Maverick Digital

Marketing • Social • New Media 

What's the Buzz on Google Buzz?

Last month, Google began its venture into the social media world by launching Google Buzz.  It's a new social network that has a distinct advantage - it taps into the networks of over 176 million existing gmail users and integrates it into their accounts. 

Google Buzz is unique in that it integrates other social media, such as TwitterFlickrGoogle Reader, and other networks into people's Google Buzz feeds.  

However, Google made some key mistakes in the Google Buzz launch.  They first assumed that the people we e-mail the most are the ones we want following us on Google Buzz.  Not the case for this woman, who all of a sudden had her ex-husband following her.  

This has also brought on several lawsuits including one filed by a Harvard law student and another in Rhode Island.

The potential for Google Buzz is yet to be seen.  How have you been using Google Buzz and do you think it compliments or replaces your existing social networks?

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Filed under  //   Buzz   Google   Social  

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The Growing Mobile Market and the Importance of MMS

Mashable has written up a short and sweet article debunking the myths of MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service).  The article highlights the largely untapped marketing opportunities that companies can leverage to reach a mass audience. Sports Illustrated experimented with MMS by sending “bonus videos” of their swimsuit edition models with a post-roll slide of sponsor Trojan condoms.  With Americans sending 4.1 billion text messages per day and nearly every phone shipped in the U.S. over the past 2 years coming pre-loaded with MMS capability, companies can easily bring a rich media mobile marketing campaign to millions of handsets at no cost to the consumer.  Do you see yourself using MMS more to share and watch videos, music, and other multi-media experiences?  

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Filed under  //   Marketing   Media   Messaging   MMS   Mobile  

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Facebook Beats Google in Driving Traffic

Social media is changing the game.  For the last decade, search engines, in general, and Google specifically have been driving most of the traffic to content producing sites likeYahoo and MSN.   But, that has changed with more than 400 million people on Facebook, and people sharing news and stories through that platform.  Users are relying more heavily on the recommendations of friends than their own Internet browsing.  This is a trend that should be noticed as SEO and a company's social media presence are both critical to a successful marketing campaign.  

   
Click here to download:
Facebook_Beats_Google_in_Drivi.zip (31 KB)

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Filed under  //   facebook   Google   Search   Social  

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The Importance of Building Trust

Like any relationship online or offline, you are most likely to go to sources you trust for information.  This key observation is a basic social tenant for building relationships with online social influencers.  Jesse Stanchak of SmartBlog on Social Media shares his trials and tribulations attending networking events with individuals promoting their business, but doing it poorly.  While many PR professionals may find the need to blast out their message to get as much attention as possible, apparently there are not enough of them who are taking the time to build the relationships and trust that is just as important in the blogosphere as in the real world. 

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Google Buys Aardvark: Changing the Q&A Online Landscape

Now that Google has launched Google Buzz with 9 million posts in less than 3 days of it entering people's Gmail accounts across the world, they have also announced their acquisition of Aardvark.  For $50 million Google now has access to Aardvark's technology that allows people to ask questions to either their network or to the public at large.  Ideally the "public at large" means those questions will be answered by experts in those fields.  The greatest part of this technology is that the answers to your questions will be pushed back to you through E-mail, Instant Message, Twitter, and eventually Google Buzz.   Google is clearly getting deep into the online social networking field, and they are doing it buy adding the kind of features that will make it useful to their users.  

However, it may take a couple years for this feature to be completely robust, as Aardvark says they are still two years away from handling the support volume they anticipate.  In the meantime, it's nice to see Google enhancing their search features by adding the technology of Aardvark into their repertoire.

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Filed under  //   Google   Google Buzz   Social  

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What is the future of digital marketing?

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Spotty AT&T Service - There's an App for that

OK - Has AT&T lost their damn minds? First they attempt to sue Verizon over the new coverage map commercials - which failed - but then they release their own iPhone app that readily admits they have a major problem with spotty service. If Verizon doesnt jump all over this with both feet I'm sure the bloggers of the world will. What a joke! For more on the Spotty App click here - http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/12/07/mark_the_spot_iphone_app_aims_to_find_att_trouble_areas.html

   
Click here to download:
Spotty_ATT_Service_-_Theres_an.zip (301 KB)

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Filed under  //   iPhone App   Mobile  

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WOMMA Webinar - ROI Is Achievable in Display Media

ROI is Achievable in Display with New Techniques such as Social Retargeting


When: Wednesday, December 2
Time: 9am PST | 11am CST | 12pm EST
Registerhttp://bit.ly/AchievableROI

Display media is evolving from being a branding tool into a successful ROI vehicle.

With external economic pressures, companies are seeking new outlets beyond search to invest media spend, but still expecting high ROI returns. The invention of the media exchanges allow media to be bought using models more familiar to search marketers, and also allow us to target specific individuals who are expressing intent and defined behaviors, rather than just throwing messages out onto a contextual site.

But the behavior of consumers online has also changed. Before making purchasing decisions we tend to talk to friends and colleagues, read reviews and perform more tail end searches than ever before. Display media must therefore evolve too, and make a brand's message present at all the relevant stages. But how can you achieve that in such a multi touch-point marketplace?

Learn about the revolution in display media and get specific case studies that show the benefits of techniques such as social retargeting.

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Filed under  //   Webinar   WOMMA  

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STUDY: Most Fortune 100 Companies Don't Get Twitter

clueless-tweetsIn August we reported that a large number of Fortune 100 companies have embraced Twitter, but how well are they actually using it? A study released today (PDF) by Weber Shandwick says the answer is not very well, and that the majority of Fortune 100 companies don’t really get Twitter. Though 73 of 100 companies had at least one registered Twitter account (up from 54 reported in an unrelated study released in August), the majority of them weren’t using Twitter effectively to engage their followers, weren’t tweeting often, and didn’t display any personality in their tweets, according to the study.

One major result of this ineffective use seems to be low engagement from followers. Out of the 540 total Twitter (Twitter

) accounts registered by Fortune 100 companies, 50 percent of the accounts had fewer than 500 followers and another 15 percent weren’t being used at all.

Lacking Personality and Tweeting Sparingly

fortune100-tweets

The majority of the accounts from Fortune 100 companies had no personality, but instead focused on brand only. Out of the 540 accounts, 53 percent “did not display personality, tone or voice on their account pages,” according to the report, which judged personality based on whether an account was identified with a personality who posted on behalf of the company or if it was a “faceless” brand account.

However, 32 percent did have personalities that were associated with their accounts, which might be a better approach to creating an account that is engaging and personable for consumers. Personality can also be demonstrated on Twitter via the writing of the actual tweets. The content itself can have a voice without the page being identified with a specific person, but having a name associated with an account adds a more human element that acts similar to a spokesperson representing a company.

Though tweeting sparingly can be a good thing, 76 percent of the accounts had fewer than 500 tweets posted. If the companies were truly engaging their followers and customers, the number would likely be much higher, though certainly could depend on how long each account had been active. Also, fewer tweets sometimes means less exposure in the wider Twitterverse.

Missed Business Opportunities

fortune100-purpose

The most popular use of Twitter from companies using it, is as a newsfeed or for developing brand awareness. But companies seem not to understand how to use the service to increase sales or they don’t believe that it’s possible. Though Dell (33 on Fortune 100 list) has used Twitter to sell millions of dollars worth of products, only 16 percent of Fortune 100 accounts used Twitter for sales, special Twitter offers, coupons or other special offers.

Another effective use for businesses has been using Twitter for customer service. For example, Best Buy (56 on Fortune 100) uses its @Twelpforce for customer service and has some 14,000 followers. However, only 9 percent of the Fortune 100 accounts use Twitter for this purpose. It very well may be that these companies are steering away from customer service because to do it effectively, they would need additional staff specifically to respond to complaints and questions from customers on Twitter.

The Result: A Low Following

fortune100-followers

Because so many of these companies aren’t using Twitter effectively, if at all, it makes sense that 68 percent of the accounts had fewer 1,000 followers. This seems to indicate that the accounts do not provide much value, which can come from a dialogue with followers, a service the account provides (such as coupon codes or customer service), and the quality of information being shared.

In fact, the study found that half of the accounts did not score well on engagement metrics used by Twitalyzer, which looks at number of links, hashtags, retweets and references. Being engaged and active on Twitter usually translates to more followers because it gives an account more exposure and chances of being retweeted and seen by other users (assuming the information is valuable).

What’s the Prescription?

Because the analysis was conducted between August 28 and September 4, 2009, it’s possible that some companies have made some improvements in their approach to Twitter within the last couple of months. One thing is for sure, however: a dramatic shift needs to happen for most of these companies to effectively make use of the platform.

When these companies do take a look at their strategy and use of social media, they need to realize that the key element missing is conversation. Twitter, and social media in general, is about two-way communication, which is something that all companies need to realize as they constantly evaluate and tweak their social media use. Companies should also reconsider whether to use a person that is identified with an account, which could improve their engagement and build a personable brand.

Mashable’s (Mashable

) Twitter Guide Book offers a comprehensive resource on how to effectively use Twitter.

More business resources from Mashable:

- Why Social Media Is Vital to Corporate Social Responsibility
- HOW TO: Measure Social Media ROI
- 5 Important Web Video Lessons for Small Business Owners
- Top 5 Must-Read Social Media Books
- HOW TO: Use Twitter Hashtags for Business

Image via Chris Spooner.

Maverick has been able to post 22k+ followers for 42Below and @maverickdigital is over 7k - we admit we have to get the tweets up but remember - Social is a marathon not a sprint!

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Filed under  //   Mashable   Twitter  

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Google Chrome OS To Launch Within A Week

by Michael Arrington on November 13, 2009

Google’s Chrome OS project, first announced in July, will become available for download within a week, we’ve heard from a reliable source. Google previously said to expect an early version of the OS in the fall.

What can we expect? Driver support will likely be a weak point. We’ve heard at various times that Google has a legion of engineers working on the not so glamorous task of building hardware drivers. And we’ve also heard conflicting rumors that Google is mostly relying on hardware manufacturers to create those drivers. Whatever the truth, and it’s likely in between, having a robust set of functioning drivers is extremely important to Chrome OS’s success. People will want to download this to whatever computer they use and have it just work.

To read more click here: http://bit.ly/2V9qJd

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Filed under  //   Google   Social  

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