Facebook’s Biggest Threat: Facebook

Facebook changing its News Feed algorithm to show us only the “best” and “most interesting” content is nothing new. It’s the perpetual thorn in social media managers’ sides as brand posts suffer a slow death of consistently decreasing organic reach. (Since Facebook’s latest algorithm change last month, average organic reach has dropped from 16 percent down to frightening 2-3 percent.)But really, what choice does Facebook have?

As Facebook continues to burrow itself into our daily lives, we share more. And the more that we share, the more competition our content faces to cut through the clutter. Facebook even admits that organic reach of business pages will continue to decrease. According to Facebook, there are 1,500 possible stories that they could show in the News Feed each day, but only 300 stories make the cut. The writing’s on the wall: the number of daily stories will continue to rise, but we’re still only going to see the same 300 stories, leaving an ever-increasing heap of important content on the cutting room floor and decreasing the value of the News Feed.

Facebook has become its own biggest threat. As Facebook grows, the quality of its product diminishes, and that doesn’t bode well for anybody: users get frustrated that they’re missing important content from their friends and favorite brands, and brands get frustrated that they now have to pay to reach their fans due to stifled organic reach. At some point, Facebook will crumble under its own weight as a monstrous user base is overwhelmed and frustrated by an unsustainable News Feed. The strength of any social network is directly tied to the satisfaction of its user experience, and that’s eroding…fast.

A little melodramatic? Perhaps. But as we are faced with an increasingly manic News Feed, Millenials are abandoning Facebook at an alarming rate. Users (and by extension, brands) have already begun seeking other platforms to connect with their friends and customers that cut through the clutter with easily consumable content (see also: Snapchat, Instagram and Vine).

At the very least, there’s an important (but often overlooked) lesson for all of us digital marketers: social media was around long before Facebook, and it will continue to evolve long after Facebook’s reign ends. Excelling in social means more than just crafting a super viral Facebook post. It’s about diversifying the social experience so that if one platform fails, you’re still able to deliver cross-platform social experiences to the target audience in meaningful and valuable ways.

Have you seen any decreases in the organic reach of your brand’s posts? Share your observations in the comments.

12 Important Changes Coming with Facebook Timeline for Pages

Yesterday Facebook announced the next installment of its Timeline layout, Timeline for Pages. We anticipated that this change was coming to brand Pages and assumed some of the changes, but yesterday we learned exactly how Facebook Pages will change on March 30, 2012, when Timeline for Pages is rolled out to all Pages. So, what’s changing?

1.        “The Wall” is now “The Timeline”


If you’re not familiar with the Timeline layout, it encourages beautiful graphics and media-rich posts. A lot of real estate is now given to brands to be able to have an attention-grabbing cover photo that spans the top of the page and larger post sizes that can display photos and videos without feeling crowded. Note that Facebook has also released a  specific policy about what can be included in the cover photo creative. The cover photo may not contain any of the following:

• Price or purchase information, such as “40 percent off” or “Download it at our website.”
• Contact information, such as Web address, email, mailing address or other information intended for your Page’s About section.
• References to user interface elements, such as Like or Share, or any other Facebook site features.
• Calls to action, such as “Get it now” or “Tell your friends.”

 

2.        Landing Pages Disappear

Instead of directing new visitors to a beautifully designed custom landing page, visitors will be sent to the Timeline. If you want visitors to land on a particular tab within Facebook, you can link there through a Facebook ad or a post on your Page’s Timeline.

3.        Add Company Milestones

Do you have a legacy brand that has a rich history? If so, you can now add events to your Page’s Timeline to help create a visual history of the company. When did your first store open? When did you launch your first product? When did you move to a bigger office? These are just some of the milestones that you can now add to your Page’s Timeline. Try adding nostalgic photos to help increase the emotional connection with fans.

4.        Pinning Posts to the Top

Important or popular posts can be pinned to the top of the Timeline so that more recent content doesn’t bury important content. When you pin a post, it will stay pinned for one week before losing the top placement. If you are promoting a contest or want to drive traffic to a specific application or tab, this may be the best way to make sure that your content is seen.

5.        Tabs Are Less Visible

Tabs and custom applications that live on those tabs are now moved to the top of the Page rather than the left column. With the new layout, tabs are allowed a larger thumbnail, but because the thumbnails take up more space, only two custom tabs can be shown “above the fold.” In order to view the rest of the tabs, a user must click on a dropdown button. This extra step may become familiar in time, but it will always be important to make sure that you feature the two most important tabs “above the fold.”

 6.        Existing Tabs and Applications Will Immediate Require Attention

Even though tabs will lose some visibility, it will still be important to still have tabs on your Page. When Timeline for Pages goes live, tab visitors will see a larger tab page with more pixels available for the tab creative. This is great news because there will be more creative real estate, but unless brands take action now and revise existing tab creative, the tab creative will be auto-adjusted in the new layout. Facebook will automatically center the creative, leaving a noticeable amount of white space surrounding the tab’s content.

7.        Send Private Messages to Fans


For brands that use Facebook as a customer service tool, this development is great news. Fans now have the opportunity to send the brand a private message through Facebook’s messaging platform. These private messages work in the same way as personal Facebook messages and allow brands and fans to discretely communicate with each other without the conversation appearing on the Page’s Timeline.

8.        New Admin Panel

The new admin panel – visible only to Page admins – will be displayed at the top of the Page’s Timeline and provide quick and easy access for admins to view Insights, respond to fans’ private messages, edit the Page information and edit Timeline posts.

9.        Facebook Offers

Facebook is now rolling out Facebook Offers. This is a free product that will be available to all Pages and allow you to create a coupon for your Facebook fans. The coupons are simple and include an area for a thumbnail image and the details of the offer. With just one click, fans can have the coupon sent to their email and/or mobile phone; fans don’t have to grant permissions or go through any extra steps. Simply by clicking “Get Offer,” fans will instantly receive the coupon.

10.     Facebook Premium

Facebook’s internal research (and common sense) has shown that more Facebook users engage with stories, rather than ads. A new Facebook advertising product titled “Facebook Premium” will take a story that is published to your Page’s Timeline and display the story directly in a user’s News Feed (even non-fans). Additionally, these ads will be shown in the News Feeds of mobile devices as well as on the logout page when someone logs out of Facebook. Now, rather than clicking on an ad, users can engage with a story directly. This engagement will generate additional stories that will extend the reach of the ad unit.

11.     Facebook Reach Generator

Facebook’s EdgeRank algorithm prevents Page content from reaching all of a Page’s fans and only shows a Page’s content to the fans that are most engaged with the Page. Yesterday, Facebook revealed that, on average, only 16% of a Page’s fans see the Page’s content. So what about the other 84%? Facebook is rolling out a new advertising product called Facebook Reach Generator that will take a story that is published to your Page’s Timeline and post it in the right column of your fans’ News Feeds. These ad units will only be shown to fans of your Page, but Facebook guarantees that your sponsored stories will reach at least 75% of your Page’s fans.

12.     Change Your Fan Page Name

When you registered your Page, did you misspell your brand name or have since wished you’d named your Page differently? Facebook is now allowing Pages to request name changes to your Page. To do this, you must contact Facebook Customer Service

 

It’s Time to Act!

March 30, 2012 is right around the corner and there are a lot of things that you should begin doing right now to make sure that your Facebook Page doesn’t suffer when the existing layout is sunset at the end of the month. Now’s the time to begin working on creating an updated Facebook strategy and editing and building your Page’s creative assets. We knew that this transition was coming to Pages and now that it’s here and we know the exact changes, it’s time to act!

Evaluating Ideas vs. Generating Ideas

When you read a case study or participate in a brainstorm, what do you do when you hear about an idea? Do you evaluate and judge the idea or do you generate new ideas based on the original idea?

In an all-agency meeting yesterday, the president of our agency, Dave Florin, posited that too often we find ourselves evaluating ideas rather than generating better and more improved ideas. Obviously we’re still generating new ideas — else our clients wouldn’t be our clients anymore — but he suggested that we could be creating even more ideas. It gave me pause, but when I thought about it, that is what happens.

There are countless articles that I’ve read that I’ve judged as really smart ideas or really lousy ideas. It doesn’t happen all the time, but it seems that more often than not I’m reading about or listening to ideas that I evaluate and judge at face value and then move on to the next idea. Instead, I need to spend more time generating a new and improved idea based on the original idea.

Clients hire us to come up with bright and inventive ideas. As such, we need to make sure that we don’t just stop at evaluating ideas, but figuring out what can make existing ideas better. I hypothesize that with almost every article we read and every brainstorm we participate in that we can glean at least one takeaway to improve upon the original idea or use that takeaway to seed a completely new idea.

At the end of the agency meeting we were challenged to ask ourselves the same question every day: “Did I positively impact the creation of a marketable idea today?” As long as we can answer “Yes!” to that question every day, we know that we’re on track to producing great work.

What about you? Do you find yourself evaluating ideas more often than generating ideas? Do you think it’s possible to turn every single idea into a better idea?

 

Ford Mustang Capitalizes on the 2012 Swimsuit Edition with Clever Ad

Ford’s strategically framed ad that appears in this year’s Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition has been getting a lot of buzz. In an issue dedicated to showcasing beautiful, bikini-clad women, Ford’s ad included a swimsuit model, too. As you can see in the ad below, the car takes the spotlight and the model is only partially shown.

 

Often times, the models that appear in the Swimsuit Edition are unknown beauties with obscure names. “Readers” of the issue — largely a middle-aged male audience and also the obvious target audience for Ford Mustang — will often Google the models after the issue comes out to view more eye candy. After the issue debuted on Tuesday, the ad introduced the 2013 Mustang and swimsuit model Dalena Henriques. They smartly anticipated that those who came across the ad in the issue would also want to see more photos (at least a headshot) of the mysterious Dalena Henriques. The top result of the search leads to http://dalenahenriques.com, where visitors are given more eye candy…just maybe not the kind they’re looking for.

What’s the best way to dominate the search results? Make up a search term that previously didn’t exist. After visiting Dalena’s “portfolio” page above, you can guess that Dalena Henriques isn’t real. In less than 48 hours, there are already 16,100 results for “dalena henriques.” 16,099 media hits in less than two days and expanding engagement beyond just a single ad? Not bad…

Why SOPA Will Stifle Innovation

What has always made America great is its ability to lead the world in innovation. That innovation may be at risk of being censored as Congress considers legislation titled the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). The legislation is meant to help protect American innovation by punishing off-shore copyright infringers, but unfortunately this legislation will ultimately punish the very innovation it’s intended to protect.

I try to avoid taking political stances (it tends to be bad business), but if SOPA is passed, it would stifle free enterprise in an industry that is leading American innovation. I was surprised to see that this legislation is supported largely by pro-business legislators and organizations; groups I might normally endorse. As an entrepreneur, I fail to understand supporters’ shortsightedness on this issue. Don’t misunderstand me, websites that knowingly pirate content should be punished, but the current SOPA bill is so broad that innocent websites could get swept into the fray.

The legislation is structured in such a way that if a copyright infringement claim is submitted on a piece of content, the entire website will be investigated. During this investigation the entire website in question would be blocked. For example, if a pirated video makes its way onto YouTube and an infringement claim is submitted, YouTube.com will shutdown in its entirety during the investigation. Additionally, YouTube could be held liable for hosting that illegal content. This increased risk of liability litigation would lead to the destruction of the user-generated content movement that has been so important to the Internet’s growth over the past few years.

Moreover, the FBI’s servers need to be able to access and shutdown any suspected websites of infringement. This means that security standards that been implemented in recent years to protect consumers’ privacy would have to be rolled back, leaving millions of consumers at risk.

Big companies like YouTube, Google and Facebook may have the financial wherewithal to endure a piracy infringement claim, but smaller tech startups wouldn’t be able to afford an investigation, even if the claim turns out to be false. A website shutdown means lost revenue and expensive legal fees, a deadly combination for startups. How can legislation like this promote economic growth? At such an important time in our economy, we cannot afford to stifle innovation and free enterprise. The rest of the Internet largely agrees.

Today, the Internet united to protest SOPA. In an act of solidarity, dozens of high-profile websites have expressed their opposition to the bill. Each website took a stand in their own unique way, but the message was always the same: SOPA would kill the Internet and the innovation that fuels it. Turntable.fm’s anti-SOPA statement was subtle but strong. Google dedicated its iconic Doodle to state its opposition to the bill. In a more bold statement, Wikipedia actually shut down their entire website, dramatically demonstrating how SOPA might affect the Web.

 

 

 

 

 

Content pirates will always find ways to circumvent the system; they’ve been doing it for decades. The only accomplishment of this bill would be to punish the companies that are growing our economy. There has to be a better way to investigate and punish these pirates; SOPA is definitely not the answer. What do you think?

How Mead Johnson is Mishandling the Enfamil Recalls

As new dad, my eyebrows raised when I heard about a recent bacteria infection found in Enfamil Premium Newborn formula (which happens to be the formula that we feed our daughter).

Right before Christmas, two babies in Missouri became infected with a bacteria called Cronobacter. One of the babies recovered, but the other baby – who was only 10 days old – died from the infection. Cronobacter has sometimes been found in milk-based powdered baby formula, but it is also a relatively common environmental contaminant. Initial speculation labels 12.5 ounce cans of Enfamil Premium Newborn formula as the culprit.

Because Cronobacter has been previously found in baby formula, these manufacturers routinely test the formula before it leaves the factory. The maker of Enfamil formula, Mead Johnson Nutrition, Inc., has made it abundantly clear through several press statements that they rigorously test for Cronobacter and that the batch of formula in question tested (and re-tested) negative for the bacteria when it left the factory. It is taking the position that because the formula had not been infected in the factory that the infant’s death was not the fault of Mead Johnson, Inc. Because the FDA has not yet issued a general recall, Mead Johnson is not taking any further action at this time.

The infected can of formula that caused the death of the little boy was purchased at a local Wal-Mart in Missouri, and while the FDA and CDC conduct an investigation to identify the source of the Cronobacter infection, Wal-Mart has recalled all Enfamil Premium Newborn formula and pulled the product from all store shelves nationwide “out of an abundance of caution.” Meanwhile, several other retailers who sell the 12.5 ounce cans of Enfamil Premium Newborn formula have followed suit and proactively pulled the product from their shelves until the cause of the infection is identified. The investigation could take up to one week to complete.

Instead of getting out in front of the media maelstrom and pulling its products from the shelves as a precaution, Mead Johnson has taken a defensive stance and denied any responsibility for the death. The resonating message coming from Mead Johnson is that “it’s not our fault.” Sure, they may turn out to not be at fault, but their lack of concern for the consumers from the outset places them in a severely negative light.

On the other hand, the retailers seem to have gotten it right. Even though Wal-Mart may turn out to be at fault, they and the other retailers who have pulled the product off the shelves are taking an overly cautious approach that puts them in a more positive light with consumers. It’ll be curious to see how both Mead Johnson and retailers react as more details come to light about the source of the infection.

For what it’s worth, Mead Johnson did take one line to express their condolences to the grieving family. Their sincerity is almost palpable…

We’ll Be Back After These Messages…

For those of you who don’t know, my wife and I are expecting our first child any day now. It’s an exciting time for us as a family, and I’d like to take some important time off from blogging/tweeting/posting/updating/etc. to spend some quality time with my wife, soon-to-be daughter and my dog.

I’ll be back soon and I’m sure that I’ll have lots of opinions to all the changes in the emerging media space that will occur during my hiatus. In the meantime, I hope the Interwebs behave themselves…

America’s Got Social Media

With my favorite TV shows on summer vacation, there isn’t a whole lot to watch on network TV. I’ve spent the first part of my summer watching reality talent shows. I know, must-see TV, right? That’s what the producers of reality shows like America’s Got Talent and The Voice realized too. These shows have a tendency to get drawn out and dragged on, so they need a way to keep their viewers engaged and coming back week after week.

In a witty attempt to increase engagement with its viewers, these shows have begun to interact with the audience beyond the end-of-show voting lines. These shows have realized that a live TV show is a great way to connect with an audience.

NBC’s The Voice hooked up with its audience through Twitter. Judges and contestants were tweeting real-time with the show. They also had a social media lounge backstage where Twitter users could ask contestants questions on air. Twitter worked well for the show. After many of the contestants performed their songs on live TV, those contestants were trending worldwide on Twitter (in other words, a lot of people were tweeting about those contestants’ performances). The Voice was a new show this summer, and it seems that Twitter was an effective way to prove the show’s value and bring it back for Season 2.

Another NBC show, America’s Got Talent, also embraced social media this season. The producers have setup a dedicated Twitter hashtag for the show and displays it at the bottom of the screen throughout the show. Nick Cannon, the host, also directs viewers to NBC.com where fans can read contestants’ blogs and Facebook and Twitter feeds.

I’m not sure if other reality talent competitions like American Idol or So You Think You Can Dance? are following suit, because honestly, I can only put myself through so much torture. But I’m sure that if these other shows haven’t got the hint this season, they’ll be beefing up their viewer engagement by next season with some of the same strategies, and hopefully, some new ones.

Now I just have to hope that some of the real TV shows like Fringe, Parenthood and The Office can figure out a way to incorporate social media into their programming this Fall. Then, watching TV can be considered work. Fingers crossed.

What TV shows have you seen add some social media flair to their programming?

Is Google+ a Facebook-Killer?

Is Google+ a Facebook-Killer?

If you haven’t heard, Google announced its latest attempt at a social network a few weeks ago. Google’s tried several times to take make its products more social (ie the recent fails of Google Buzz and Google Wave) and to steal some of Facebook’s limelight, but to no avail. Google hopes that Google+ is the goose that lays the social egg.

I claimed my Google+ account the other night and started playing around on the site. Because Google+ is still in beta testing and not everyone can join yet (you need an invite from other Google+ users), I could only add a handful of folks into my “circles.”

Google+’s circles are groups that you put all of your connections into. There is a “family” circle, “friends” circle, “acquaintances” circle, “enter group name here” circle, etc. It’s kind of a neat idea. These circles act as completely separate mini social networks. If I want to share a great article with my Industry Connections circle, I don’t have to worry about my relatives referring me to Geeks Anonymous meetings (again…). Similarly, if I wish my Grandma a happy birthday and share it with my Family circle, I don’t have to worry about my Industry Connections “uncircling” me for sharing disinteresting posts (imagine those useless/annoying tweets about waking up, putting on socks and eating a bowl of Cheerios).

Another neat feature is group video chat (called Hangouts). Hangouts allow you to setup a video chat with up to 10 other people from your circles. The video chat window lines up all of the Hangout attendees along the bottom of the screen and automatically recognizes which participant is talking and shows their video feed enlarged in the middle of the screen. Pretty sweet functionality.

With Google+ being so new, I feel like I’m on a tiny island and really unable to make these connections that Google hopes that I will make. Now, it’s a matter of testing out the tools, completing my profile and twiddling my thumbs until (or more likely, if) Google+ is more widely adopted (if you’re on this island with me, you can find me at http://gplus.to/pwocken).

At this point, there is a lot of exciting buzz about Google+. There always is with these sites, especially when it comes from Google. New sites always have a lot of bells and whistles, but once the Geekerati (present company included) find a new and different shiny object, these once brilliant services quickly become dulled and unused.

When Facebook and Twitter started, they started small and organically grew to be the behemoths that they are today. Google seems to be taking a different approach (mostly because they’re already a behemoth in their own right) by heavily marketing the product to an already large Google membership base. Facebook waited 30 months before it was openly available to the general public and not just college kids. Can Google just ignore the industry-standard incubation period and step right into being a major industry player?

So is Google+ a Facebook-killer? It’s still too early to tell. We won’t know the impact of Google+ until it leaves the beta stage and has some time in the marketplace. My gut tells me that Google+ might stick around as a service used by other Google loyalists, but I don’t think they become the preferred social network. My money’s on Facebook taking some of the features that make Google+ unique and building them into the Facebook platform so that there’s really no incentive for Facebookers to abandon ship for Google+.

The true test will be once Google+ is more widely available. Really, it doesn’t matter how many millions of users the service has. All that matters is if your closest 50 friends are using the service. Only then might you consider switching from Facebook to Google+. It’s these small groups of friends that will make the service successful, not a well-publicized and over-hyped marketing campaign.

What do you think? Have you tried Google+ yet? Do you think it’s going to take a chunk out of Facebook’s market share? Please share your comments below. Also, if you’re out on Google+, feel free to add a link to your profile in the Comments so that other Google+ers can find you.

Science Fiction Becomes Science Fact

A couple of weeks ago, I dug back into the video archives to watch Minority Report. A tech geek at heart, I have always loved watching that movie for the technological advancements available to Tom Cruise’s character in 2054. Of course, these types of science fiction movies are just fiction, right? Well, when Steven Spielberg hired a team of technology consultants for the movie back in 1999, he may have produced a movie that’s more science fact than science fiction.

Today’s world is starting to see Minority Report’s technologies come to life. In the movie, Tom Cruise runs through the park and is displayed personalized advertisements targeted specifically to him. Not unlike these ads in the park, we too are seeing marketing messages tailored specifically to us. Whether it’s banner retargeting based on our previous visits to an e-commerce website, personalized search results based on our previous search history or targeted ads based on the information in our social profiles, we are receiving the same types of personalized ads.

These advertisements are only shown when Cruise’s character is within a certain proximity to the advertisements. In the movie, the ad interface used facial recognition software to identify the ad recipient. While we’re not quite to the point of facial recognition billboards yet (Japanese company NEC has already developed billboards that can identify age and gender and deliver customized messages based on those demographics), we do have technology called Radio Frequency Identification (RFID).

RFID is a technology that uses radio waves to communicate between a reader and an electronic tag. RFID tags are commonly used to track warehouse inventory and product shipments, but is increasingly being used in unique ways. Drivers can place RFID tags in their cars to electronically pay road tolls as they drive underneath a reader instead of stopping at the toll booth. Credit card companies are building RFID microSD cards that can be inserted into a user’s phone so that the phone can become a mobile payment device. RFID tags can also be implanted in humans. In 2004, a European club owner offered RFID implants to VIPs so that when they walked into the club, the club management would know they were in the building. VIPs could also pay for their drinks using their embedded RFID tags. With the evolution of RFID technology, it might not be long before consumers who opt in to receive RFID tags (whether embedded in a mobile phone or embedded in their body) are targeted with customized messages as they walk through a shopping mall. Retailers’ window displays could display these targeted ads, or special text messages could be pushed out to these consumers’ phones as they walk by with special promotions.

But what about the big computer screen that Cruise’s character uses throughout the movie? How sweet would it be to outfit an office wall with one of those screens? Well, thanks to advancements in multi-touch technology, we now see these types of displays in several mobile phones, tablets and even desktop computers. We can swipe, pinch, scroll and rotate, but how can we get computers to react to motions rather than touches?

We have that technology too. Enter the Wii and the Xbox Kinect (and now several other gaming systems). A tiny camera senses our motions and allows our motions to have a direct interaction with the computer’s interface. If we want to get really technical, we can build a replica of the Minority Report wall with our own set of stylish gloves (although nobody wears those gloves as well as Tom Cruise). See the video below from one of the technology consultants that worked on Minority Report in this talk that he gave at TED2010 (it gets pretty geeky at times, so feel free to skip ahead to 11:00 for the fun demo).

So while we don’t rely on three shaven and naked siblings floating in a pool to predict our crimes (not yet anyway…) and we don’t have high-speed pods transporting us up the sides of buildings, we’re getting closer and closer to living in a Minority Report world. These real-life technologies are changing the way that we interact with each other and the world around us. Over the next decade, these are the technologies that will affect how we communicate with our target audiences as marketers.

How have you seen these Minority Report technologies in everyday life? Are there any other technologies that you’ve seen in other movies that you think are close to reality? Please, share your comments/thoughts below.

HOW TO: Cure Social Media Burnout

Everywhere I turn, there’s a new social network, another social media utility and another account to set up. Obviously, it’s impossible to be an active member of every site that comes around, but it sure doesn’t stop people (including yours truly) from giving it a “college try.” Before long, I found myself suffering from social media burnout. Been there? Well, there are some steps you can take to prevent yourself from falling in the same trap or cure yourself of social media burnout if you’re already there.

I wrote on this topic at the d.trio blog this morning (HOW TO: Cure Social Media Burnout), but I’ll summarize the steps below:

1. Focus on the networks that matter
2. Focus on the people that matter
3. Pace yourself
4. Consolidate your feeds
5. Don’t forget about real networking

There you have it. Follow these instructions (as needed) and take on an empty stomach. If there is no improvement in 7-10 days, repeat steps 1-5 and seek professional help. To read the full post, go to d.trio’s blog

Have you suffered from social media burnout in the past? How did you cure your burnout and renew your penchant for social media? Or did you just give up? Please share your comments below!

10 Reasons to NOT Ban Social Media at Work

 

A lot of employers are opting to ban social media at work. For any number of reasons, they feel that social media is distracting to employees, makes the organization susceptible to viruses or is just a trend. Most often, these bans are counterproductive and can actually end up hurting the organization.

A couple of days ago, I wrote on this topic on d.trio’s blog (Top 10 Reasons to Not Ban Social Media), but I’ll list the 10 reasons to not ban social media at work below (in no particular order):

1. The organization can’t add social media into the marketing mix if it bans its own employees
2. Employee’s social media use can be an asset
   
3. Unobtrusive breaks can increase overall productivity
   
4. Build employee’s knowledge of social media
   
5. Social media builds morale
   
6. Retain and attract top talent
   
7. Social media can solve problems
   
8. Employees that are treated like children will act like children
   
9. Social networks can be used for professional networking
   
10. No employees sneaking behind your back
    

What are your experiences? Does your organization allow social media at work? Is it banned? Please share your experiences in the Comments.

 

Top 5 Social Media Super Bowl XLV Commercials

Super Bowl Commercials, I’d like to introduce you to Social Media. Social Media, please meet Super Bowl Commercials.

We all know that Super Bowl commercials aren’t cheap. So how can brands make sure that their 30-second, multi-million dollar Super Bowl commercials get the best mileage possible? Make the ad extra funny? That’s an option, but remember the Herding Cats commercial from 2006? Funny commercial, but I’ll give you 5 bonus points if you can tell me the brand behind the commercial (without YouTubing it)? Anyone? I didn’t think so. The correct answer is EDS (now a division of HP Enterprise Solutions). Funny Super Bowl commercials are great, but if you’re customers can’t remember the brand behind it, you just told a $3+ million joke. Ha. Ha.

So how do you get the best mileage out of your Super Bowl Commercials and encourage viewers to interact with your brand beyond the 30-second spot? Mix in a little social media. Advertisers are beginning to test out the best ways to add social media into the traditional mix. This year’s set of Super Bowl commercials was no different.

So what brands did the best job at integrating social media into their Super Bowl Commercials? Here’s a countdown of the top 5 social media commercials from Super Bowl XLV:

5. The “Let’s Give It a Shot” Ads

There were a handful of commercials that decided to “give social media a shot” in their Super Bowl commercials this year and included the brands’ social media links on the final frame of the commercial. The most common links directed viewers to the brands’ Facebook and YouTube pages, showing that the brands had active social media profiles.

4. Salesforce: Chatter.com Launch

Salesforce.com tests the social networking waters by offering businesses the ability to create their own internal social networks. It’s a little strange that Chatter.com decided to announce the launch of its new social network using the most expensive traditional media buy of the year…but they did. They aired this commercial featuring will.i.am from the Black Eyed Peas right before they performed at Half Time.

3. Living Social: It’ll Change Your Life

Living Social is a social coupon site similar to Groupon. Living Social decided to use the same strategy that Chatter.com used in the example above, but what gives Living Social the edge over Chattter.com is the entertainment value of the commercial; it almost seemed like a minor tribute to the super popular Old Spice ads.

2. Chevrolet: Cruze Status

Just in case you can’t wait to hear what your date thought of your first kiss, you can check your Facebook News Feed before you even get home. Now you can check your News Feed from your mobile phone too, but we all know that you shouldn’t use your phone while you drive, so buy a Chevy Cruze instead!

1. Ford: Focus Rally

The Focus Rally campaign is built entirely around viewer engagement, which gives it the top spot in this year’s set of social media Super Bowl commercials. Admittedly, Ford sponsored the “Pre-Kick” show on Fox before the game and didn’t advertise during the game, but the Focus Rally is totally effective in driving Super Bowl viewers to take further action. No need to buy a Chevy Cruse when you can win a Ford Focus by participating in the Rally.

What were your favorite commercials from this year’s Super Bowl?

Turning your iPad into a Business Productivity Tool

There’s no doubt that the iPad is the hottest tech gadget in recent memory. It’s not quite a laptop and it’s not quite a phone. So while the iPad is definitely trendy, how can you use it to be more productive?

Today I went to an iPad training session by Julio Ojeda-Zapata (@ojezap on Twitter), a local tech writer for the St. Paul Pioneer and author of “iPad Means Business,” and hosted by FirstTech, an Apple-certified dealer in Uptown Minneapolis. The session highlighted a couple of valuable apps to help turn the iPad into a valuable business tool. Below is an aggregated list of some of their favorite apps and some of my favorite apps.

Apple iWork Suite: If you need to use your iPad for editing and viewing documents, spreadsheets and/or presentations, Apple offers three very high-powered apps based on their iWork suite. Pages ($9.99), Numbers ($9.99) and Keynote ($9.99) offer very similar editing and viewing features as if you were editing and viewing the files on your work computer. All three apps must be purchased separately, so if you only need Pages and Numbers, you don’t also have to pay for Keynote. What I don’t like about the iWork apps is that you have fewer options for transferring your files between your iPad and your computer.

Quickoffice Connect Mobile Suite ($14.99): Personally, I prefer this app to the Apple iWork suite. This Quickoffice suite offers many of the same functions as the iWork Suite, but it’s half the price (it can view/edit documents, spreadsheets and presentations). I also like that Quickoffice offers several more options for transferring files back and forth between your computer and your iPad (more on that later).

GoodReader ($2.99): By default, you can read PDFs on your iPad, but if you want the ability to highlight and make comments on PDFs, you’ll want to download GoodReader from the App Store. At $2.99, it’s an inexpensive app that can help improve your productivity.

Webex (free): If you host or participate in conference calls from the road, you can use the Webex app to host or join Webex conferences. Although the app is free, you must have a Webex account to be able to host a conference. Admittedly, I haven’t used this app yet, but I do have some concerns that it might be difficult to host a Webex conference by sharing your screen and switching between windows/applications. If you have used this app and have experience with it, please share your experiences in the Comments section.

Skype (free): Skype is a terrific program that has become well known for its free video calling services. Obviously due to the iPad’s lack of video camera, video calling is not an option on the iPad. However, if you have an Internet connection (via Wi-Fi or 3G), you can use one of Skype’s other main features: the ability to make phone calls. Now in reality, Skype really only makes sense if you’re concerned about using your cell minutes, out of cell range or if you left your phone at home.

Penultimate ($0.99): Penultimate is a fun little app that turns your iPad into a traditional notepad. You can write or doodle on the screen as if it was your notebook with either your finger or a stylus. I’m thinking about ditching my notebook and using the Penultimate app to take my notes from now on. You can even choose to write/sketch on plain paper, lined paper or graph paper. How fun is that?!

Adobe Ideas (free): Adobe Ideas is a free app that allows you to doodle with a variety of tools. Very similar to the Penultimate app, the Adobe Ideas app allows you to jot down your brilliant idea and save it before you lose the idea.

Dragon Dictation (free): If you’ve used your iPad for 10 minutes, you’ve noticed that it can be a little cumbersome to hash out a blog post or a long email. Until now. Dragon Dictation is an iPad app developed by Dragon software, the industry leader in speech-to-text software. Just tap the screen to record and speak into the microphone (the small pinhole next to the headphone jack). Dragon Dictation will do the rest. Though not foolproof, the Dragon Dictation app does a pretty thorough job at transcribing. Once you’ve finished dictating, you can quickly share your note via Facebook, Twitter or email, as well as copy it to another app.

Square (free): If you’ve ever needed to accept credit card payments on the go, Square can be a nifty app. When you signup for a Square account and download the app, Square will send you a free credit card reader that attaches to your iPad’s microphone jack. Once you’re all setup, you’ll be able to accept credit card payments without contracts or subscriptions.

Google Docs (free): One of the major reasons that the iPad is not considered a computer is the lack of file storage. Because the iPad doesn’t have a hard drive, files must be stored within each app. This can make it difficult to create a file on your computer and view/edit it on your iPad. Google Docs is a web-based solution with a built-in editor. Although not the most glamorous editor, you can edit your files in the browser. This allows you to work on the files on your computer as well as your iPad. Because this is a browser-based solution, you’ll need to have Wi-Fi or 3G access. If you have a Wi-Fi iPad and you are going into an area where you won’t have Wi-Fi access, Google Docs might not be the best option.

Dropbox (free): Dropbox is by far my favorite way to work on files on my computer and my iPad. After setting up a Dropbox account, you can add a Dropbox folder on any device you’d like. Dropbox automatically synchs all of my Dropbox folders on all of my devices so I can edit the file on device and pick up where I left off by using another device. You’ll need Internet connectivity to synch the Dropbox files, but once they are synched, the files will be available for editing offline. Many of the more popular file editing apps offer Dropbox compatibility, so Dropbox offers some universality. Dropbox works on a freemium business model, which means that they offer a free service, but they also have paid plans as well. The free plan offers 2GB worth of storage, which will hold plenty of files.

WordPress (free): I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the WordPress app for iPad. You can quickly access all of the normal admin functions of all of your WordPress blogs. You can view your blog’s dashboard, write posts and moderate comments. If you blog with WordPress, this is a necessary (and super handy) app.

So there you have it. For under $20, you can outfit your iPad to improve your productivity. Now you have a great excuse to get an iPad for “business purposes.” You’ll even have enough money left in your app budget to hook up your iPad with a version of Angry Birds. Talk about improving productivity!

Did I miss any apps? How do you use the iPad to increase your productivity? I’d love to get your thoughts in the comments below.

What Google’s Algorithm Change Means to Your Website

Recently, Google’s Principal Engineer, Matt Cutts, discussed a new Google algorithm change aimed to eliminate webspam. Webspam is content that is scraped from a number of other websites and published on a different website in an attempt to attain higher search engine results. We’ve all seen these websites in the search engine results; we click on the result only to find out that the website is full of junk content.

This change is intended to clean up search results, but it could mean that search results become over sanitized. It could end up punishing your website in the end. If you’ve ever read another blog post or article online and want to share that content with your network, the tendency can be to repost that content directly on your website. While certainly not as beneficial as publishing new content and making minor references to the original content, a moderate amount of duplicate content has not usually been punished.

Unfortunately, Google’s new algorithm could mean that your website is marked as spam. In the past, Google has been criticized for being too lenient on webspam. With the new algorithm change, Google will surely heighten the sensitivity of the webspam filter. If your website is mistakenly categorized as webspam, not only will your harmless duplicate content be banned from Google, but your website runs the risk of Google banishment as well.

So how can you avoid the frozen tundra of Google Spamland? If you find some riveting content that you just HAVE to share, resist the urge to copy and paste into a new blog post. Rather, find a couple of key quotes and build the article around those quotes. Or, create a link to the original content and reference it that way. Just make sure that there is enough new content to signify to Google that you’re not a Google Scraper.