose, effectiveness, and measurement of social media marketing. According to the survey, 40% say social media’s role is to create general awareness, 27% say it is for reinforcement of other campaigns, and 17% say it’s most important role is for lead generation.

The reality is that there is no one role that social media plays in the marketing mix, it plays several roles. Marketers must begin with the client’s goals and the goals of the campaign to understand where social media fits. In most cases it is either going to be used to create brand awareness and communicate a brand’s messaging or it may be used for lead generation and sales.

The reason why social media was so popular in the first place is because the consumers can now take the message and their experience with brands into their own hands. Brands that understand this and use it to their advantage are using social media properly. The brands that just plug their pushy sales messages onto a Facebook page have missed the point. Consumers don’t want sales messages shoved down their throat; they want interaction, sharing, communication, relationships, and meaningful connections.

The second challenge that marketers are facing is how to measure their social media efforts once they have begun their campaigns. Sure, most platforms provide analytics that allow marketers to track the basics. According to the survey, 54.8% track increase/decrease in followers, 53% track actions taken, 51% track page views, 51% track clicks, 37% track leads, and 30% track Tweets and re-tweets. Anyone can pull these stats out of insights, but is that what really matters to your clients? Think outside of the box when it comes to measuring the performance of your social media campaigns; think growth rates, trending, how engaged your community is, the analysis of the specific actions they are taking, what is working and what isn’t. Tracking the number of new Facebook fans month over month isn’t helpful to anyone.

As we look forward through the end of 2011 and 2012, step outside the day-to-day grind and take a look at how your social media campaigns are really impacting your business or client’s business. Find ways to challenge yourself, your clients, and to push the envelope. If you don’t, someone else will, and you will find yourself behind the times with an increasingly greater difficultly to catch up.