Google fights spam with Priority Inbox launch

Gmail users rejoice! Thanks to the nifty roll-out of "Priority Inbox" by Gmail, fighting spam has never been easier. We know that Google has rolled out some pretty advanced spam filters; but they've never filtered out the bulk of newsletters, store promotions and Aunt Irma's forwards like they have today. With just a few simple tweaks, you'll be able to customize your inbox to suit whatever it is that's most important to you in Gmail.

Here is Google's how-to video about the service:



Where this news is pretty amazing; Farhad Manjoo at Slate offers a bit of a reality check.

Still, Priority Inbox is a work in progress—even after you train it for weeks to capture important messages, it's not going to be perfect. Technically, sussing out valuable mail is a very different kind of problem from fighting spam. Spam-hunting benefits greatly from crowdsourcing—when millions of Yahoo or Gmail users flag a message as spam, it (and messages like it) gets filtered out for everyone. But the crowd doesn't have much to say about what messages you are likely to find interesting; these are more personal decisions, and they'll require more creative approaches by software engineers. Gmail has made a great start in this effort, but I hope Priority Mail gets competition from Microsoft, Yahoo, and other e-mail companies. We're all going to keep getting more e-mail, and we're going to need all the help we can get.

Foursquare Checks In to Times Square

Even if you've been religiously checking in to Times Square, Foursquare has a gigantic reminder to do so. The social networking site squared off with other ads by displaying, "“Check in, find your friends, unlock your city,” which, according to TechCrunch is the largest digital billboard in Times Square. Will you be checking in soon?

The ad is up against a myriad of visual stimuli and it just may stand out. We wonder if tourists will take note and help spread Foursquare's presence back home? What do you think of the digital billboard?

Complimentary Webinar: CCOs Reveal Their Secret Killer Customer Strategies for Long-Term Profitability

Companies often sacrifice customers on the altar of short-term revenue and profit. Yet in competitive situations where your company’s advantages in product and price are not clearly evident, customer satisfaction and loyalty become the ultimate differentiators that give you the winning edge.

So how do you ensure customers remain the most valuable asset, carefully nurtured and developed for long-term profits? A growing number of companies are appointing a Chief Customer Officer (CCO) as a catalyst in becoming truly customer-centric to significantly improve revenue, profit, and competitive advantage.

Date: September 16, 2010
Time: 2-3PM EST

Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/593492816

The speaker, Curtis N. Bingham, is the leading authority on CCOs, having worked with more than 70 CCOs over the last decade. Curtis shares some of the most profound strategies and tactics that these elite CCOs have used to attract, retain and grow profitable, long-term customer relationships also create a powerful competitive advantage for their organizations.

Lessons shared include:

• Winning executive support for loyalty initiatives
• Creating an unstoppable customer culture—so you aren’t the only customer advocate
• Letting data tell you which customers to keep happy, and which ones to let go
• Giving more to customers counter intuitively generates MORE revenue

Learn directly from experienced CCOs how you can drive both near- and long-term revenue -- without sacrificing customer loyalty. This is hands-on customer-centric insight you cannot gain anywhere else. Each of these lessons is of profound value and is responsible for millions of dollars in profits at some of the world’s leading companies.

About the speaker:
Curtis N. Bingham is widely recognized as the authority on Chief Customer Officers, and was the first to promote the CCO role as catalyst for customer centricity. Curtis is the Founder & Executive Director of the Chief Customer Officer Council™, the first peer-led advisory group for CCOs.

During the last decade Curtis has worked with more than 60 CCOs, and with the help of CCO Council members, he has created the “CCO Roadmap,” a groundbreaking work containing more than 100 prioritized, critical strategies essential for the success of customer-centric initiatives.

Curtis is a sought-after speaker and the author of the forthcoming book, “The Authoritative Guide to Customer Strategy: Lessons Learned from Renowned Chief Customer Officers,” which describes how the CCO can create a consistent and unified customer strategy to grow revenue, profit, and loyalty.

Could Millenials sharing habits benefit organizations?

Older members of the Millenial generation have been in the workforce for a few years now and their unique attitude toward work has caused both frustration and admiration from their Gen X and Baby Boomer co-workers. One tactic that Millenals use is the art of sharing their work and work progress via social networking outlets like Facebook and Twitter. This sort of practice is completely foreign to older generations who tend to privatize their work life. Andrew McAfee of the Harvard Business Review writes that this sharing can actually be a benefit for organizations. McAfee points us to a quote from Matt Gallivan, a senior research analyst for NPR, "there are too many benefits to living with a certain degree of openness for Digital Natives to 'grow out of it.' Job opportunities, new personal connections, professional collaboration, learning from others' experiences, etc., are all very powerful benefits to engaging openly with others online, and this is something that Gen Y understands intuitively."

McAfee writes that being open in work provides two benefits. First, people who narrate their work become helpful to the rest of the organization, because the digital trail they leave makes others more efficient. Second, by airing their questions and challenges work narrators open themselves up to good ideas and helpfulness from others, and so become more efficient themselves.

How have you see Millenials sharing positively affecting your organization? Are you wary of sharing your work status via social networks?


How Millennials' Sharing Habits Can Benefit Organizations

Win with social media by thinking small

Although its tempting to cast the widest net with social media, that may not always be the best practice for businesses looking to connect with their target audience. Gail Z. Martin of B2CMarketinginsider.com posts a few examples of "high-value" audiences that will help you in the right direction for your social media efforts.

• Present and past (inactive) clients plus screened high-potential prospects
• Your vendors and suppliers
• A small, highly-segmented niche audience
• Members of your industry/profession—especially if this is not a large group
• And extremely local or regional focus
  

But why focus on a smaller group when you have the opportunity to broadcast your business to the world using a plethora of social media outlets? Martin says that there are several reasons:

• You need to get frequent feedback and input
• No one else is providing content that meets a unique need within the group
• You want to create ongoing dialogue and education to help clients use a product better, get more out of their investment, extend the life of the product they purchased, or address bugs, little-known features or off-the-spec-sheet applications
• You want to add value post-purchase through education, discussion and the creation of a community
• You want to capitalize on the local/regional appeal of your product by emphasizing hometown news, personalities, events and special offers that are only of value to people within a very small geographic area

If you have utilized a smaller social media campaign, how effective has it been for you? Have you seen a difference in ROI between a larger and smaller campaign? We'd like to hear your thoughts.

Google buys virtual-currency start-up, Jambool

Cnet.com reports that Google has bought Jambool, a company that makes a platform for managing online payments for virtual goods sold on gaming and social networking sites. Launched in 2006, the start-up manufactures a product called Social Gold, which lets other sites build virtual-currency infrastructures. Google runs its own PayPal-like transaction platform, Google Checkout, and may have been looking for a virtual-currency system to complement it. What do you make of Google's acquisition?

Learn more: Google buys virtual-currency start-up
Google Buys Online Currency Management Company Jambool

Facebook Ad Sales to Hit $1.2 Billion This Year

Adage.com reports that Facebook will soon it $1.2 billion dollars in ad sales. A new estimate from eMarketer says the company will book $1.285 billion in global advertising alone this year, almost double the estimated $665 million the company took in last year. That figure doesn't include Facebook's so-called virtual currency trade, which would nonetheless account for a fraction of the company's overall business. Edmund Lee writes, even though many in the industry bandy about "social" as a wide-ranging category, Facebook is the only significant player in the space, and its clear supremacy has triggered more speculation over a potential IPO, once thought to be a possibility in 2010.

Any surprises here? Let us know!

Delta Launches First Airline Social Media 'Ticket Window'

In a press release statement, Delta Airlines has introduced the first social media "Ticket Window" that will allow passengers to book flights directly from Facebook and other social media channels.

Delta's Ticket Window allows any of Facebook's 500 million users to complete a full travel booking using a dedicated "tab" at facebook.com/delta without navigating to delta.com. Delta plans to expand its Ticket Window to other sites, including online banner ads to allow full booking capabilities within the airline's advertisements.

As a social media aficionado, would you consider using Facebook to book travel? DM us on Twitter @community20 with your answers!

Social media close behind 911 in US emergencies

In a recent study by The American Red Cross, responders said using social media outlets like Facebook would be a second choice if they faced an emergency. The CBC reports that nearly 70 per cent of those surveyed said emergency responders should be monitoring social media sites to send help quickly, and nearly half believed an agency is probably already responding to any urgent request posted. Of those surveyed, 74% said they expected help to come less than an hour after their tweet or Facebook post.

What do you make of the survey results? Have you or someone one you know asked for help through social networks?

Social media 2nd choice after 911 in crisis poll

I want my MTV (on Twitter) - MTV crowns 1st Twitter Jockey

In an effort to embrace social media and create a two-way conversation with their audience, MTV has announced its first TJ or Twitter Jockey. The Wall Street Journal reports that Gabi Gregg, a 23-year-old fashion blogger from Detroit, became the network's first ever personality dedicated to social media. Sean Moran, executive vice president of sales and integrated marketing for MTV, VH1 and LOGO said, "Gabi is really going to be the eyes and ears of our audience. She will be their voice."

What do you make of the move by MTV to create a post solely for Twitter? Do you think that this move will help to extend the life of Twitter? What does this mean for other social networks who compete for MTV's target demographic?

We'd like to hear your thoughts.

Mayo Clinic to launch center for social media

FierceBiotechit.com reports the Mayo Clinic will soon open a center for social media. According to the Social Media Center's website, the Social Media Center is a first-of-its-kind social media center focused on health care, builds on Mayo Clinic’s leadership among health care providers in adopting social media tools, which began with podcasting in 2005. Mayo Clinic has the most popular medical provider channel on YouTube and more than 60,000 “followers” on Twitter, as well as an active Facebook page with well over 20,000 connections. With its News Blog, Podcast Blog and Sharing Mayo Clinic, a blog that enables patients and employees to tell their Mayo Clinic stories, Mayo has been a pioneer in hospital blogging. According to Fiercehealthit.com, the center will be run by about eight people and will receive $800,000 in annual funding to start, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. While Mayo will charge other hospitals for consulting and giving out advice, the primary goal is to improve social media use within its own walls.

Read more:

Mayo Clinic aims to accelerate online presence with new social media center

Mayo Clinic to launch center for social media

Social media cost UK billions

British employment website, MyJobGroup.co.uk says that social network usage at the office could potentially be costing Britain up to 14 billion pounds ($22.16 billion). The Washington Post reports that the website polled 1,000 British workers and discovered that nearly 6% of them spent one hour or more during work on social networks like Facebook.

"Whilst we're certainly not kill-joys, people spending over an hour per day in work time on the likes of Facebook and Twitter are seriously hampering companies' efforts to boost productivity, which is more important than ever given the fragile state of our economy," Managing Director of Myjobgroup.co.uk Lee Fayer said in a statement.

How does your work day stack up with British workers? Are you browsing Facebook and Tweeting just a bit too much during your work day?

43% of brands on Twitter had never replied to a tweet

This is an excerpt from the Wildfire whitepaper, "Putting the 'Social' Into Social Media" which is available for download. The report examines the top 50 companies in the 2009 Deloitte Fast Tech; a list of the fastest growing technology companies in the UK. The list is a combination of small and large companies from all corners of the technology industry – both B2B and B2C - united by impressive growth figures in the last year.

43% of brands on Twitter had never replied to a tweet
But technology brands were generally not using Twitter to be social. The majority were either tweeting company news (46%) or industry insights (51%). Only 3% of the tweets were retweets, and replies represented just 12% of the total number of tweets. Underlining all of this, a shocking 43% of brands with a Twitter account had never replied to a tweet! Tech companies are using Twitter to broadcast messages, but they are not engaging with their stakeholders and are therefore missing an opportunity to build community and influence. Twitter itself makes no secret of its desire to help brands adopt the service, with the continued rumours of a Twitter Corporate service coming soon and the recent addition of the Sponsored Tweets advertising scheme.

Is this surprising to you? How many tech companies do you know that actually respond to Tweets from customers? We'd like to hear your thoughts.

"Vote or Die" Kenyans use social media to boost voters in election

Reuters reports that social media has helped to boost voter turnout and awareness during the Kenyan elections. Over 12.5M Kenyans have registered to vote in the elections, which will decide whether to adopt a new constitution. As a pioneer in mobile technology, nearly 50% of citizens have access to the web. According to Aly Khan Satchu, a prolific Twitter user with over 5,000 followers, "We have gone from being able to communicate amongst a few people ... to be able to reach thousands of people in one go on a democratic platform. It's revolutionary, I think. It is a trend in society where people can actually gather in scale and can respond ... going forward, it is going to be an important area for politics and the way the country engages." What can we learn from the Kenyan use of social media? Can we use this information to help other countries?

The real reasons behind the viral success of Old Spice

Nigel Hollis has an interesting breakdown of the Old Spice viral campaign success. He noted that the campaign, "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like,” was successful because of appropriate planning and execution; not just social media. Hollis writes, that the success of the ad gives us a clear road map to viral success:

• Identify an appealing and distinctive idea.
• Seed the campaign idea broadly to establish interest.
• Then engage people directly.

We encourage you to check out Hollis' article here. The real reasons behind the viral success of Old Spice

What do you think attributed to the success of the campaign? Let us know.

Amazon connects with Facebook - not with Beacon

PCMagazine.com reports that Amazon has rolled out a new application to help customers with purchase decisions based on their use of Facebook. According to the report, the match-up will also give Amazon shoppers a heads-up about a friend's upcoming birthday, in case they want to use Amazon to buy them a gift. For those who remember Facebook's ill-advised Beacon program, which shared your purchase activity on third-party sites in your Facebook news feed and was dumped in September 2009, rest assured that this link-up will not share your Amazon purchase history on Facebook. You can purchase a "Twilight" book or a Justin Bieber album without fear of mockery from your Facebook friends.

Will you connect with the new feature? How do you feel about about "social shopping" - would you be willing to try, or try it again?