This morning Facebook announced that it had agreed to acquire photo-sharing service Instagram. Here's a quick collection of the initial headlines, user reactions and more from around the Web.
[View the story "Facebook buys Instragram: What They're Saying"]
Despite all the hype and discussion around social TV and the two screen viewing experience, a TVGuide.com survey released today found that 95% of people participate in social TV activities after watching a show, up from 68% last year. Among the other findings, the survey found a majority of people (76%) are motivated to participate in social TV activities due to a feeling that doing so will prevent their favorite show from being cancelled.
At SXSW last month I sat down with CNN's senior digital producer, Steve Krakauer, to get his view on the social TV trend, talk about how CNN thinks about social media and more.
The full TVGuide.com survey results are embedded below.
How can we get more Twitter followers? It's a question many of us in the digital world hear multiple times per day.
One response is that focusing solely on a metric like number of followers is short-sighted--brands should at least be looking a bit deeper at their follower bases. Are there influencers following us? Are the right types of people in the right demographics following us? If not, what's our strategy to change that?
Social media needs to be viewed as a marathon, not a sprint. Sure, there will be times of experimentation and bursts of activity, which will include adding thousands of new followers in a short period of time. Until brands get over the desire to accumulate followers without a single thought as to why or what to do with them once they're on-board, the focus will remain on growth for growth's sake.
So how to answer the question?
In my experience, one of the main things that holds a Twitter handle back from building followers organically (the marathon, not the sprint) is the fact that most simply don't update often enough. Twitter is a high-volume medium, so sharing 1-2 updates every couple of days just isn't going to cut it in most cases.
The good news is there are several services that allow you to schedule updates on Twitter (HootSuite, SproutSocial, etc.) and a handful that optimize the timing of your updates in order to maximize exposure (SocialFlow, Buffer, etc.). This should mean less effort is required to keep a handle flowing with great content. (Note: many of the tools mentioned here also provide similar functionality for Facebook and other platforms).
To that end I conducted an experiment with the @AccessPR handle for the first couple months of 2012. Back in mid-January we implemented the free version of Buffer, a tool that "automagically" posts content you've deemed worthy at various times throughout the day. At the time, the handle had some 1,492 followers and we admittedly did a spotty job, at best, of sharing updates on a consistent basis.
With Buffer, we go about our normal workflow--reading and consuming content across the Web at all hours of the day and night. Thanks to the Google Chrome plugin and a smart integration with Google Reader, we are able to quickly add interesting items to our queue of future Twitter updates. Since implementing the tool the handle averaged just over five updates per day via Buffer--including regular updates on weekends, early mornings and late nights.
What have we gained as a result?
As you can see from the graphic above the handle added some 264 new followers (a 17.7% increase), many of whom are focused on digital and social media, which just so happens to be the focus of the vast majority of the content that's been shared. Not bad for just two-and-a-half months.
Buffer also provides some basic yet still insightful analytics around the number of clicks, re-tweets, mentions and favorites a given update generates. Of course, some thought has to be given to how updates are shared via Buffer (like regularly including @usernames, relevant hashtags, adding an opinion, etc.) and users should balance scheduled updates with live discussions so as not to become robotic.
I've found that sharing consistent updates at varied times throughout the day is the key to igniting organic follower growth. What has been your experience?
Still on the fence about Google+? I caught up with Mashable's community manager, Meghan Peters at SXSW in Austin to chat about how the techology news brand is using the platform to become the second most engaged outlet on Google+.
Meghan shares some interesting anecdotes about using hangouts, communicating with readers and utilizing the new medium. Check out the video below for the full conversation:
*Originally published on The Access Point
At SXSW Google took over a couple streets near the downtown Austin Convention Center to create the Google Village, which was designed to provide an interactive "glimpse of Google’s view of the future." Among the many demos, discussions and musical performances taking place in the Village was a Google+ 'bootcamp' where product managers touted the rapid rise of Google+, showed off its full range of features and took questions from an eager audience.
Time to explore the Google Village at #sxsw twitter.com/AccessPR/statu… — AccessPR (@AccessPR) March 11, 2012
One feature that many may not be aware of is Ripples. Ripples provide insights into how links are shared across the entire Google+ network. For communications professionals, the tool could be invaluable as it provides a quick and visual way to determine who the influencers are that are talking about a particular topic. Ripples also provide data such as how many shares per hour a post received, which languages it was shared in and more. Here's an example of the Ripple caused by Whitney Houston's death.
To start exploring Ripples for yourself, go here and enter a URL. If you want to learn more, the Google+ team recently shared a complete breakdown on Ripples.
Google+ Hangouts were another hot topic of discussion. Hangouts allow users to quickly create live video conversations with other users. Within Hangouts, people can talk, share documents and videos and more. Brands looking to host a Hangout will do well to heed the Google+ team's short list of tips:
There you have it--how is your brand using Google+?
*Originally published on The Access Point
While recent reports indicate that blogging may be in decline among the Inc. 500, the total number of blogs continues to grow exponentially. Brands are increasingly coming to the realization that they can and should be telling their own stories using blogs and other social media channels.
For communications professionals this means it's critical to master the basics of publishing and distributing content online. Here are six blogging basics that every communications professional should have in their arsenal.
Understand the full value of compelling headlines
There's an explosion of content online now that everyone is a publisher, so crafting a compelling headline is paramount. Not only is it the first thing most people will see, but it's also likely your one and only chance to pull in new readers. Headlines are typically what will be re-tweeted and shared on social networks by people who consume your content. Choose your words wisely, be direct and descriptive and don't forget there are SEO implications for your headlines as well, so make them keyword rich.
Link strategically
It's not enough to include hyperlinks in your blog posts--that much should be a given. Think strategically about the words you're hyperlinking to help with SEO. Rather than link generic words like "here" or "this video," instead link the same content to industry keywords, product or brand names, etc. Bottom line: think before you link!
Utilize images
Let's face it, visual storytelling is here in a big way and it's not going anywhere. Most audiences expect to have a compelling visual aspect to the content they're consuming, including everything from a single image to slide shows and image galleries. That's why communications professionals need to know how to properly format and size images to fit different mediums and platforms, as well as how to effectively name, describe and tag visual content to help with discovery and SEO.
Embed content
Videos, SlideShare content and even Tweets. All add interactivity and there's no reason to send people away from your blog with a link when you can embed the same content and keep them on your site. The major platforms have made it super simple to locate, generate and customize embed code for easy sharing, the next step is understanding how to properly insert that code into your blogging platform of choice. In Wordpress, for example, it's as simple as making sure to click on the "HTML" tab within the post edit screen before pasting the code.
Moderate comments
Encouraging and stoking a healthy online discussion should be one of the goals of any blog post. Knowing how to review and moderate comments while adhering to your overarching comment policy is key. While it may 'feel' right to not approve negative commentary, you'll be much more credible and win fans in the long term by not only publishing critical commentary, but by then responding in an open and honest way.
Encourage sharing
Nearly every blog now includes buttons for Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, LinkedIn, etc. that allow readers to quickly share and distribute content with their own networks. The next step is ensuring that posts are consistently using specific calls to action to encourage readers to engage and interact. Tell people explicitly what you want them to do and when they do it, follow up and recognize them for doing so.
Tweet me @TrevR or leave a comment here to let me know what other blogging basics you would you deem critical.
Last December I put together a short list of 5 social media predictions for 2011. Now with just a few days left in the year it's time to see how accurate those predictions turned out to be.
Below are my five predictions, followed by a short synopsis of the result.
2011 Prediction: Location-based services will go mainstream, with Topguest, Foursquare and Facebook leading the way.
Result: They didn't go mainstream and by most accounts Topguest and Facebook didn't lead the way. In fact, Facebook killed its mobile Places check-in feature in August and 'acqhired' Gowalla in December with plans to shut the service down. Meanwhile, Foursquare closed the year with more than 15 million members and a ton of work ahead of it.
2011 Prediction: The social media measurement space will see significant consolidation
Result: There wasn't significant consolidation, but things did begin to contract a bit. The 2011 highlight was undoubtedly Salesforce's $300+ million acquision of Radian6. Dozens of new entrants continued to flood the market, but with Radian6 and Sysomos being purchased and Twitter offering Analytics to advertisers there are early signs of a maturing market.
2011 Prediction: Twitter will find a viable business model.
Result: Maybe it has, maybe it hasn't. As 2011 comes to a close this one can't be confirmed. What we do know is that the company's valuation is around $8 billion, it's handling some 250 million tweets every day and it has well over 100 million active users globally. That and Jack Dorsey says the business model is based on serendipity.
2011 Prediction: Online privacy will become an even more contested issue.
Result: The privacy debate certainly raged on in 2011 and promises to do so into the new year and beyond. Facebook, which has well upwards of 800 million users worldwide, continued to push the privacy envelope by introducing 'frictionless sharing' and the new Timeline feature. In December, the company reoranized to focus more on privacy in the year ahead.
2011 Prediction: One of the larger social networks won't make it through 2011.
Result: Facebook prepped for a 2012 IPO, Twitter continued to grow like a weed, LinkedIn had a successful IPO and rolled out dozens of new features. Meanwhile, MySpace, while still around, is a shell of its former self, losing more than half of its unique monthly visitors over the course of the past year (see graphic above).
As we look ahead to 2012, what are your social media predictions?
Earlier this week a former colleague got me thinking about the current and future state of the public relations industry—particularly as it continues to be impacted by social media.
Twitter’s VP of Communications, Sean Garrett, asked in a Tweet whether or not technology PR professionals that are not using Twitter should be fired or simply reprimanded (my vote). While asked somewhat tongue-in-cheek, the question hits on a key issue: despite being mid-way through 2011, widespread understanding and adoption of basic social media tools by PR pros at all levels is spotty at best.
With that in mind, I’ve put together three core social media skills for today’s PR pros. Those who haven’t yet gotten comfortable doing each of the following (which for many are merely fundamental at this point) had better start making it a priority or risk being left behind.
Write, Publish and Distribute Content via a Blog
Writing is core to the PR profession—always has been, always will be. Blogs as we know them have been around for close to a decade now and they’ve gotten dead-simple to setup and manage. Today’s PR pro needs to be comfortable not just writing, but publishing content on a variety of platforms such as Wordpress, Blogger, Tumblr, Posterous, etc. If you can write content in Microsoft Word, you can publish content on just about any blogging platform that exists today.
The bottom line is that those who are able to take the written word, publish it on a corporate or personal blog and distribute it across the Web are those that understand the media landscape we’re all operating in today.
Comment and Manage Comments on a Blog
The beauty of blogs is not only in the simplicity of publishing content, but in the dialogue that they enable between publisher and reader. Much of this conversation takes place in the comments--though increasingly on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and beyond thanks to the button wars.
Knowing how to comment on third-party blogs in order to share a point of view and establish oneself within a specific community is key—as is grasping the basics around moderating (approving, deleting, blacklisting, white-listing) comments on a blog you run. If PR is about generating and engaging in conversations, being comfortable in the world of online commenting is critical.
Leverage Twitter (and other tools) for Competitive Advantage
Not having a personal presence on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. is pretty much a cardinal sin at this point. Even if you don’t actively engage, you should know the basics on how each works (how to Tweet, Re-Tweet, shorten a link, etc.) and at a minimum be using them on a daily basis to monitor what key journalists, influencers and competitors are doing and saying.
Tools like Twitter make the job of the PR pro that much easier as it has never been so simple to find out pertinent information about key individuals that can be leveraged in your next real-world conversation.
What other social media skills should PR pros have mastered?
Google News recently rolled out several new features for its popular online service. Chief among them is the ability for users to set parameters around the specific types of news sources that will be pulled in to their News results on an on-going basis.
For PR pros, it’s worth noting that it is now dead simple for Google News users to completely eliminate your press releases from their feed. The three step process goes as follows: sign in to your Google account, click on the News Settings link and check the appropriate box under “press releases.”
It’s no secret that most journalists despise the press release and yet it remains the standard method of communication for most companies, particularly around material news. Given that organizations give up valuable SEO and potential on-domain traffic when issuing a press release, it’s high time we start mixing things up.
Why not issue a post via your corporate blog instead? Or, if you have to go the ‘press release’ route, setup an RSS feed on your online newsroom and post your news there. Either way, you’re driving visitors to your website, saving a few bucks and perhaps most importantly writing more casual, informative and helpful content for everyone involved.
A new study from Pew Internet provides details on who Twitter users are and how they access the service. As you may recall, a November 2010 report found that only 8% of Internet users accessed Twitter on a regular basis, while the report issued today found that that number had increased to 13%.
While still a small figure overall, the five percent increase in approximately six months is noteworthy and perhaps an indication that Twitter's continued acquisitions, new features and changes to its service are succeeding in broadening its appeal and usefulness to the widest possible audience.
Other noteworthy tidbits from the study include:
