A new national survey finds the use of social-networking sites is growing, and contrary to some assumptions, people who use online social platforms, such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, have higher measures of social well-being. The survey of 2,225 American adults last fall by the Pew Research Center's Internet & AmericanLife Project found that the proportion of people using at least one social networking site has grown to 47% from 26% in 2008. As a result, the average age of adult users has increased from 33 to 38. More than half are now over 35 and 56% are women. Facebook, of course, is the dominant social property, with 92% of those surveyed using it, compared to 29% on MySpace, 18% on LinkedIn, and 13% on Twitter. Facebook users were also found to be more trusting than other Internet users; they have more close relationships and get more social support than the average American. They were also more politically engaged; a Facebook user who visited the site multiple times per day was two-and-a-half times more likely than other Internet users to attend a political rally or meeting, 57% more likely to persuade someone on their vote, and 43% more likely to have said they would vote. In the Pew sample, the average Facebook member had 229 friends on the site, with people from high school making up the largest share at 22%, followed by extended family (12%) and coworkers (10%), college friends (9%), and immediate family (8%). Facebook has also served as a way for people to revive dormant relationships. What are people doing on the site? The study found that 15% on an average day update their Facebook status, 22% comment on someone else's post or status, 20% comment on photos, 26% "Like" another user's content, and 10% send another user a private message. Across all social networks, people are increasingly using them to keep up with close social ties. So 40% of users have "friended" their closest confidantes on social sites, up from 29% in 2008. Despite speculation that social networks may hurt users' relationships or leave them isolated, "we found the exact opposite. People who use sites like Facebook actually have more close relationships and are more likely to be involved in civic and political activities," said Pew study author Keith Hampton, assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg School of Communication, in announcing the findings. That doesn't mean the social-networking population is monolithic. MySpace users, for instance, tend to be younger, with an average age of 32, and are more likely to be open to opposing points of view. MySpace and Twitter users are the most racially diverse mainstream social platforms. When it comes to LinkedIn, nearly twice as many men (63%) as women (37%) use the professional networking site. LinkedIn members also tend to be well-educated, with most having at least one university degree. By contrast, MySpace users generally have fewer years of formal education than people on other social networks. The Pew research come on the heels of news that Facebook's growth has slowed recently. In the U.S., it lost 6 million users in May -- the first time the number of users has dropped here in the past year, according to Inside Facebook. The site noted that Facebook typically hits saturation when it reaches about 50% of a country's population, which is where it is in the U.S.
I've often argued that video is a tool of social media. So as many social media responsibilities are being taken on by PR departments, we are seeing public relations teams becoming more actively involved in the creation and deployment of social video content. Viral videos, branded entertainment, web series videos and video game trailers top the list along with original, entertaining product launch videos. This new breed of video content, rather than simply supplementing the efforts of PR teams, is often spearheading them. My creative agency has been working with some of the more innovative PR agencies and internal PR teams over the past couple of years, and here's a list of the top 10 ways video is being used by PR professionals to help brands, businesses, organizations and individuals tell their stories. 1. Media relations / pitches and press releases. Videos make pitches and press releases infinitely more interesting and engaging. Referencing a hot new viral video, the latest video in a web series, a video announcement from a key corporate player or simply a fun, informative video about a product can make a huge difference in how a pitch is received. Video gives journalists, bloggers and publications more content to share with their visitors. 2. Building trust and credibility with targeted groups. Nothing builds trust like video. Instead of reading a text quote from a company spokesperson, viewers are able to actually see that spokesperson speaking. There may be some coaching involved, but that's what directors are for. 3. Raising brand awareness / promotions / working with celebrities. Videos that offer something of value like cash, prizes or 15 minutes of fame can spread like crazy and highlight a product's involvement in a contest or promotion, raising awareness of the product, and by extension, the brand. Creating and launching funny, edgy or cool video content involving TV, sports and YouTube celebrities guarantees a targeted audience. Launching a coordinated social media sharing strategy and integrating this effort with the marketing department allows PR teams to capitalize on that momentum, building and raising brand awareness. 4. Product launches. Viral videos and branded entertainment are high-profile ways to announce new products or refresh old ones. Video gives PR teams a visual, entertaining and engaging tool around which to center campaigns. We were recently involved in creating a video for a pizza chain in which large amounts of cash were stuffed in the crust of their new pizza. The content was used not only as a stand-alone video, but as part of a funny promo on a late-night comedy talk show. 5. Crisis management / shifting public opinion / corporate and ceo reputation management. In 2009, when two Domino's Pizza employees made a video of themselves sticking cheese in their noses and messing around with customers' sandwiches, the companywas quick to respond with a video apology from Domino's USA President, president Patrick Doyle. In 2010, BP CEO Tony Hayward made a video apology following the oil spill in the Gulf. Most of the top comments on the video reference the "South Park" episode that lampooned Hayward, but that's OK. The message still got out. In both cases, the videos reached large audiences and supplied talking points for the media, social and mainstream, to propel the video messages further. Both videos were effective in turning around negative perceptions toward the brands. 6. Content development. Company newsletters, blogs, speeches and annual reports are being sprinkled with videos. PR teams don't need to produce a viral video hit for every newsletter, but they can encourage key employees to create video content at events and parties. Include the videos in monthly correspondences with clients and the media. Just be sure to edit them first, especially the ones from the Christmas party. 7. Social media marketing. If social media is UPS, video is the package. If social media is the rocket launcher, video is the rocket. Video can be branded as heavily or as lightly as the creative and messaging dictate, and the larger story can be shared and developed via social media. Having a PR message go viral across Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other video sites and social outlets creates a new story that can then be pitched to, or organically picked up by, mainstream media outlets -- enabling the message to reach TV, radio and print audiences as well. 8. Social and environmental responsibility. For brands, businesses and organizations, being socially and environmentally responsible can be a key way of differentiating themselves from their competitors. Video can bring the faces of individuals and positive actions of these companies to the forefront and help move brands closer to new and existing fans and customers. Video can also be used to present a call-to-action, or as a rallying cry for public involvement in a good cause. Launching videos where fans are encouraged to submit a response in video form allows a call-to-action to be spread even faster and with farther reach. 9. Events. While a single live event reaches only the people attending, social video allows PR teams to share the event with everyone. This increases the exposure of both the event and the brand, product, organization or personality. Events don't always have to be real, either. Flash mobs are types of events that are staged and shared on Youtube and via social media. 10. Political campaigns. Politics is about convincing people to trust a candidate, motivating them to convince others to trust the candidate and getting everyone to vote for the candidate. Politicians are often recorded publicly for videos that can take on lives of their own -- but funny, emotional or serious original video content can be produced and launched in order to manage the direction and spread of both positive and negative conversation. Political attack videos and damage control videos can both contain humor, meaning or even shock value -- and will be shared. Online video is fast becoming the face of social media. Like their marketing and advertising brethren, PR agencies and PR departments should be exploring the possibilities and pushing the boundaries.<
We started the week with the news that after months and months of ascendance, traffic to Facebook in May was actually down in the U.S., according to Inside Facebook, which said that active users dropped by six million. Meanwhile, there has recently been hand-wringing over Groupon's planned IPO. Forrester'sSucharita Mulpuru said in an open letter to the social commerce site's potential investors last week that " thereis no rational math that could possibly get anyone to the valuation Groupon thinks it deserves." And I write this during the very same day that shares of Pandora have soared on this day of its IPO, and during the same week that someone who supposedly knows has said that Facebook plans to go public in early 2012. For all those reasons, you are to be forgiven if you think that this might be 1999 instead of 2011. But if you, dear advertiser, are smart, you won't jump to the conclusion that 2012 will be like 2000, the year the bottom fell out of the Internet market (and my chance at an easy million right along with it). It seldom gets mentioned, but 2000 was the beginning of a few years in which advertisers got it wrong, because they started to confuse the failure of Internet companies with consumer behavior. Pets.com may have been a rotten idea, but that didn't mean the Internet was a bad idea. But with the wreckage of dozens of dot-coms around then, advertisers decided, essentially, that the Internet had gone away, and they punished the online world accordingly. During 2001, when advertising across all categories declined by almost 10%, online advertising declined by 12.3%. Meanwhile, even though most homes were without a broadband connection, the increase in online traffic continued unabated, as though all of those stock options hadn't been declared worthless. In its full-year earnings announcement for 2001, Yahoo reported fourth quarter increases in traffic of 16%, compared to a year earlier. However, net revenue at Yahoo dropped by more than a third over the course of the year. Obviously, the smart advertiser stayed in the game, while traffic was surging and advertiser demand slow. So the biggest problem I see for the online industry when I start seeing "sky is falling" headlines is that it will fall into the same trap it did more than a decade ago. If you want to see a warning sign in the Facebook traffic numbers, be my guest, although there are other traffic numbers that dispute Inside Facebook's findings. The fact is that Facebook is here for the foreseeable future, and social media is here with us forever, or at least as long as we have electricity. If you're an advertiser, you should continue dealing with that fact. Or heed Forrester's advice and turn your back on Groupon's IPO if you want. Just know that its success or failure has little to do with whether or not your company should take a close look at participating in social commerce. The smart company will look at social commerce through the lens of whether it makes sense in terms of sales or building awareness, not on whether Groupon is worth the money that's about to be thrown at it. Those are two separate issues that should be looked at as such. Not that I think anyone will listen to me. Which is why, if we're headed for a social media downdraft here -- and I'm not at all convinced that we are -- in about 2014, I plan on writing a column with the following headline: "I told you so."
Would you send your friend a Pampers TV commercial to watch? Of course you wouldn't, unless it happened to be unusually funny or otherwise compelling. He or she could see that on TV any day of the week.< This is the crux of the problem with social media videos: In their anxiousness to get involved with social media, marketers continue to repurpose the same old TV commercials on Facebook and other social platforms for their friends and followers. And that's just wrong. The "lean into" social media environment is not the same as that comfy living room couch world where TV commercials operate. This is not a broad dispersal media environment. It's a targeted world your friends and advocates have voluntarily joined to hook up with you and your brand. It's different, and that difference necessitates custom creative to be really effective. When friends are communicating on Facebook, for example, they are sharing news and tips. They are also seeking entertainment and education, and shared appreciations. Marketers need to speak to these people in the same way, as friends and supporters, if they are going to succeed in these social venues. Slapping a TV commercial up on your Facebook page that half the world has already seen seven times does nothing to enhance your brand, or communicate effectively to your core "friend" base. Instead, you should strive for entertaining, educating, and enlightening. Brands should consider things like what Bounce does on its website, showing all of the different uses for the product outside of the laundry. For example, did you know that keeping a sheet of Bounce in your kid's pocket in the summer can keep away mosquitoes? Or that WD40, when sprayed on the lower rails of your patio, can keep away pigeons? How about manufacturers of anti-itch cream letting their Facebook friends know that applying a copper penny to a bee sting will eliminate most of the pain immediately? Videos addressing items like this can be easily produced, and can be so much more impactful than a traditional commercial about Calamine lotion. Tonality is also key for social media videos. Videos that appear on sites like MySpace should reflect the type of content that exists on that site. MySpace is now all about music, so shouldn't any video posted on that site have a strong music track associated with it? Videos on Facebook should be light on studio production values, and include real people rather than highly paid personalities. Marketers must think carefully about the kind of videos they feature in social media platforms to ensure they are communicating appropriately to a friend. Ask yourself the question of whether or not you would ask a real friend of yours to watch the video you are posting to Facebook. Is it relevant? Is it friendly in tone? Will the video interest, inform, or even educate your friend? There is a cost to these custom videos, but it's not nearly as much as you may think. Thanks to tactics like crowdsourcing, custom video production is easy and much more cost-efficient than ever before. Your videos can be developed with real people instead of stylized actors; with a fun, engaging tone that might not suit your brand on television but is perfect within social media applications. Marketers should also consider using their in-house production services, as well. While they may not be able to produce broadcast-TV-quality work, they are certainly well suited for "how-to" or instructional video segments that could be perfect for Facebook or other social media uses. There are no longer any excuses for not appropriately developing or customizing videos to strengthen connections with social media fans. When it comes to video production and deployment, brands and marketers who treat their fans as friends stand to have better and more lasting results from their social media engagements and experiences.
A new national survey finds the use of social-networking sites is growing, and contrary to some assumptions, people who use online social platforms, such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, have higher measures of social well-being. The survey of 2,225 American adults last fall by the Pew Research Center's Internet & AmericanLife Project found that the proportion of people using at least one social networking site has grown to 47% from 26% in 2008. As a result, the average age of adult users has increased from 33 to 38. More than half are now over 35 and 56% are women. Facebook, of course, is the dominant social property, with 92% of those surveyed using it, compared to 29% on MySpace, 18% on LinkedIn, and 13% on Twitter. Facebook users were also found to be more trusting than other Internet users; they have more close relationships and get more social support than the average American. They were also more politically engaged; a Facebook user who visited the site multiple times per day was two-and-a-half times more likely than other Internet users to attend a political rally or meeting, 57% more likely to persuade someone on their vote, and 43% more likely to have said they would vote. In the Pew sample, the average Facebook member had 229 friends on the site, with people from high school making up the largest share at 22%, followed by extended family (12%) and coworkers (10%), college friends (9%), and immediate family (8%). Facebook has also served as a way for people to revive dormant relationships. What are people doing on the site? The study found that 15% on an average day update their Facebook status, 22% comment on someone else's post or status, 20% comment on photos, 26% "Like" another user's content, and 10% send another user a private message. Across all social networks, people are increasingly using them to keep up with close social ties. So 40% of users have "friended" their closest confidantes on social sites, up from 29% in 2008. Despite speculation that social networks may hurt users' relationships or leave them isolated, "we found the exact opposite. People who use sites like Facebook actually have more close relationships and are more likely to be involved in civic and political activities," said Pew study author Keith Hampton, assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg School of Communication, in announcing the findings. That doesn't mean the social-networking population is monolithic. MySpace users, for instance, tend to be younger, with an average age of 32, and are more likely to be open to opposing points of view. MySpace and Twitter users are the most racially diverse mainstream social platforms. When it comes to LinkedIn, nearly twice as many men (63%) as women (37%) use the professional networking site. LinkedIn members also tend to be well-educated, with most having at least one university degree. By contrast, MySpace users generally have fewer years of formal education than people on other social networks. The Pew research come on the heels of news that Facebook's growth has slowed recently. In the U.S., it lost 6 million users in May -- the first time the number of users has dropped here in the past year, according to Inside Facebook. The site noted that Facebook typically hits saturation when it reaches about 50% of a country's population, which is where it is in the U.S.