Google turned the search engine into a social platform Wednesday, unveiling the long-anticipated feature +1 (pronounced Plus One). Social signals pulled from profiles and connections made through Google Buzz, Gmail and other sites are increasing the usefulness of connections. Searchers have the ability to share recommendations on products and services directly from search engine results or ads. The symbol +1 will begin appearing in Google's search results. Rob Spiro, Google product manager, explains in a blog post that clicking "+1" on a Web page or ad will allow people to share content. Those who want to use the tool need to create a Google profile or upgrade their current one. The profile sllows people to see all the +1s in one place and delete those no longer recommended, Spiro explains. Adding the +1 button on Web sites could draw more site visitors because friends will see personalized recommendations on search results and ads. The button is available from Google Webmaster Central. AdWords advertisers will automatically see the symbol appear in search ads on google.com. No changes to campaigns are required to add the button. Advertisers will see the button appear in the coming weeks. The button will initially appear for English searches only on google.com, but Google says it's working to add more languages in the future. The +1 symbol will not impact Quality Scores or ad rankings, but will be used as signals for organic search rankings, according to Aaron Goldman, CMO at Kenshoo. Advertisers can see how many +1s their search ads get by viewing the Dimensions tab in AdWords. "Soon, Google will allow publishers to add the +1 button to their Web sites," he says. Goldman says +1 should help paid-search ads stand out as more relevant, as well as improve click rates, but every company should monitor ad performance to see the true impact. As for search engine optimization, professions need to develop a +1 strategy to complement link-building. "I can just hear the +1 farms revving up offshore," he says. Goldman views +1 as similar to a Facebook Like button, but Samir Balwani, director of acquisition marketing at StyleCaster Media Group, believes the +1 button will become more useful than a tweet on Twitter. "Think about the workflow," he says. Start by searching a term, go to the SERP, click on an article, read it, finish or search on another term, and then start the process all over again before finally clicking on the +1 button. Sheldon Campbell, founder of Doc Sheldon's Clinic, which focuses on content strategy, says there are challenges with +1. He says every new feature introduced -- no matter how handy -- also opens up new opportunities for abuse, such as review stuffing.
TV viewers continue to increase their usage of social media when it comes to TV programs. A new survey says two in five online U.S. adults -- 43% -- have gone to the Web to comment, post, or read something about a TV show. The findings are from Harris Interactive and 24/7 Wall St., a financial news and opinion site focused on the U.S. and global equity markets. Among 80 million+ people, one-third -- 33% -- have done so after watching a TV show or program. Somewhat less -- 18% -- have done so before watching a TV show, and 17% are interacting with social media while watching a TV show or program. Younger online adults 18-34 are the big users of social media here -- 59% have said they have engaged with TV shows this way. The numbers are 40% for older 35- to-44-year-olds; 36% for 45- to-54-year-old viewers/users; and 28% for those who are 55 and older. In looking at key behavior while watching TV, 31% of 18-34 adults say they are interacting while viewing. At the older end of the age spectrum, only 5% who are 55 and older do this activity. Where does this social media activity happen? Fifty-three percent post comments on their own or to a friend's Facebook page, or a Twitter account or a blog. Forty-four percent do so on a Web site or page created by the TV content provider, such as a TV network's Facebook page or site. About one-third do so on related TV/media entertainment or news sites. Women are more likely than men to engage in an individual forum -- 57% to 50% -- while men are more likely than women to do so on a separate media outlet's site: 38% to 27%. Why do people use social media in regard to a TV show? Three-quarters of adults do it to gain more program information, while two-thirds do it for the analysis or summary or as an additional source of entertainment. About half say it's important to engage with other viewers.
Showing social media's vastly increasing influence, Salesforce.com on Wednesday announced a deal to buy Radian6 for $340 million. Radian6 specializes in social media monitoring tools that capture "conversations" across Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn, among other online communities. It then tries to make sense of the chatter, and give clients -- including, Dell, GE, Kodak, PepsiCo, and UPS -- the necessary insights to execute social-marketing strategies. "Social media has made every business recognize the value of paying attention to the voice of the customer," said Marcel LeBrun, CEO of Radian6. "Radian6's technology is built for the new norm of customer engagement -- real-time, two-way conversations that include social channels." The deal "continues the consolidation of hundreds of social software vendors in the marketplace," Constellation Research principal analyst and CEO R Wang said. "This move is a deliberate push towards the elusive 'social CRM' concept," adds Forrester analyst Zach Hofer-Shall. "Social CRM isn't a technology you can simply install, but bringing together a leading listening platform with a leading CRM vendor could give the market the first end-to-end solution." Forrester analyst Kate Leggett agrees: "Radian6 helps Salesforce extend its core customer service capabilities to social channels like Facebook and Twitter, which are becoming increasingly important for companies looking to offer a differentiated customer service experience ... Expect to see similar acquisitions by CRM vendors in the future." In fact, despite the threat of greater competition, rival providers of social media monitoring tools welcomed the news on Wednesday. "The acquisition ... demonstrates the real value of social media and social media monitoring to the broader market," said Kelly Pennock, CEO of Visible Technologies. "It will accelerate awareness of social media's business value and the need for social media monitoring solutions to deliver improved business outcomes." Salesforce, which provides software that manages companies' customer relationships, said the deal will not have a material impact on April quarter results, but will most likely boost fiscal second-quarter revenues by about $5 million. Looking ahead, Salesforce said it expects the acquisition to hike fiscal-year 2012 revenue by $45 million to $50 million. The purchase price includes $276 million in cash and $50 million in stock up front, while an additional $10 million in stock and $4 million in cash will be issued to the founders of Radian6, subject to vesting conditions over two years. To remain relevant, Salesforce.com has been more than willing to shell out large sums of cash. Nearly a year ago, the company bought cloud-based crowd-sourced data services provider Jigsaw for about $142 million. The acquisition combined Salesforce's suite of CRM applications and enterprise cloud platform with Jigsaw's own cloud-based model for the automation of acquiring, completing and "cleansing" business contact data. Investors in Radian6 included Summerhill Venture Partners, Brightspark Ventures and BDC Venture Capital. Radian6 is based in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Google turned the search engine into a social platform Wednesday, unveiling the long-anticipated feature +1 (pronounced Plus One). Social signals pulled from profiles and connections made through Google Buzz, Gmail and other sites are increasing the usefulness of connections. Searchers have the ability to share recommendations on products and services directly from search engine results or ads. The symbol +1 will begin appearing in Google's search results. Rob Spiro, Google product manager, explains in a blog post that clicking "+1" on a Web page or ad will allow people to share content. Those who want to use the tool need to create a Google profile or upgrade their current one. The profile sllows people to see all the +1s in one place and delete those no longer recommended, Spiro explains. Adding the +1 button on Web sites could draw more site visitors because friends will see personalized recommendations on search results and ads. The button is available from Google Webmaster Central. AdWords advertisers will automatically see the symbol appear in search ads on google.com. No changes to campaigns are required to add the button. Advertisers will see the button appear in the coming weeks. The button will initially appear for English searches only on google.com, but Google says it's working to add more languages in the future. The +1 symbol will not impact Quality Scores or ad rankings, but will be used as signals for organic search rankings, according to Aaron Goldman, CMO at Kenshoo. Advertisers can see how many +1s their search ads get by viewing the Dimensions tab in AdWords. "Soon, Google will allow publishers to add the +1 button to their Web sites," he says. Goldman says +1 should help paid-search ads stand out as more relevant, as well as improve click rates, but every company should monitor ad performance to see the true impact. As for search engine optimization, professions need to develop a +1 strategy to complement link-building. "I can just hear the +1 farms revving up offshore," he says. Goldman views +1 as similar to a Facebook Like button, but Samir Balwani, director of acquisition marketing at StyleCaster Media Group, believes the +1 button will become more useful than a tweet on Twitter. "Think about the workflow," he says. Start by searching a term, go to the SERP, click on an article, read it, finish or search on another term, and then start the process all over again before finally clicking on the +1 button. Sheldon Campbell, founder of Doc Sheldon's Clinic, which focuses on content strategy, says there are challenges with +1. He says every new feature introduced -- no matter how handy -- also opens up new opportunities for abuse, such as review stuffing.
Sheesh. There are a lot of topics an enterprising Social Media Insider could write about today. I could go on and on concerning:· @ev's post-Twitter plans.· Google's FTC-induced mea culpa about how it mishandled the launch of Buzz last year.· The little acquisition that was announced today, wherein Salesforce.com bought Radian6 for $326 million.· Or my personal, though least business-minded, fave: http://twitter.com/BronxZoosCobra, whose followers have tripled in the last day to about 150,000. My brother, a former Bronx Zoo reptile keeper, and I have been IMing about that one all week. But actually, none of those developments struck me as being quite as important as this other thing that was announced yesterday: the hiring of former Time Warner exec Mark D'Arcy (no -- not that Mark Darcy) to the new position at Facebook of director of global creative solutions. Of all the stories listed above, none is as important, as this, less heralded, one. The reason? Because this appointment will probably have more influence on the direction of social media advertising than all of the above.When I read about it this morning, I flashed back to an appointment from another digital time and place that had similar ramifications: the decision by Yahoo, back in 2001, to hire Wenda Harris Millard to handle its ad sales. Like D'Arcy, Millard had a lot of old-fashioned Madison Avenue advertising skills, and contacts. At Time Warner, D'Arcy was President of the Global Media Group - and before that, he was a creative in the ad biz. Like Facebook is now, back in 2001, Yahoo was at a point in its development where the standard ad units that had to that point typified the industry weren't exploiting the medium for all it was worth. Indeed, D'Arcy told The Wall Street Journal yesterday that "There is a great need for the creative community ... to learn how to leverage the incredible power of Facebook to improve the way brands tell stories." Despite Facebook's success, to many people in marketing, it's viewed as a targeting powerhouse, but not necessarily a creative one. However, as Facebook is, at this point, almost a platform unto itself, it cries out for more-creative advertising solutions. Display ads, even very well-targeted ones, aren't always going to do the trick; targeting is one way to get people to engage, but creative is the secret sauce that, to my mind, we haven't seen on Facebook yet. Granted, there are differences as well between the Millard and D'Arcy appointments. Millard had a sales job, and D'Arcy's is creative, though both positions are essentially about touting the creative strengths of a powerful, but not fully understood, digital platform. But Yahoo, back in ‘01, was going through its post-bubble downturn. Facebook is still very much ascending -- which makes this appointment all the wiser. With ad sales at Facebook coming in at $1.8 billion last year (and expected to more than double to $4 billion in 2011), it would be a little too easy to keep tweaking the targeting backend and not think big -- to what advertising in the most socially connected media universe could become.Just how Facebook will go about this isn't clear. It seems likely, based, at least on what I read on Mashable, that it won't just involve suped-up advertiser Facebook pages. That site made reference to D'Arcy being charged with "coming up with interesting and valuable ways for marketers to integrate Facebook in their campaigns." To me, that intimates something that, like Facebook Connect, moves the influence of Facebook in the advertising sphere out into the broader media universe in ways that a mere "Like" button can't. It will be about leveraging social interconnections that involve brands in new ways.Mashable also points out that an appointment like D'Arcy's means advertisers won't be as left up to their own devices when it comes to building Facebook pages. What's left unsaid is that if Facebook has more of a role in the Facebook presence of marketers -- as opposed to only having a role in their ad campaigns there -- they will be more able to cross-pollinate marketing intel across brands. One would hope that Facebook's deeper involvement in the marketing process won't involve sharing advertisers' specific secrets of success. However, since Facebook marketer pages tend to be roll-your-own, it makes me wonder about something. Is each a pretty siloed experience, where only the advertiser who "owns" the page knows what's working, at least for them? Or will having a role like D'Arcy's heighten what marketers can learn about marketing on Facebook? Only time will tell. But long after @BronxZooCobra has been found, and long after Radian6 is incorporated into Salesforce, we may still be feeling the ramifications of this hire at Facebook. (By the way, Mark, if you're reading: no pressure!)
Sports teams and leagues such as the NBA and the Miami Dolphins have invested time and resources in building their social media presence, and most now have hundreds of thousands or even millions of online fans and followers. Many are now creating innovative opportunities for marketers to reach their huge, engaged (and often local) social audience ... at a scale that can eclipse TV, local newspaper ads or any other advertising vehicle. While in the past, sports sponsorships might have been limited to TV ads, in-stadium signage or web site banners, brands can now work with their sports partners to achieve an unprecedented level of reach through social media. For example, to reach the LA Lakers ' fans, advertisers historically would only be able to market to them via a broadcast, on their web site or with in-stadium signage. For example, brands could buy a TV ad during the game (reaching 500,000), buy advertising in the arena (reaching 20,000 attendees), or try advertising on the Lakers web site. Compare that to running a campaign with the Lakers on Facebook, whose fan base numbers are over 7 million: a single campaign could potentially achieve the equivalent reach of an entire season's worth of advertising through other channels ... plus, it has the potential to be way more engaging, targeted and measurable. Now, consider the Miami Dolphins' presence on Facebook. The team currently has more than 600,000 fans on Facebook and 44,000 followers on Twitter -- the equivalent of an entire sold out season of football, every day. What makes this audience so special is that the Dolphins are incredibly active with their social media presence. On Facebook, they consistently add polls, Top 5s and other content that keeps the fan conversation rolling along. By keeping this social media conversation up, every day is "game day" for Dolphins fans ... and for potential sponsors. Think about all the possibilities for South Florida businesses to reach the Dolphins' huge base of local fans on Facebook. A local restaurant chain might sponsor a post in the Dolphins' news feed, in which the Dolphins suggest that their fans visit the restaurant before or after the game. A Miami car dealer could partner with the Dolphins on a location-based marketing program, in which fans who check in at the car dealer via Facebook Places get 50% off a companion ticket to a Dolphins game. This not only drives fans into the dealership, but also drives them to the stadium. While there's no end to the creative opportunities for joint marketing, one thing to note is that these social sponsorships must operate a bit differently than traditional advertising, primarily because the social media audience can so easily "opt out" if they feel like they're being marketed to. Social marketing communications need to feel organic and authentic, and the most successful programs will be tied to both the team and their sponsors' content. Finally, while traditional marketing methods are often limited to game time or during the season, social media has the advantage of being an ongoing communications channel throughout the entire year. Teams such as the Miami Dolphins are adding tens of thousands of fans each week, even in the off-season, and have thousands of fans engaging with their social content on a daily basis. We anticipate that leagues and teams will take advantage of this ongoing engagement to offer sponsors new ways to boost brand awareness and drive business year-round.
The business of webcasting has succeeded and survived for the last decade because it's not social, it's serious. Significant enterprises are leveraging and paying for technology to deliver a message. A range of business sectors, including internal corporate communications, investor relations and sales communications, is willing to invest in the distribution of actionable, high-value content to their constituencies. It's important to these businesses to develop and communicate a singular message to shareholders, employees, customers or partners, so considerable time and capital are devoted to branding, positioning, packaging and value proposition. The message is the DNA of these enterprises. After investing resources into developing the corporate "DNA," why would a serious business entity create an environment that could potentially pollute the gene pool? When Social Media Doesn't Work As executives scramble to create a social media footprint, they strive to integrate a variety of applications into their business strategy. Social media webcasting, which incorporates social media tools such as Twitter, Facebook and other group chat functionalities into a live webcast, is one of the latest trends. However, it's simply that. It's a novelty advocated by digital agencies as an attempt to position companies on the cutting edge of technology. Social media webcasts distract attendees from the key messaging of a presentation because these points are overwritten by a Twitter feed or Facebook posting. Disgruntled employees, competitors and unhappy shareholders all have the ability to use a live social media webcast as a platform to complain. Is it worth jeopardizing your carefully crafted messaging? Additionally, social media widgets can be shifted on the webcasting screen so users may cover up, move or minimize company logos during a webcast. This, in turn, diminishes the corporate message and displeases marketing executives and sponsors. Although social media applications are useful to build relationships, engage and recognize clients, gather feedback and gain valuable insight, these devices should be utilized following a live webcast, not during. The disadvantages of social media webcasting outweigh any possible benefits. Taking the Social Out of Social Media Agencies often discuss and debate social media trends, nuances and positioning, yet they never clearly articulate the definition of success. Enterprises are directed by their agencies to recruit individuals with strong social media backgrounds in hopes of advancing the overall social media agenda. However, more often than not, new hires are also immediately introduced to the company's "Corporate Social Media Policy" and the dos and don'ts of what to say, when to say it and how to say it. There is a fine line regarding social media and corporate messaging. Businesses want to, and should, engage their clients in conversations where they feel comfortable to share their opinions and communicate openly, but on the other hand, companies are also trying to simultaneously leverage social media to manage brand perceptions. Once you create "policy and guidelines," you have removed the "social" from social media. It's difficult enough for companies to craft these social media rules; it's even more difficult to apply the policies. How do you police messaging for employees who blog, tweet and post on Facebook? More importantly, how do you enforce these guidelines? If an employee develops a following on Twitter and then leaves the company, does he/she take the following with them? What if they go to a competitor? Agencies are having a bonanza consulting large enterprises on the uses of social media. But this honeymoon might soon be over as more and more companies realize that they are creating an inerasable digital footprint. Agencies might be making money now, but soon will it be the lawyers?
You're invited to an awards show, or perhaps you pay a considerable enough sum to attend. Where would you rather be, in the room with the celebrity entertainers and everyone accepting the awards, or in the basement? Or would you rather follow along at home? A funny thing happened at the Shorty Awards, the annual event "honoring the best producers of short, real-time content." The main event often proved to be a sideshow. It perfectly demonstrated an effect I'll call the social iceberg. The award show, held at The TimesCenter in Times Square, took place in the upstairs theater. That's where you could see comedian Aasif Mandvi and various other celebrity presenters accept their awards, or broadcast recorded speeches. This was the hot ticket. It was the proverbial iceberg tip: highly visible, but with the participation confined to the relatively few people who appeared on stage. One would likely consider this group the most influential and the most coveted, but there are limited opportunities to reach them, and many there would consider themselves unreachable. Downstairs, the overflow room was a much different scene. Instead of comfortable seats, there were a few stools. Instead of seeing Mandvi live, you could see him on screens and occasionally hear him over the din of conversation. There were several advantages here, though: downstairs had an open bar, and it had hundreds of people talking to each other. It started off with a handful of people who showed up too late or paid too little to get into the big kids' room, and then ended up with hundreds who were happier to be there. Even with my green VIP pin that allowed me access to anywhere short of presenter Jerry Stiller's dressing room, I chose to spend my night in the dungeon. While literally down below the main event and out of sight, this layer just below the surface included countless social media luminaries, journalists, public relations execs to the stars, and some lushes who knew where the Dominican rum was flowing. No, there weren't the celebrities, or the people who garnered enough Twitter love to earn a slot as a finalist in the awards. Yet the room was largely self-selecting: a bunch of people who would rather create a meta-event alongside the orchestrated experience, full of unexpected connections and conversations with people passionate enough about their craft to partake in creating this parallel world. For marketers that make such a big stink about conversational media, this was the venue where it was possible to have a conversation. While drinks were sponsored (thanks, brands -- you know who you are), this was largely a missed opportunity, as there weren't those conversations between brands and participants. Then there were the people watching along at home. It helped that there was a live video stream of the event, so people who wanted to follow along could do so far better than those in the overflow room. While there was no live conversation along the lines of what happened downstairs at the event, there was much more breadth and variety in the audience, including countless people who couldn't or wouldn't travel for the occasion. This broader universe allows the best opportunity for a brand to take over the conversation. It's akin to what Nike did during the World Cup with its "Write the Future" spot. It couldn't get on the field (tip of the iceberg) or in the stands (just below the surface) but it could and did become top of mind for anyone with any remote interest in the event. It's not always as literal a scenario as you find at the Shorties: the few people upstairs on stage and watching it live, the disorganized but social crowd below, and the remote but wider audience that tuned in. It is a fairly common form of triage, though. As a marketer, you have the opportunity to plan in advance which part of the iceberg you want to focus on, and find a way to reach those participants accordingly.
TV viewers continue to increase their usage of social media when it comes to TV programs. A new survey says two in five online U.S. adults -- 43% -- have gone to the Web to comment, post, or read something about a TV show. The findings are from Harris Interactive and 24/7 Wall St., a financial news and opinion site focused on the U.S. and global equity markets. Among 80 million+ people, one-third -- 33% -- have done so after watching a TV show or program. Somewhat less -- 18% -- have done so before watching a TV show, and 17% are interacting with social media while watching a TV show or program. Younger online adults 18-34 are the big users of social media here -- 59% have said they have engaged with TV shows this way. The numbers are 40% for older 35- to-44-year-olds; 36% for 45- to-54-year-old viewers/users; and 28% for those who are 55 and older. In looking at key behavior while watching TV, 31% of 18-34 adults say they are interacting while viewing. At the older end of the age spectrum, only 5% who are 55 and older do this activity. Where does this social media activity happen? Fifty-three percent post comments on their own or to a friend's Facebook page, or a Twitter account or a blog. Forty-four percent do so on a Web site or page created by the TV content provider, such as a TV network's Facebook page or site. About one-third do so on related TV/media entertainment or news sites. Women are more likely than men to engage in an individual forum -- 57% to 50% -- while men are more likely than women to do so on a separate media outlet's site: 38% to 27%. Why do people use social media in regard to a TV show? Three-quarters of adults do it to gain more program information, while two-thirds do it for the analysis or summary or as an additional source of entertainment. About half say it's important to engage with other viewers.
Showing social media's vastly increasing influence, Salesforce.com on Wednesday announced a deal to buy Radian6 for $340 million. Radian6 specializes in social media monitoring tools that capture "conversations" across Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn, among other online communities. It then tries to make sense of the chatter, and give clients -- including, Dell, GE, Kodak, PepsiCo, and UPS -- the necessary insights to execute social-marketing strategies. "Social media has made every business recognize the value of paying attention to the voice of the customer," said Marcel LeBrun, CEO of Radian6. "Radian6's technology is built for the new norm of customer engagement -- real-time, two-way conversations that include social channels." The deal "continues the consolidation of hundreds of social software vendors in the marketplace," Constellation Research principal analyst and CEO R Wang said. "This move is a deliberate push towards the elusive 'social CRM' concept," adds Forrester analyst Zach Hofer-Shall. "Social CRM isn't a technology you can simply install, but bringing together a leading listening platform with a leading CRM vendor could give the market the first end-to-end solution." Forrester analyst Kate Leggett agrees: "Radian6 helps Salesforce extend its core customer service capabilities to social channels like Facebook and Twitter, which are becoming increasingly important for companies looking to offer a differentiated customer service experience ... Expect to see similar acquisitions by CRM vendors in the future." In fact, despite the threat of greater competition, rival providers of social media monitoring tools welcomed the news on Wednesday. "The acquisition ... demonstrates the real value of social media and social media monitoring to the broader market," said Kelly Pennock, CEO of Visible Technologies. "It will accelerate awareness of social media's business value and the need for social media monitoring solutions to deliver improved business outcomes." Salesforce, which provides software that manages companies' customer relationships, said the deal will not have a material impact on April quarter results, but will most likely boost fiscal second-quarter revenues by about $5 million. Looking ahead, Salesforce said it expects the acquisition to hike fiscal-year 2012 revenue by $45 million to $50 million. The purchase price includes $276 million in cash and $50 million in stock up front, while an additional $10 million in stock and $4 million in cash will be issued to the founders of Radian6, subject to vesting conditions over two years. To remain relevant, Salesforce.com has been more than willing to shell out large sums of cash. Nearly a year ago, the company bought cloud-based crowd-sourced data services provider Jigsaw for about $142 million. The acquisition combined Salesforce's suite of CRM applications and enterprise cloud platform with Jigsaw's own cloud-based model for the automation of acquiring, completing and "cleansing" business contact data. Investors in Radian6 included Summerhill Venture Partners, Brightspark Ventures and BDC Venture Capital. Radian6 is based in Halifax, Nova Scotia.