Wired: Organized Chaos: Viral Marketing, Meet Social Media

We encourage you to check out Curtis Silver's piece in Wired magazine in which he discusses the evolution of viral marketing and how it met with social media. Silver writes, viral marketing — the technique of wrangling word-of-mouth to create a buzz around your product or idea — has been a powerful tool since the first caveman started the first rumor. Spreading the word person to person is the stuff of Avon dreams — and Bernie Madoff nightmares. And it requires the confidence to lose control of the message by setting it adrift. He discusses 2002's BMW short film series, The Hire and how Mystery Science Theater 3000 played an integral part in the latter stages of "traditional" viral marketing.

Organized Chaos: Viral Marketing, Meet Social Media

NASDAQ Goes Social

I came across this article in WebProNews that discusses that the world's largest exchange company has launched a social networking community called "NASDAQ Community". The aim of this group, according to NASDAQ EVP John Jacobs, is to promote market transparency and investor education among people in the financial sector with shared interests.

Members of the community are able to create profiles, ask questions on discussion boards and rate and review stocks.

Google adds social media activity to search results

Utalkmarketing.com reports today that Google has launched Social Search facility that enables users to discover publicly available web content from their social circle online.

Currently still in its experimental stage, when using Social Search users will sometimes see a special set of "Results from people in your social circle" towards the bottom of the results page.

These social results include relevant websites, blogs, status updates, and other publicly-available content from users’ online friends and contacts.

As a social networking user, will this help you find relevant content online? Or, are you able to find said content easily on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube?

Google adds social media activity to search results

Real-Time Search Results for Twitter

In the past couple of months we have seen major events unfold and witnessed Facebook and Twitter become real-time news reporters. According to this article in the NY Times, there has been talks of search engines like OneRiot, Collecta and Topsy trying to incorporate twitter in real-time search results, but recently Microsoft and Google have reached separate agreements to include tweets into their search engines.

One question that the article raises is how will these real-time results produce a cash flow for twitter? Analysts mention that this might not be an easy task, and twitter's chief executive has already mentioned that it is not the primary focus of the agreements made.

One things for sure, twitter has definitely become a force to be reckoned with and it's great to see Google and Microsoft recognize this and want to include it into their search results.

Google and Facebook to join music distribution

According to the New York Times, Google and Facebook are teaming up with some of the music labels in order to make music easier to learn about music types, as well as find and sample music from different musicians. Google's initiative to team up with Capitol Records is expected to be announced next Wednesday. The different sites will not actually host the media, but will create partnerships with other sites such as iLike to stream the media.

What do you think? This is the first time we've seen the music industry join forces with someone on the internet to publicize their artists on the internet. I believe that by creating communities where artists are readily available for the public to hear will only increase the number of CDs purchased by buyers.

H1N1 Swine Flu Social Media Tools Provided by CDC

Huliq.com reports that The CDC partnered with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services(HHS)to create social media tools that provide easy to access information about the ongoing H1N1 Swine Flu pandemic. Widgets, mobile information, online videos and other tools help keep important H1N1 Flu information flowing.

For links to these potentially life saving networks, please click here.

H1N1 Swine Flu Social Media Tools Provided by CDC

CIA to start spying on social media?

Don Reisinger of CNET.com reports Tuesday that the CIA may start spying on social media conversations. Reisinger writes, visible Technologies, a company that monitors online social activity and packages the findings for clients, has forged a "strategic partnership" with In-Q-Tel, the CIA's not-for-profit investment arm, to give the organization insight into social media.

For more information about these companies and about their partnerships with the CIA, please visit Reisinger's original article here.

Live from The Market Research Event: The Skinny on Marketing Research at Facebook

We're live this week at The Market Research Event 2009 and we invite you to follow along with us via our blog and Twitter. Among our great presentations this year, we'd like to share one with you that's specific to social media, written by our guest blogger, April Bell.

The Skinny on Marketing Research at Facebook

Well, I am here for my first session at The Market Research Event in Las Vegas. What a great first session to blog about: Facebook. Meg Sloan, research lead at Facebook and Brant Cruz of Chadwick Martin Bailey shared a little glimpse of what life inside Facebook is like.

Currently, Facebook has 300 million users worldwide and at least 1/2 of their users go to the site daily! Wow! How do they do it? Here's a tidbit....

Their guiding principles include:

Proactive

Scalable

Expertise

New School

Synthesis & Story-telling

Meg also gave us insight into how they view their small marketing research team:

1. Try our best to act like the rest of the org

2. Radical focus on the roadmap and prioritization

3. Making sure we all are doing things we feel strong at each day (staying motivated)

4. Supporting each other/sharing information/work etc.

5. Be nimble and use our resources and relationships to their fullest.

And last but not least: Ruthless Prioritization as well as Have Fun and create an awesome workplace. Their Q3 planning meeting involved pedicures--sign me up!

You can see more about life inside the marketing research team at Facebook. Check out this video about "life at facebook." Oh, and by the way, they currently have a marketing research position open for anyone who is interested...

I'm now a little more motivated to spend time on my facebook page...

Social Media for Farmers is a Growing Trend

Farmers across the United States are starting to reap the benefits of social media by utilizing it for personal and agriculture-specific purposes. The National Journal Online reports that The Center for Rural Affairs (CFRA), a Nebraska-based rural advocacy group, started seriously investing in social media less than six months ago, but they already have more than 700 fans on Facebook and nearly 300 followers on Twitter. "We've had way more success than I anticipated," said Brian Depew, rural organizing and outreach program director at CFRA.

The American Farm Bureau Federation, active in social media for nine months, has engaged an even bigger share of the farming community. With 4,000 Facebook fans and nearly 2,300 followers on Twitter, the Farm Bureau created a social media committee to design rules of use.

Leading the pack on Twitter is the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, who has about 100 more followers than its national counterpart, despite only officially announcing their social media presence in June (they'd been tweeting unofficially since last November). "We know that we can't reach the people we need to reach by just posting up on our Web site and hoping they find it through Google or a search engine," said communications specialist Dan Toland, who spearheaded the group's social media effort. "It's not all about the people coming to us, but reaching out to our members."

How else do you think the agriculture sector can benefit from social media?


Ag Groups Find Voice In Social Media

What your online communities can do for you

Venture Beat recently looked at a popular question in social media - how can you measure and track the efforts of online social media. They came up with a few answers that were very unique and showed not just profit the online community can make, but what the online community can do to save you money.

- Market research - Online communities are a great group of targeted customers who you can use to do market research, saving the normal market research spend

- Advertising costs/revenue - You can find out if new marketing campaigns are going to work before buying any media space by testing them on your community group

- Customer revenue - You can measure the spending of your online community members versus non-online community members

- Customer Retention - Those members of the community tend to have a greater sense of loyalty and stay with your brand, buying your products longer

Social Media Can Save Lives, Says Public Health Officials

Medscape.com reports that social media tools such as Twitter and Facebook are allowing public health officials to reach out fast and directly to the public on everything from salmonella-related food recalls to disease outbreaks and weather emergencies. Federal agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration have recognized the power of social media, using the broad reach of the online community to help distribute important health information and learn what issues are popping up across the country at any given time.

For more information about how public health officials are using social media, please click on the original article below.


Public Health Leaders Using Social Media to Convey Emergencies: New Tools a Boon

Social Media Can be Profitable

Mashable recently posted this video in which Bloomberg interviewed Mashable CEO Pete Cashmore, in which he discussed how the blog which was first introduced in 2005 was able to utilize web 2.0 technology to provide 24/7 news coverage of what's happening on the web and in social media.

The site has many revenue streams including advertising, job boards, and even events. This is just an example of how web 2.0 technology in this day and age has replaced traditional media in the way we receive information. Watch the video below.

Complimentary Web Seminar: Shifting Media, Shifting Minds

Title: Shifting Media, Shifting Minds
Date: Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Time: 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM EDT

Register here: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/367946673
Mention Priority code: P1506LinkedInBlog

About the web seminar:
The days of one-way brand communication (i.e. advertising) are over. Engagement, utility and brand evangelism are the secrets to success in the user-controlled world of Facebook and Twitter. See how some major brands have exploited the new digital realities. Heartbeat Digital CEO Bill Drummy presents real-world examples showing how Bayer, J&J, Novo Nordisk, and UCB are racing ahead into the digital future.

What you will learn:
• The dramatic change in consumer media consumption patterns
• Who’s really using social networking and what are they doing
• The real data behind Facebook & Twitter
• The “reason for being” of various social networking environments and how to harness their unique capabilities
• Real-world examples of effective social networking campaigns

About the speaker:
Bill Drummy is CEO of Heartbeat Digital, an independent interactive marketing and software company he founded in 1998. Heartbeat is headquartered in New York, with offices in Brussels, Geneva, Paris and London. Named one of pharma’s “100 Most Inspiring People,” by PharmaVoice, Bill has provided strategic guidance at the highest levels for Amgen, GSK, sanofi-aventis, UCB and many other leading pharma and biotech companies. Bill’s reputation as a strategic thinker is well-known; he’s regularly published on industry issues and has been a featured speaker at major industry conferences, including DTC National ePharma Summit, and the Conference on Marketing.

Estee Lauder Offers Social Media Make-Overs

Cosmetics giant, Estee Launder is now offering free social media "make-overs" for individuals to use as their social networking profile photos. Brand Republic reports that the cosmetics brand will produce shots women can use for their online profiles on sites such Facebook and LinkedIn at department-store cosmetics counters in the US. The photos include the Estee Lauder logo in the background.

The promotion, which also includes a 10-day supply of foundation, kicks off on October 16 at Bloomingdale's in New York. It will extend initially to Macy's, Saks and other Bloomingdale's stores in Southern California, Miami and Chicago.

What do you think about this move by Estee Lauder? We'd like to hear your thoughts.

Estee Lauder offers free social media makeovers

I Want to Tweet You Up: What Emerging Customer Trends Mean for Your Business

As a social media professional, you're well aware of the impact that this medium can have on your profitability and on your customer's experience. Yet, have you set up a structure within your business to figure out exactly how and when to use social media to connect with your customers? We'd like to invite you to join Michael Tchong, Trend Analyst & Founder of Ubercool as he gives one of the many keynotes at our 2009 NACCM Customers 1st Conference this November in Phoenix, Arizona.

Join Michael as he discusses how the Twitterati are reshaping society by propelling trends faster than ever before. Follow Michael as he takes us on an exhilarating journey through the landscape of now. He will connect what these trends mean for your business and how you interact with your cusotmers. Prepare to be amazed, amused and revitalized.

NACCM 2009
Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak
Phoenix, AZ

Event: http://bit.ly/4AFmET
Brochure: http://bit.ly/2wiWmY

Follow us on Twitter for exclusive discounts.

McAfee creates online community to enhance business

According to the Silicon Valley Business Journal, McAfee will be launching a new online community that will function as a customer service tool and allow users to interact with each other. The community will allow McAfee to increase communication beyond the typical customer service methods and allow for more collaboration and interaction.

As more companies begin to create online communities, not only can they better service their customers, but they can begin to interact with them to fully meet their needs. Have you created a customer community around your product? How has it begun to enhance your company's interaction with the customers?

Navigate Google Wave

With the recent release of Google Wave, they're now depending upon the users to communicate what will work best and how to work out the kinks of the beta version. Google Wave, the unique software that allow for real time communication and collaboration with others using the program.



Google Wave creates new possibilities when it comes to networking. Not only can one see editing happening real time, which is very unique, but the translation feature allows one to communicate with someone who speaks another language. Have you had a chance to work with Wave yet? What are you impressions of how Wave can work as a real time networking tool?