Tag Archives: social media

Pinterest Web Analytics!

Happy to see a more integrated analytics offering from the number 3 most used social media platform, Pinterest! The analytics interface is offered for users that have a verified website. Is your website is currently not verified? No problemo – just visit business.pinterest.com/verify in order to verify your account.
Click here to check out their video tutorial, but in the mean time here’s some general info at what their interface will provide to curious minds.

Interface view from http://vimeo.com/61580880

Interface view from http://vimeo.com/61580880

There are four tabs!

  • Site Metrics: Home to graphs that measure pins, repins, impressions, and clicks. Actions are denoted in blue and the number of people who took that action is noted in orange. You can also select the date range for your analytics.
  • Most Recent: Real time look at items being pinned directly from your website.
  • Most Repinned: Helps you to see the unique pins that got repinned the most on any particular day.
  • Most Clicked: You’ll be able to view the unique pins that people clicked on the most so that they could get back to your website.
Interface view from http://vimeo.com/61580880

“Most Recent” tab view from http://vimeo.com/61580880

What’s Great!
Each of the tabs allows you to dictate whatever timeframe you want against the metrics. Pinterest also allows you to look at the metrics at the most recent 7, 14, and 30-day period.

The three “Most…” tabs allow you to get unique insights on specific pins. When you select a unique pin, you’re then able to see the board that it was pinned to as well as access to the original pinner. There’s also a feed of other images pinned by users who pinned the image you select. You can also see pins from other website that helped inspire the people to pin your image. Pretty sweet stuff.

Lastly, they allow the ability to download a CSV that has info on your 100 most recent pins.

Have you used the new interface yet? What do you like about it?

Checking In…

It’s been a while y’all! I’ve been taking some time off in CT and it seems like so much has happened in the social world since I last wrote in here. Let’s ease back into things and take two topics in today and I’ll make a better effort to write more! Especially because now I have more free time :)

  1. Vine – definitely worth mentioning first. Also, if you don’t have, get it here. This app received some pretty questionable reviews early on, mostly because it was used as a market for pornographic fares. Their terms of service makes note that users might be exposed to content that might be, “offensive, harmful, inaccurate or otherwise inappropriate, or in some cases, postings that have been mislabeled or are otherwise deceptive. Under no circumstances will Vine be liable in any way for any Content…” (read on here). I, however, think that Vine is pretty sweet and a great means of weaving together interesting vignettes to share with friends, followers, whomever. It’s also a pretty interesting means for brands that are interested in conveying lifestyle ideals to show their products in real life settings and further the personification of their brands. One brand in particular that I follow everywhere is Urban Outfitters and their Vine is quite awesome and sticks to their brand tenets.
  2. Facebook - announced a new format to the News Feed today. Minimal complaints from my side. They’ve worked so hard to take a website the started off ranking Harvard girls by their hotness to one that’s now an extension of people’s lives. They completely understand their role in their users lives and have turned their website into one that helps us all tell more visual stories of our every day happenings; that’s why they integrated their Timeline product. The new layout is a more visual aesthetic focused primarily on images. It kind of reminds me more of a publishing site, which is actually rather cool. Here‘s Mashable’s live-blogging of it.

How to Effectively Reach Your Fans

Back in October, Facebook put out a report with comScore talking about the power of reach on the platform with their paper, “Understanding paid and earned reach on Facebook”. What’s important to note here is that regardless of the total amount of fans on a particular page, it’s nearly impossible to reach every single person connected to your page simply because of all of the additional brands or friends whose updates make their way into users News Feeds. Back at fMC in February, Facebook noted that the percentage of fans that organically see a brand’s content is 16% and as a result, they created a new tool called Reach Generator, to help bridge that gap of unique users exposed to your content.

The Reach Generator tool was initially designed to help marketers reach 75% of their brand’s entire fan base within a three-month time frame, but the company has since gotten rid of it. The company I currently work for, Targeted Social, introduced Audience Amplifier around the same time as Reach Generator’s inception. Audience Amplifier is a similar tool without minimum spends, and guarantees 50% unique audience-reach within just a week’s time. I personally have put together and done the optimization for many of the Audience Amplifier campaigns. Since implementing this, we have helped brands in the Entertainment, Confections, and E-Commerce industries achieve anywhere from 51%-81% unique reach within a 3-7 day time frame depending on the total size of their audience.

You’re probably scratching your head at this point trying to figure out why this is even important – stick with me here! By implementing a tool such as Audience Amplifier into your paid component of Facebook media, even the smallest of fan pages can have an astounding amount of impact by increasing the unique amount of people who see a brand’s message – both fan and future-fan alike.

CTRTo help examine this further, I decided to look at a brand whose page we helped build from zero to 200,000 fans in a few months for which we ran Audience Amplifier (AA) ads then compared it to a regular Sponsored Story (SS) initiative that we ran for a brand in a similar industry. The AA post in question was supposed to reach roughly 30,000 fans aged 13-24 and eventually reached 100,004 users in 5-days whereas the SS set out to reach roughly 1 million fans and eventually hit 291,799 of them in a month time frame.

Furthermore, we found that the Click-through-rate (CTR) on the AA story came out to be 0.395% as compared to the SS CTR of 0.077%. This isn’t to say that the CTR for the Sponsored Story is bad – it’s actually quite strong, it just so happens that the CTR for the Audience Amplifier deal is somewhat astronomical.

With a tool like Audience Amplifier, the opportunities to reach and then highly engage your fan base is seemingly endless. I’ve seen incredibly strong CTRs but the better posts run through this tool have been very colorful images, or posts that feature exclusive video content.

What are some tactics that you set in place to reach your fans? I’d love to hear!

 

 

The Power of Implied Recommendation

People are always generally apprehensive when it comes to their opinions on advertising. For the most part, people tend to find advertisements to be deceptive and have issues trusting the ads being served to them. In order to address this, Nielsen ran a study, Trust in Advertising – Paid, Owned and Earned, as sourced in the Facebook/comScore paper ranking trusted forms of advertising. For the purpose of this post, we’ll look at 3 categories from this same study. In it, Nielsen indicated that 92% of the consumers surveyed either completely/somewhat trust recommendations from people they know, 70% of them completely/somewhat trusted consumer opinions posted online and 36% of them completely/somewhat trusted ads they see on social media.

I found that last number particularly staggering mostly because one of the beneficial aspects of social media advertisements is the inherent layer of trust that ads with social context convey. For instance, we’re friends on Facebook and I’m a fan of brand X; you’re then served an ad from that brand which lets you know that I like their page and that you should as well. This implied recommendation, as discussed in Nielsen’s study, creates a threefold success story: it helps to show that the brand’s message is trustworthy simply because I, your friend, like it; it enhances the likelihood of increasing their fan base simply by saying I like it, and lastly, it helps to create a larger base of potential consumers.

What Facebook’s Q3 Earnings Mean for You

On the questions of where advertisers are, as I said before, we are asserting that we are not TV, we are not search. We are social advertising.  – Sheryl Sandberg

Image

via Facebook (don’t sue meee)

The Zuckster released Facebook’s Q3 earnings for 2012 yesterday, mere months after its IPO launch on May 18th. At that time, the company’s valuation was approximated at $104 billion (Wikipedia), and now has a Q3 earning of $1.26 billion. That’s a whole lotta paper and according to their press release, this is a 32% increase from the $954 million in Q3 of 2011. I actually wrote last week about how the social space has changed, and how Facebook became a whole new landscape in just a year’s time. It’s not only rolled out a full integration of Timeline, making it a curator of stories and experiences, it’s also become an advertiser’s mecca by providing integrated options for reaching finessed targeted demographics with brand’s messages in a natural, conversational manner.

This is all cool stuff, but what does this mean for all the stakeholders? Here’s a quick look:

Investors: Congrats – you did it buddy. Your investment will pay off so tell the naysayers to suck it. The stock, while quiet at first, jumped after the announcement and is currently up 3.70 as of this writing. (Click here for a real time data analysis). You’ll also receive $0.12 per share on a non-GAAP basis (whatever that means…). Now’s the time to hang that certificate and put a big LIKE thumbs up on it.

Users: Part of their earnings announcement involved readdressing some of the products that will enhance your overall experience with the site. These include the addition of Gifts, as well as a deeper integration into Apple’s new iOS 6.0. In terms of advertising, though, they’ve developed tools such as Custom Audiences, Offers, Facebook Exchange, and mobile install ads. Buzzwords aside, this means that advertisements have been (and will continue to be) served towards you in a more conversational, approachable way instead of just thrown at you, so you might not have even noticed the difference if it wasn’t for the “Sponsored” notice.

Custom Audiences, as described in further detail here by TechCrunch, allows marketers & ad peeps alike to target you through privacy-protected phone numbers or email addresses that you’ve given to a brand through signing up for their service (i.e. a Groupon or what have you), as well as through your Facebook ID. This is all on top of the standard targeted elements such as age, gender, geo-targeting. This is all information you have given out, not that was bought so rest assured, no spamming here!

Offers lets brands serve you deal via Facebook, I’ve seen cool ones like 15% off of purchase from some of my favorite brands, as well as brands that my friends follow (friends of fans targeting).

Facebook Exchange allows, among other things, ads to be served to you based off of your online behaviors, known as Retargeting. Advertisers can bid on those ads in real time, allowing them to find you and serve you an ad on a whim. Looking for a camera? BOOM! Here’s a Nikon ad. (Some more info on Exchange can be found here.)

Mobile install ads is basically a developer’s dream. This allows for mobile ads to direct you straight through to the app store to download some awesome new treat. Look for more innovations in mobile in the months to come too!

Marketers/Ad peeps: :) Sip your cocktail, as these are all more exciting ways to help out your brands and to reach your consumers in noninvasive, approachable, and friendly ways.

Some cool stuff here. So not only will you get to send your friends gifts, and have better mobile experiences, but you’ll also have more relevant pieces of content and advertisements coming your way based off of your online habits and different sets of information you’ve given about yourself to sites. On top of this, Facebook will continue to rake in the dough, as will all of their investors. Cool beans?

Let me know if none of that makes sense to you, I’m happy to elaborate.

Donnie Darko Marketing… If 2001 Was 2011

Social@Ogilvy put out a really interesting article last week about social marketing as inspired by the popular film, The Hunger Games (article can be seen here). In it, Social@Ogilvy’s VP Geoffrey Colon, @djgeoffe asks,

Does social media help drive consumption of content or does good content drive social media engagement?

Colon argued with ease how essential social media based word of mouth is when it comes to any sort of marketing initiative, and that content that supports your initiatives must be engaging to be worthwhile for consumers (duh!). He said, ”…it was the creation of some wonderful social media content that helped drive word of mouth more than simply the all too familiar promotional messaging built around trailers and games.” I’m not too sure that’s the case for this film seeing as it was already a popular literary series. Regardless…

This clearly got me thinking about something slightly unrelated to the article overall, and that was one of my favorite films as a young dewey-eyed teenager, Donnie Darko.

For those who are unaware, Donnie Darko came out in 2001 with minimal fanfare, and according to IMDB grossed only $4.5 million at the box office. The studio, though, made sure to give this dark film the social currency it deserved, and in 2001, that came in the form of a bad-ass website, www.donniedarkofilm.com. The interactive site was certainly ahead of its time and honestly still creeps the shit out of me, however, it’s maze-like qualities kept users thoroughly engaged and (for rhyming’s sake) enraged if they could not solve the next step in the online puzzle.

I didn’t really futz around much with the movie or its corresponding website for that matter until the spring of 2006. The only reason I remember this was because I was a senior in high school and became so intrigued with the site after my then-pregnant creative writing teacher decided to drop an existential bomb on us in the form of a movie about a psychologically advanced teenager. Pardon the digression – alas, the website’s content is still particularly engaging and I’m clearly still very bitter about not reaching the end of the maze. Needless to say, six years later, I’m still heavily effected by the content (and user experience for that matter) on the Donnie Darko website, so much so, here I am trying to visualize how amazing the content would have been in a social media context in 2012.

Seriously though, what would have happened if the Donnie Darko type films of the last decade had social media to help stimulate its word-of-mouth marketing? Clearly, The Hunger Games example from Colon is an edge case considering the extreme following that the book series had to help support the upheaval in its WOM, so what about the little movies that could? (See also, Twilight and the Harry Potter films.)

At a glance, it looks as though someone over at Fox is currently running the Donnie Darko Facebook page (or perhaps its Frank?). The page is more of an homage to the awesomeness of the movie and its content is based around fan art and “What’s Jake Gyllenhaal Up To These Days?!” type posts, however, could you imagine what it would be like if the film came out today? It probably would have received The Dark Knight type treatment (a reminder of what that was is here) mixed with some amazing social media type components. Holy crap, my brain is exploding just thinking about it. If the maze-like methods behind the website were incorporated into a social media boom behind the film, Colon’s article would argue that it’s hyper-fan appeasing content could have helped further not only its overall box office earnings, but the proceeding cult following as well.

Becoming a Developer

“Coding leads to insomnia…”

One of the best ways to get yourself hired, and keep a job is to make yourself an indispensable resource. Instead of throwing you a bunch of meaningless examples, let me instead pose a different kind of scenario. Take an at-glance of what it is you do on a day-to-day basis at your job (or what it is you would like to do if you’re looking for a gig). If you see people in your company doing things (or job descriptions) you’re interested in learning about, or could do better, the only thing stopping you from moving forward with those opportunities to be a professional Swiss Army knife is yourself.

If that doesn’t make any sense (which it probably doesn’t because I’m running on about 3 hours of sleep). I worked in social media on an earned & owned capacity and am now at a job where I’m doing  social media on a paid-basis. Last week I decided to go completely rogue and teach myself… how to CODE. That’s right. I’m going to build websites, tabs, and hell, maybe apps in the next few months when I’m done with my studies – whenever that may be.

I know there’s no way I’m going to be building a Matrix – mostly because if given the chance, I’d take both the red and blue pills, ya know, just to cover all my bases. Perhaps you’re interested in following my route and becoming a sleep-deprived developer. If this is the case you should check out some of the following websites, Code Academy for javascript (no, java isn’t the cool way of saying javascript, as I learned the hard way), Ruby Monk, Learn Code The Hard Way. They each cover different types of coding language, one which I’m presently learning and know nothing about so If you decide to take the same path as me, at least hit me up and maybe we can join the sleepless express together.

For the record, I took two semesters of Arabic in college… That was easier. *sips coffee*

Looking for a New Gig?

Me too and the news is pretty hopeful.

The US Department of Labor reported an increase of 120,000 jobs during the month of November (a New York Times article details it here) and there’s nothing but improvements coming our way. If you’re as impatient as I am, and if I know anything about #millennials it’s our inability to sit idle too well, rest assured that you’re lucky enough to have the right tools with which to amplify your career prospects.

Something I find most interesting about our generation is the ability to make navigating the internet look like child’s play. Members of older generations might consider this skill to be borderline stalkery, but for the incredibly lucky members of our generation who grew up using computers full-time, we know that the only thing holding you back from a role on a CSI show is your overall lack of acting ability. Adversely, this wonderful ability can also be a hindrance to your job searching if you’re not handling yourself properly on the internet.

That being said, it’s best to use your knowledge of the interwebs to enhance your over-all job searching.

Here are three quick tidbits of advice before you start disseminating your resume:

  1. Know Your Footprint: Do an audit of yourself online.
    Perform a quick Google search of your name and be sure to use quotation marks. If you’re unaware, the use of quotation marks in a search makes the query an absolute. If you’re a John Smith type, hold your pre-emptive self-congratulations. You’re no easier to hide on the internet than the rest of the John Smith’s out there after you provide additional details such as where you’re from, or you went to school. Entering “John Smith,” “Stamford, CT,” “U. of Whatever” will tell me a lot in a search engine.
  2. Self-Edit: So you’ve figured out what kind of websites your name is tied to – now what?
    First of all, you need to ask yourself what kind of things would you like associated with your name. It’s probably not pictures of you doing a keg stand, or a link through to an unsavory website. Leave the college years in college. Remove tags and associations with groups that lost their funny-factor, and ask friends (or blurry acquaintances) to remove pieces of content (photos, notes, etc) that may not show you in your best light.
  3. Become an Expert: While the internet has given us things like LOLCat.com…
    it has also given us a stronger ability to self-educate. Figure out who the prominent people in your field of interest are and learn from them. Stay up to date with the latest and greatest in your field and be able to speak to them. Remember folks, a college degree will only get you so far.
This post originally appeared on MillennialChat.com 12/7/11. 

On Joining the #MillennialChat

Apologies go out if you’ve been peeved lately by my inundation of tweets. Unemployment has allowed me to throw my hat – and opinions – into a number of Twitter chats. I helped in my fair share of branded Twitter chats but never engaged with them more actively until now. The reason for this is because I’m mostly interested in spreading what I already know about social media in to conversations regardless of what the topic is plus I have an inherent desire to spark dialogues – no matter how silly or controversial the matter. That being said, I was happy to have stumbled upon #millennialchat – lead by @MillennialChat every Tuesday at 3:30 pm eastern time – this afternoon. They herald themselves as the glue that connects millennials with other millennials by chatting about millennials. Clearly this was worth indulging.

I’ve always been intrigued by the way that members of different generations function with one another within the work place. Well, to say “always” is a bit of a lie – the idea never crossed my mind until I found myself to be the youngest member of my last team. It was really interesting to see the way that people who grew up with the internet and people who grew up and then got slapped in the face with the internet collaborated, especially because I worked at a digital agency. It got me thinking – perhaps being millennial gave me a bit of a leg up in the digital world?

The first question during the #millennialchat was the idea of crowdsourcing and later lead to discussions on collaboration. I’ve always been of the thought that they are indeed synonyms – with “crowdsourcing” being the more buzzworthy word of the two, hence making it more millennial than the other. I felt the urge to respond faster than anyone else participating in the chat – “Need to source your target audience to gauge their level of interest in your ideas. It’s the new focus group.” This seemed to get a good response from everyone in the group and warranted some retweets and follow up questions. To answer that, I’ve observed that a lot of my millennial-aged peers, and the majority of them (even other generations) tend to work best in a collaborative environment; this being the reason why we had a number of really great brainstorms.

This then brought me back to a number of conversations I’ve had with my mentor, whose reciprocal theorizing you can read on his blog, Reciprocity Theory, and twittlings @dfossas. A lot of our discussions tend revolve around the human experience, and in one particular instance we got to talking about the millennial age — aka my peeps. Let’s face it, we’re a group of people who have tended to been brought up with the standard belief that a collaborative environment is the best way to educate. Hence the reason members of my generation worked on seemingly a significant number of group projects while growing up. You might have a good idea, but your partner might have another point of view, and together you can make a super-idea – voila! Or maybe it’s because your chemistry teacher didn’t want you to blow up your classroom so she paired you with someone who wasn’t getting a crappy grade – I digress.

Regardless, a number of us were raised in environments where collaboration was key, and while I’m still new to the “real world” it’s interesting to see that while we are all certainly more than capable of coming up with amazing ideas (or whatever else it is you’re crowdsourcing) on our own, it’s when a number of people come together that amazingness happens. This, of course is not the case all the time. Many of us have seen crowdsourcing/collaborating destroy what would have been awesome, earth-shattering ideas. But maybe it’s the idea that millennials are so acquainted with working together that collaboration has somehow become fostered into the real world as well.

Either way, I eagerly anticipate getting the transcript of our conversation from this afternoon and to join future chats.