Twitter Tweaks Its Website

December 21st, 2011 | by adminjim

You may or may not be surprised to know that a majority of tweeters out there don’t actually use the service through Twitter’s own site.

Tons of desktop and mobile apps have provided them with more feature-filled and intuitive user interfaces. Whether it be through TweetDeck or Twitter for
Blackberry, users seem to prefer the non-website Twitter experience.

Twitter has taken the necessary steps, though, to give its website quite the facelift. A number of key features stand out among the rest with this flurry of tweaks to the site.

Well, for one, everything that was once close to the edge of the right side of the screen has been moved to the left. The addition of a black banner across the top mirrors that of the Twitter app for iPhone and Android devices.

Conversations can be followed much more easily by simply clicking on any tweet to read the back-and-forth between two people.

The addition of the “Interactions” tab displays more of the hidden activities pertaining to your Twitter account. This includes when another user mentions your username, “favorites” or retweets one of your tweets, or follows or adds you to a public list.

While these features may appear to be only slight improvements to the user experience on the Twitter website, they definitely serve the purpose of making following conversations easier. Users will still clamor for plenty of upgrades that still have not been included in this website revamp, but this is a nice step in the right direction for Twitter.

Jimmie Carmeci is a marketing assistant at The Darwin Agency, and can be reached at jim@thedarwinagency.com.

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Posted in Social Media

Holiday Card One-Upmanship

December 17th, 2011 | by adminjim

A couple of days ago, I was perusing through the Wall Street Journal. I came across a holiday-inspired article that intrigued me. The article centered on the topic of holiday cards. Holiday photo cards have been a time-honored family tradition.

A new chapter in holiday cards has arrived as an offshoot of the increased photo sharing and information swapping taking place across social media platforms. Designs offered by online card services such as Tiny Prints, Minted, and Paper Culture have set the standard for holiday cards.

Tiny Prints offers customers more than 2,500 designs, while 473 of these accommodate three or more photos. Its parent site, Shutterfly, boasts 3,100 design offerings, including a style holding 14 photos. These card-design companies are catering to high impact demands with multi-photo layouts and a bevy of design options.

There are obviously many choices for consumers when it comes to producing a standout holiday card. Cards come in all shapes, sizes, and with differing color schemes. Magazine-like professional photo shoots are the norm for the new incarnations these days.

Who would have ever thought that sending out the updated family photo for the holidays would literally become this much of a production? Holiday photo cards will surely continue to become more detailed and elaborate as time progresses.

Happy holidays to all…and remember to send out your family portraits this holiday season!

Jimmie Carmeci is a marketing assistant at The Darwin Agency, and can be reached at jim@thedarwinagency.com.

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Posted in Social Media

Klout’s Added Features Are Revealed

December 8th, 2011 | by adminjim

Klout, which measures influence across the social web, now boasts the addition of two key features to its interface. ‘Sashes’ and the ‘Add a Topic’ Button are now available to Klout users.

Sashes are a visual update to the ‘Topics’ feature, which had been introduced this past September. The ‘Topics’ feature had been aimed at allowing users to gain insight on top influencers and +K recipients for particular content areas. The sash concept will expand upon this in a simplified way.

A blue sash will be awarded to Klout users with the most +Ks for any topic, while a gold sash will be bestowed upon top influencers based on Klout’s analysis. A blue-and-gold sash has also been created in order to reward those who fall into both of these categories. These visual merits aim at more precisely representing a user’s influence.

The ‘Add a Topic’ button will enable Klout users to add topics that its system does not pick up. Now, those who may be seen as a great source for offline movie recommendations, for example, will be given the opportunity to add movies to their influential topics.

Klout is intent on becoming more about being just a number. Users will now be further recognized for what they are influential about, rather than solely upon how influential they are.

Join Klout today to get insight on the extent of your social influence, and to learn more about the unique way in which Klout determines your sociability.

Jimmie Carmeci is a marketing assistant at The Darwin Agency, and can be reached at jim@thedarwinagency.com.

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Posted in Social Media

WordPress Introduces Alternative To AdWords

December 2nd, 2011 | by adminjim

WordPress.com has announced the introduction of its own alternative to Google’s AdWords. For those of you that do not know, WordPress is a popular blogging site that is now offering advertising on the blogs created by its users. Bloggers will now have another advertising option in order to monetize their sites.

WordAds is the name of this pay-per-click advertising platform, which makes use of WordPress.com’s partnership with Federated Media.

Federated Media develops programs and products that enable brands to engage in conversations and host their own discussions with current and potential customers. The sites and applications that they represent feature blogs, apps, community platforms, and video. These sites and applications all are engaged in quality conversations with their audiences and the broader web.

Apparently, bloggers have been inquiring for some time about WordPress possibly introducing a monetization program via pay-per-click advertising.

According to WordPress founder Matt Mullenwegg, ““Since WordPress.com was started, six years ago, advertising has been our #1 feature request.” Jon Burke, ads lead for WordPress.com, stated, “We’ve resisted advertising so far because most of it we had seen wasn’t terribly tasteful, and it seemed like
Google’s AdSense was the state-of-the-art, which was sad.”

This announcement is actually not a surprise, though, as WordPress leaked news in October that it would be teaming up with Automattic and Federated Media to enable users to place ads on their blogs.

It is still unknown how WordAds’ features will differ from that of AdWords. Selection for inclusion in WordAds will be based on a number of factors including level of traffic and engagement, type of content, and language used on a blog. Filling out the interest form will not even guarantee that your blog will be accepted.

There are more than 50,000 WordPress-powered blogs online every day. WordPress’s ultimate goal is to provide users with an enhanced experience in comparison to that being offered by Google’s Adsense.

Jimmie Carmeci is a marketing assistant at The Darwin Agency, and can be reached at jim@thedarwinagency.com.

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Posted in Advertising

Would You Buy A Facebook Smartphone?

November 28th, 2011 | by adminjim

Recently, there have been a number of rumors regarding a new smartphone possibly being in development. There is a widespread belief that Facebook is developing its own smartphone.

A recent report leaked that Facebook is working with HTC on a new smartphone, which is being code-named “Buffy.” It is said to feature a customized version of the Android operating system with deep Facebook integration.

Now, you may be wondering why Facebook would create its own smartphone in the first place. The only true justification for a Facebook smartphone would be the ability to offer an enhanced user experience and a more effective vehicle for its advertising business.

Facebook aims to maximize the user’s exposure to highly-targeted ads that use personal data that is provided as a payment for the social network’s services. A well-controlled smartphone would enable Facebook to pluck the advertising dollars from its most direct competitor, Google.

Yet, a recent survey conducted by The Wall Street Journal’s AllThingsD blog offered some telling results with regards to potential consumer interest in such a device. Over 81% of voters had no interest in a Facebook phone, while less than 8% stated that they would want to buy the product. Another 11% would consider it depending on what features and security were offered upon its release.

Facebook has denied the claims pertaining to its development of a branded smartphone offering. Whether they are factual or not, the recent reports have provided intriguing news to the world of smartphone users. The question remains, though, how interested will smartphone users actually be if ‘The Facebook Phone’ is ultimately released?

Jimmie Carmeci is a marketing assistant at The Darwin Agency, and can be reached at jim@thedarwinagency.com.

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Posted in Social Media

Mark Your Calendars: November 29th Marks The First “Pay A Blogger Day”

November 23rd, 2011 | by adminjim

November 29th will mark the date of the inaugural “Pay a Blogger Day.” The intriguing Swedish micropayment startup, Flattr, is looking to inspire Internet users to send a monetary token of appreciation to their favorite songsters, podcast creators, open-source software developers and bloggers.

The effort is driven by Flattr’s belief that with all the time and effort invested in blogs out there, contributors deserve to receive something in return, at least one day each year. After all, its service is essentially intended to aid creative people in their efforts to get paid by online consumers.

Blogs serve as a valuable source of enjoyable, entertaining, and informative creative material that comprise a large share of our daily web consumption.

Flattr is simultaneously marketing itself through the launch of this scheme. It is dedicating a portion of its campaign to the promotion of its own equivalent of the “Like” button. Users are able to pay a small amount each month and then click Flattr buttons on sites in order to share the money they paid among those sites, similar to an Internet tip jar.

When it comes to “Pay a Blogger Day,” Flattr is most interested in inciting a movement. “Pay a Blogger Day” may not provide bloggers with sufficient money to make a living, yet it may give them the necessary encouragement to continue contributing their creativity to the Internet.

This day of tribute could possibly change the way in which free content is viewed on the Internet. So go out and support the content that interests you most!

Jimmie Carmeci is a marketing assistant at The Darwin Agency, and can be reached at jim@thedarwinagency.com.

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Posted in Marketing

Social Media Is Buzzing About Holiday Shopping

November 22nd, 2011 | by adminjim

Social media buzz is defined as the scope of total activity taking place in the form of postings on blogs, message boards, groups, news sites, Facebook and Twitter.

Whether you are a consumer or a retailer, holiday shopping is becoming a hot topic of conversation across social media networks. The buzz is not only about Black Friday, but also surrounds Cyber Monday.

If you are unfamiliar with Cyber Monday, it is a marketing term used to label the Monday immediately following Black Friday. Last year, comScore reported the first ever $1 billion online shopping day for Cyber Monday. This represented a 16% increase over 2009’s totals.

A study conducted by NM Incite concluded that Black Friday makes up 79% of buzz relating to holiday shopping activity in 2010. Cyber Monday represents the other 21% of social talk pertaining to holiday shopping. This percentage of social activity is double the total of the previous year. This increase is a result of greater consumer interest in online shopping events around the first week of the holiday season.

The topic of shopping buzz actually comprised a 2.5% share of all daily social activity in 2010. This signaled a 25% increase compared to the 1.9% figure amassed in 2009. The study does note that there has been a continuous growth of social media messages these days.

Consumers turn to online search and social sharing in order to search for and socialize about the best deals as they prepare for Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales.

Jimmie Carmeci is a marketing assistant at The Darwin Agency, and can be reached at jim@thedarwinagency.com.

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Posted in Social Media

Ten Social Media Stats That Will Surprise You

November 19th, 2011 | by adminjim

Earlier today, I read a blog post that intrigued me. Sarah Evans of social media and PR blog, Commentz, compiled a list of 50 New Social-Media Stats to Kick-Start Your Slide Deck. I narrowed that list down to 10 stats that are especially important to consider as a business owner. These statistics are very telling numbers that should motivate owners to adjust their social media tendencies and actions accordingly.

Here’s my list of the ten most important social media statistics for business owners:

1. On Sundays, B2C Facebook results are 30% above average.
2. 77% of consumers said they interact with brands on Facebook through reading posts and updates from brands for the most part.
3. 95% of Facebook wall posts go unanswered by brands.
4. B2B (57%) and B2C (41%) businesses state that SEO has the biggest impact on their lead generation goals.
5. 56% of consumers are more likely to recommend a brand to a friend after becoming a fan on Facebook.
6. 15% of the average local business’s fans are in the city where the business is located.
7. 58% of people like a brand on Facebook because they are a customer, while 57% do so in order to receive discounts and promotions.
8. Consumers who use social media dine out more and are more likely to become returning customers.
9. 43% of all online consumers are social media fans or followers.
10. 84% of senior execs believe their brand’s sociability is not up to world-class standards.

Jimmie Carmeci is a marketing assistant at The Darwin Agency, and can be reached at jim@thedarwinagency.com.

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Posted in Social Media

Watch Out, Facebook! Twitter’s Influence Is Growing

November 7th, 2011 | by adminjim

Yes, it is true. Facebook is nearing 800 million users. Twitter, on the other hand, reports having 200 million users.

Despite the fact that it is one-fourth of the size of Facebook, Twitter still packs quite the punch in terms of influence.

Twitter’s referrals to news content are of a different nature than that of Facebook. While Facebook encourages users that won’t stay on the site, tweets and retweets on Twitter usually come from people who have personally chosen to follow an individual, news organization or subject. This provides a much more targeted type of referral than simply putting up a random, impulsive post on someone’s wall.

The mobile aspect of Twitter is actually where a large majority of its influence stems from. Smartphones are ideal for Twitter’s 140-character format.

A recent study by ComScore has determined that about 13.5% of Twitter users are mobile ones, compared to only 7% for Facebook users. Its growth on mobile is substantial at a 75% clip per year. Facebook’s yearly mobile growth rate stands at a mere 50%.

The microblogging service that is Twitter offers users a simple and straightforward interface that differs greatly from that of Facebook.

Facebook has chosen to go the route of saturating its users with feature after feature. Its interface is overcomplicated; resulting in increased time spent attempting to do things that were much faster in the past.

Jimmie Carmeci is a marketing assistant at The Darwin Agency, and can be reached at jim@thedarwinagency.com.

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Posted in Social Media

Publicity: Quality Or Quantity?

November 3rd, 2011 | by adminjim

“I don’t care what you say about me, just spell my name right.” P.T. Barnum

Is there really such a thing as bad publicity? Apparently, the answer is yes.

There are a number of potential disadvantages that involve overwhelming the masses with your pitches, content and press releases.
Whether you are promoting your news to people who are unlikely to ever become customers or are practicing poor PR and content placement, you risk wasting resources and driving traffic away from your own site.

Before you decide to simply submit your company’s exciting new announcement to a site with a less than stellar reputation, cheap pay-per-click ads and unfocused content, consider your own brand’s reputation. Any publicity really isn’t beneficial in this case. Simply posting this content on your own site may serve as a better way to utilize and distribute it.

Your public relations and content marketing spend can be effectively targeted in order to achieve optimum return on investment and high-quality media attention. Targeting should be aimed at editors, reporters, bloggers and outlets whose audiences care about similar companies, products and services.

The quality and relevancy of the site on which your content appears is also quite significant in the eyes of viewers.

There are plenty of questionable media outlets in existence that will print and promote anything. Don’t waste your message on an audience that simply does not care about you or your news. Bad publicity can steer readers away from your site and diminish the value of your news and your brand.

Jimmie Carmeci is a marketing assistant at The Darwin Agency, and can be reached at jim@thedarwinagency.com.

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Posted in Advertising, Marketing

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