Friday, April 20, 2012

Getting Ready for a Social Media Event

Brushing up on statistics about social media while getting reading for a presentation. This video summarizes everything so well. Thanks Erik Qualman for making it.@Equalman



Here are the statistics from the video:

  1. Over 50% of the world’s population is under 30-years-old
  2. In 10 years over 40% of the Fortune 500 will no longer be here
  3. Social Media has overtaken porn as the #1 activity on the Web
  4. Facebook tops Google for weekly traffic in the U.S.
  5. 1 in 5 couples meet online; 3 in 5 gay couples meet online
  6. 1 in 5 divorces are blamed on Facebook
  7. What happens in Vegas stays on YouTube, Flickr, Twitter, Facebook…
  8. 2009 US Department of Education study revealed that on average, online students out performed those receiving face-to-face instruction
  9. If Facebook were a country it would be the world’s 3rd largest and 2x the size of the U.S. population
  10. 80% of companies use social media for recruitment; % of these using LinkedIn 95%
  11. A new member joins LinkedIn every second
  12. We don’t have a choice on whether we DO social media, the question is how well we DO it.”
  13. Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and Britney Spears have more Twitter followers than the entire populations of North Korea, Australia, Chile…Israel, Sweden, Greece,
  14. Over 32 million have watched the Volkswagen Darth Vader Kid advertisement on YouTube
  15. Child actor has never seen Star Wars
  16. Ford Explorer launch on Facebook more effective than a Super Bowl Ad
  17. 50% of the mobile Internet traffic in the UK is for Facebook…people update anywhere, anytime…imagine what that means for bad customer experiences?
  18. Generation Y and Z consider e-mail passé – some universities have stopped distributing e-mail accounts
  19. 69% of parents are “friends” with their children on social media
  20. eReaders have surpassed traditional book sales
  21. Groupon will reach $1 billion in sales faster than any company in history
  22. There were over 75 million more people playing Farmville than there were real Farmers
  23. Social Gamers to buy 6 billion in virtual goods by 2013; movie goers only buy 2.5 million in concessions
  24. The #2 largest search engine in the world is YouTube
  25. While you watch this 100+ hours of video will be uploaded to YouTube
  26. If Wikipedia were made into a book it would be 2.25 million pages long
  27. Because of the speed in which social media enables communication, word of mouth now becomes world of mouth
  28. 25% of search results for the World’s Top 20 largest brands are links to user-generated content
  29. 34% of bloggers post opinions about products & brands
  30. Do you like what they are saying about your brand? You better.
  31. 90% of consumers trust peer recommendations
  32. Only 14% trust advertisements
  33. Only 18% of traditional TV campaigns generate a positive ROI
  34. 90% of people that can TiVo ads do
  35. 93% of marketers use social media for business
  36. We will non longer search for products and services, they will find us via social media
  37. Social Media isn’t a fad, it’s a fundamental shift in the way we communicate
  38. The ROI of social media is that your business will still exist in 5 years
  39. Babies have been named Facebook in Egypt

Blogs: Quick and Easy Tips to Increase Readership

Writing and publishing a blog is a lot of fun. It allows the author,using articles photos, and videos, to creatively  develop their online personality. Many bloggers develop an intricate and detailed online personality only to be disappointed at the lack of interaction with their online community.

Here are a few words of encouragement. Whatever you do, don't give up! Try these easy steps to develop a long term group of faithful followers who interact with you through your blog.

  • Post - Quit waiting for the perfect article. Take the idea you have and express it. You can always go back later and expand your idea by posting more detailed information. Just Post it!
  • Distribute - Make sure your blog posts are shared throughout your online media sources. Remember to use your blog as the hub and sources like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and others as the spokes. These  other social media communities will help you draw in more readers to your blog.
  • Engage - Ask questions in your posts. When your readers comment, it is important that you respond. Listen so you can interact. Do this by setting up notifications to your phone or email (or both) so that you are immediately notified when someone comments on your post. By  responding to their comment quickly, you can create a real time conversation.
  • Adjust - Analyze and tweak as you go. Watch your statistics and and analytics so you understand what interests your readers most. Post on subjects that have high interest and comments. Stop posting on subjects that have little to now interest.
Enjoy developing your blog and your online community. Keep your blog fresh by updating it frequently. You'll be glad you did!

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Blog: Content is King Use an Editorial Calendar

Many blog enthusiasts believe the way to increase readership and interest is to blog at least three times a week. Consistently posting creates expectation by readers who eagerly anticipate the blogger's next feature. Though this has great credibility, it is only true if the post is worth reading.

Want to increase readership and interest? Write when you have something to say not just according to a schedule.

Content Marketing Plan
Always having content to write about isn't easy. Try using a Content Marketing Plan developed from an Editorial Calendar. Wikipedia defines editorial calendar as an efficient way for bloggers to develop, organize and publish content on blogs and other social media sites like facebook and twitter. They have been used for years in the publishing field and adopted by bloggers to facilitate the publishing process.

Two simple but important questions come to mind when considering content.
  • What do you have to offer?
  • What do your readers need from you?
Having succinct answers to these two questions will help a blogger develop their interests and keep readers returning looking for more awesome content.

Editorial Calendars need not be as sophisticated as the efficient plug-ins developed for blogs. Some bloggers use paper files and folders. If it works for them then it's the right thing to do. Other bloggers organize ideas and unpublished articles using spreadsheets or online calendars. No matter the format, an editorial calendar should be used to keep writing focused on desired topics and getting it published in a timely manner.

At a minimum, an editorial calendar needs the following elements:
  1. Brainstorm a list of topics based on your interests and audience needs
  2. Prioritize a list of what to publish focusing on time sensitive information
  3. Consider how much work each topic and piece will need to publish
  4. Assign dates for writing, editing, and publishing each article
  5. Determine where to publish each article (blog, facebook, email, newsletter)
Blogging has to be fun and interesting for the blogger. Creating lists on interesting topics, writing in shorter time periods, and understanding audience needs will increase the level of success and readership.