Social Mediopolis | The Capitol of Social Media

You Heard What on Twitter?!?!

brandieesjaarda@gmail.com (Tabitha Naylor) — Sat, 18 May 2013 00:20:51 -0500

The fact is that most social media networks have been saturated with eager businesses that are looking for that marketing edge. When it comes to Facebook, the marketing methods are pretty straight forward. You know how to find what you are looking for and how to ensure people find you. However, Twitter is a bit more layered. If you do not utilize each of these layers, chances are you are missing prime marketing opportunities that are literally right at your fingertips.

The problem for most small and big businesses alike is the fact that they are not using Twitter properly. If they are not using it properly, they are also not using it to its full potential. The following tips will help you learn the proper ways to use Twitter and make your marketing efforts profitable.

Your Streams

Chances are if you are on Twitter the only stream you read regularly is your News stream. In fact, for more users, they do not even know that other or multiple streams are possible. You need to set up your Twitter account so that you have several different streams of information, this will help you be informed about multiple actions and help you interact with more people, more often.

Google+ Redesign: What You Need to Know

tyler.crosson87@gmail.com (Deepa Mistry) — Fri, 17 May 2013 20:36:03 -0500

During a a three hour long keynote at the I/O conference, Google announced 41 new features for Google+, including a new look stream and profile pages, hashtags, trending topics, photo enhancement and greater integration with Hangouts.

We've tried out some of the most important and interesting (below) for your perusal. All of these features were rolled out immediately and are available now.

Redesigned Layout

The design of the stream and profile is quite reminiscent of Pinterest and the yet to be released Facebook newsfeed. Each post is in a box in a two-column view with a slide out navigation to the left handside. You can now use hashtags in posts, in the same way as Twitter, and clicking on them will take you to other posts tagged with that hashtag.

Advice for Clueless Brands on Social Media

tyler.crosson87@gmail.com (Bob Garfield) — Fri, 17 May 2013 19:25:37 -0500

Dear Bob & Doug:

I'm the CEO of a youth fashion chain aimed at elite teens who think our clothes are the cost of admission to the non-loser tables in the cafeteria. Obviously, we don't want a bunch of tubby dorkwads in our clothes, because their inferiority rubs off on the brand. I've been saying this for years, but now I mention something about us not selling to fat chicks, because, duh, and suddenly I'm the Mr. Meanie. Dude, what happened?

—Mystified in the Mall

Dear Mystified:

What happened was the Relationship Era. Now everybody knows how bad your values are, what kind of messages you are sending children and generally what a jerk you are. Your marketing strategy is bullying. Enjoy the conversation, Dude. It'll be about you.

LinkedIn Debuts "Channels" in Revamp of LinkedIn Today

tyler.crosson87@gmail.com (Mark Walsh) — Fri, 17 May 2013 19:04:23 -0500

Two years ago, LinkedIn launched LinkedIn Today, a digital newspaper that compiles stories from around the Web based on what a user's connections and industry peers are reading. On Wednesday, the professional networking site unveiled a redesign of the news site with a refreshed look and a new content discovery feature called Channels.

Through Channels, people can follow more than 20 broader topic areas crossing over different industries, including Your Career, Economy, Social Impact, Big Ideas, Innovation, and Higher Education, with more to come over time. Once someone begins following a channel, they automatically get updates directly to their home page feed on the desktop.

The revamped LinkedIn Today also incorporates the Influencer blog network the company introduced last fall. Along with channels, users can now also access tabs at the top of the page to see a list of all 250 Influencers and top Influencer posts of the day from Arianna Huffington, Richard Branson and Meg Whitman.

The Decline of Social Media Impact

brandieesjaarda@gmail.com (Tabitha Naylor) — Fri, 17 May 2013 01:01:39 -0500

With the introduction of social media a decade ago, businesses and companies gained a powerful new marketing tool. They were now able to interact with customers and network with other businesses to spread the word about who they were and what they had to offer. A comment, question or concern would be directly addressed with a tailor made response that was unique to that specific person. Consumers knew they could find the answers for the questions they had simply by visiting a social media site.

This was considered serendipity! The one-on-one interaction was a new marketing tool that would help businesses and brands reach the top of their game because of the ability to directly reach those interested in what they had to offer.

Fast forward six years....

Is Yahoo's Marissa Mayer about to Acquire Tumblr for $1 Bn?

tyler.crosson87@gmail.com (Chris Taylor) — Thu, 16 May 2013 23:02:01 -0500

In a deal that would vault Yahoo into the premiere league of social media, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer is said to be closing in on a $1 billion acquisition deal with David Karp, the CEO of New York-based Tumblr.

Details of the talks leaked out earlier Thursday via AllThingsD, a site which prides itself on its Yahoo sources in particular. A later report in AdWeek, via its own sources, cited $1 billion as the figure currently under discussion. Coincidentally, that is said to be the valuation Tumblr was going to get at its next funding round.

Both sites were cautious to emphasize that the talks could come to naught. Mayer is clearly interested; she's known and admired Karp's New York-based site for years. Tumblr and its 107 million microblogs would add another 15 billion pageviews a month to Mayer's hoard. Most important of all, it could make Yahoo look cool again.

LinkedIn Turns 10; Identity Crisis?

tyler.crosson87@gmail.com (Susan Kuchinskas) — Thu, 16 May 2013 22:57:30 -0500

LinkedIn wants to become a content publishing platform. Will this transformation destroy its value to advertisers and turn it into a Facebook clone?

In the last six months, LinkedIn has made a spate of product enhancements and delivered new ad formats, notably video ads, introduced in October 2012, and SlideShare Content Ads that let advertisers deliver SlideShare presentations into banner space on the site. Another advertiser-friendly move was opening up LinkedIn's APIs, so brands can manage their ads without having to log in to LinkedIn's platform.

Facebook to Buy Israeli "Waze" for Up to $1 Bn?

tyler.crosson87@gmail.com (Tova Cohen, David Cowell, Bernadette Baum) — Thu, 16 May 2013 22:46:46 -0500

(Reuters) - Facebook Inc is in advanced talks to acquire Israeli mobile satellite navigation start-up Waze for $800 million to $1 billion, business daily Calcalist reported on Thursday.

The deal, which would be Facebook's largest acquisition, would give the social networking company a mapping service and allow it to better compete with Google Inc and Apple Inc.

Maps and navigation services have become a key asset for technology companies as consumers increasingly adopt smartphones and other mobile devices.

Waze uses satellite signals from members' smartphones to generate maps and traffic data, which it then shares with other users, offering real-time traffic info.

How to Do Effective Social Media Marketing

tyler.crosson87@gmail.com (Leiden Johnson) — Thu, 16 May 2013 22:31:39 -0500

No business in its right mind would do away with opportunities to attract customers but they should know the right place to put their efforts to. One of the best ways to do marketing these days is online because not only is it effective, it is incredible cost-effective as well. Its effectively could get hampered when done improperly so it always helps to do some research before getting started. If you are considering getting started on a new social media marketing strategy or find that your current results are less than ideal, here are a few pointers that might help lead you to the right direction.

Two Great Free Guides on Creating Highly Shareable Content

Thu, 16 May 2013 18:41:57 -0500

Social content is - quite simply - made to be shared. If you're trying to get your audience to share, socialize, and spread your message for you, then don't miss these two ebooks full of great tips and strategies compiled by the social media marketing experts over at Marketo. You'll learn what makes your content shareable, tips for getting readers to share, common mistakes to avoid, what recent research suggests about why people share, and much more.

1. 5 Ways to Encourage Customers to Share Your Content
Discover how to engage and motivate your readers to share with their entire social network. Learn how to make sharing a game, recognize your influencers, which sentiments to appeal to, and how to make every dollar you spend convert to two or more through social sharing.

Click here: http://bit.ly/ZFk2gT

2. Contagious Content: What People Share on Facebook and Why They Share It

This eBook, created by social media expert Brian Carter and Marketo, teaches you how to create Facebook posts that more people want to share, plus covers Facebook best practices, case studies, and common mistakes, plus new research about how people interact on Facebook. Don't miss this highly informative eBook!

Click here: http://bit.ly/10F1cFC

And don't forget to send these links to your friends and colleagues. Sharing is caring!

Lessons From Amy's Baking Company on What You Should Never Do on Social Media

tyler.crosson87@gmail.com (Kelly Clay) — Thu, 16 May 2013 13:56:16 -0500

By now you have likely read or heard about Amy's Baking Company Bakery Boutique & Bistro's "epic" meltdown on Facebook. The restaurant in Scottsdale, Arizona is owned by Samy and Amy Bouzaglo, and was recently featured on an episode of Gordon Ramsay's "Kitchen Nightmares". Apparently, the Bouzaglo's were such a "nightmare" to work with Ramsay fired them. Customers aren't exactly fond of Amy's either; reviews on Yelp YELP -3.1% call the restaurant "horrible" and accuse the owners of stealing waitresses' tips. To make matters even worse, the Bouzaglos are notorious for their outrageous responses to these reviews on Yelp.

Yesterday's incident with Amy's Baking Company Bakery Boutique & Bistro has generated a lot of conversation about what not to do on social media as a brand. But underneath the typical commentary about bad brand behavior and reputation management are tips anyone (yes, even you) can takeaway from how the Bouzaglos have handled social media the past few years.

5 Steps to Getting Your Business Ranked on Yelp

tyler.crosson87@gmail.com (Aj Kumar) — Wed, 15 May 2013 18:05:21 -0500

Editor's note: Google isn't the only way for your business to be discovered online. This is the fifth and final piece in our series looking at alternate sources for search.

For business owners, there's a lot to love — and possibly a lot to hate — about user review site Yelp. Racking up droves of positive reviews can attract more customers, but some business owners have criticized the Yelp algorithm, which determines which reviews will be displayed on their pages. They argue that efforts to keep phony reviews from being published also block legitimate customer comments from being seen.

In addition, Yelp has been accused of offering to release a business's positive reviews in exchange for buying advertising on the site. Yelp has denied the allegations.