5 Loud and Clear Messages About Search, Social and Content Marketing

Iris Creative has been kind enough to give us a little SMX West wrap-up. I’m going to have to try and make it next year!

Via IrisCreative

“1. G+
Google is serious about Google Plus. They have made significant changes over the last few months – rolling Places into G+, requiring a G+ account to write a review, and most significantly, displaying search results based on who you are connected to on G+.
Presenter Mark Traphagen said “Unlike any other network, G+ extends your reach far beyond the network itself”. And in another session, Panelist Brent Csutoras said (strongly) that the one place he won’t automate social is on G+. In all other social networks, what you do is fairly self contained, with Google Integrating G+ into search, the impact of your footprint extends to your entire online presence.

2. Sharing
Last week I attended the District 2 CASE Conference where it was discussed that sharing could be considered the key measurement of success in social. I have seen this brought up on the AMA Nonprofit Marketing forum as well as other places lately and wrote about it in What Makes a Post Sharable?

It was a central topic at SMX West as well. Its not just social media, its not just a sharable web. We are moving to a connected economy where who you are, who you know and what you do are transparent and integrated into online functionality…” [Continue Reading]

Soldsie Looks To Turn Facebook Comments Into Dollar Signs

Imagine being able to sell stuff directly from a Facebook post, and all your customer had to do was leave a comment saying “sold” in order to make a purchase. It would be magical right? I think so too.

I could see this being especially useful for bands and musicians of all types.

Via SocialTimes:

“The purchasing method mimics the natural interactions that people have with their friends on Facebook. ”It’s fun, it’s conversational, and it’s visible,” said Soldsie CEO Chris Bennett in a phone interview.

Merchants, brands, and small business owners can use Soldsie to post their items for sale on Facebook. When shoppers type “sold” into the comments, the item goes straight to their shopping carts. The shoppers will then get an email prompting them to complete the purchase through Paypal or credit card when they’re ready.

Both buyers and sellers have to register for the service in order for it to work, so no erroneous sales will be made by people who are merely sold on an idea rather than an actual product…” [Continue Reading]

Asking For Retweets On Your Tweets

I couldn’t agree more with John Paul. I know there are studies showing that if you ask for a retweet, you’re more likely to get one, but it just smacks of desperation in my opinion. If your tweet is truly worthy of a retweet, it will surely get them. Right?

Via JOHNPAULAGUIAR:

“I might piss of a few friends with this one, but I have to be honest.

Asking people to RT your tweet WITHIN the actual tweet is just wrong wrong wrong.

I have a couple top marketers/social media experts that I follow and read everything they share, yet on the few cases that they did this the first thing that I thought was…

‘Dude, that just look’s desperate and not a good look for you’

People will share your stuff if they liked it, if they didn’t they usually won’t and that is ok, you can’t hit a homerun post each and every time.

Asking for RT’s within your tweet is like asking your date if you can kiss her.. it’s desperate and not something the girl wants to hear. Don’t believe me?

Ask any woman that you know what she would think if she was on a date and the guy said “Ummmm Mary, can I ummm kiss you now?”

Now asking for a RT on a post is just fine if you do it thru email or thru direct messages. That is fine. Doesn’t mean you will get a RT but at least you asked in the right setting and you don’t look desperate.” [Continue Reading '15 Twitter Activities That Make My 3yr Old Nephew Want To Kick You In Your Poo']

How do you feel about it? Are you  more likely to retweet when somebody includes “RT” in their tweet? Leave a comment and let me know.

How Advertisers Made The Super Bowl Power Outage Work For Them

There’s been more buzz surrounding these clever “blackout” tweets than there has been for the actual Super Bowl commercials!

Via Forbes:

“Savvy advertisers quickly took to Twitter tonight to capitalize on the unexpected power outage during this year’s Super Bowl. ‘We do carry candles,’ Walgreens tweeted when the power went out at the Super Bowl. ‘We also sell lights.’ Oreo tweeted, ‘Power out? No problem,’ posting an ad that finished, ‘You can still dunk in the dark.’ Meanwhile, Tide tweeted, ‘We can’t get your # blackout, but we can get your stains out,’ posting its own ad. Audi took a direct hit at competitor and Superdome naming rights-holder Mercedes-Benz with this tweet: ‘Sending some LEDs to the @ mbusa Superdome right now‘

They and other marketers responded to–indeed, capitalized on–an unprecedented event with instant on-brand communication.

‘This is an example of the new world of marketing where things happen so fast, where brands respond real time to the environment,’ said Tim Calkins, a marketing professor at the…” [Continue Reading]

Why Facebook May Never Make A Significant Profit

We’re all impressed by Facebook’s ability to lure in over a billion users, but will they ever make a significant profit? Christopher Mims explains why he believes they never will, and I tend to agree!

Via Quartz:

“Facebook is a large, inefficient engine for transforming electricity and programmers into a down-market place to sell low-value advertising. Most of the numbers in its recent earnings report indicate that the company is in a race against various forces merely to maintain its current advertising revenue, and there is little to indicate that the company is going to come up with any fundamentally new sources of revenue anytime soon…” [Continue Reading]