by Erik Sass on Dec 16, 2:54 PM
Beyonce's surprise album launch last week says so much about the changing media landscape that it's kind of hard to know where to start. But one thing that stands out to me is the way social media has enabled the music business to revive a business model that looked increasingly moribund: whole album sales.
by Erik Sass on Dec 13, 5:06 PM
In the face of bad customer service, most of us have probably at least contemplated going online to complain about it on social media (I, for one, think about it every time I fly -- hello, holiday travel!). New research from NewVoiceMedia, which specializes in providing outsourced cloud customer contact centers, suggests that this trend is only going to continue.
by Erik Sass on Dec 12, 4:04 PM
Fewer than one out of ten American adults -- a measly 6%! -- say they consider social media companies "generally honest and trustworthy," according to The Harris Poll, which has been tracking trust in major industries over the last decade. That number is so pathetically small we might as well just go ahead and say "Americans don't trust social media."
by Erik Sass on Dec 11, 3:41 PM
While most brand marketers and PR folks would love to have a crack team of 20-year-old interns monitoring their brand's social media presence, the fact is that not everyone can necessarily afford it (sure, the interns may be unpaid, but you still have to pay rent for office space, unless you go for the extra-economical abandoned quarry option). That's especially true for small and mid-sized businesses, where the proprietor or other employees are often doing double duty as social media managers.
by Erik Sass on Dec 10, 5:00 PM
Facebook may dominate social sharing overall, but Pinterest is the leader when it comes to social sharing for e-commerce, according to a new study by Gigya, which specializes in social customer management and conducted a survey of social sharing habits across various verticals in the third quarter of the year.
by Erik Sass on Dec 9, 3:25 PM
While it's too soon to say, there are signs (hopefully, maybe, knock on wood, God willing) that the Great Recession may finally be ending and hiringis picking up. And anyone planning to look for a new job in the New Year would be well advised to turn to social media, judging by the results of a new survey of 1,600 recruiters and human resources execs by Jobvite, which found that the vast majority of employers are using social media to find new hires.
by Erik Sass on Dec 6, 5:09 PM
One of the great character traits of the British, in my humble opinion, is their calm acceptance of the fact that the world is largely obnoxious and there's really nothing to be done about it -- yet some measures may be taken to afford oneself a modicum of sanity.
by Erik Sass on Dec 4, 3:30 PM
Probably like many folks out there, I am of two minds about the whole "lasting repercussions from doing stupid stuff and stupidly putting it on your stupid social media profile" issue. On the one hand, yes, if you choose to share evidence of your virtuosity in simultaneously doing a keg stand and using a gravity bong with the world, you can't be surprised if the incriminating photo or statement comes back to haunt you when you're applying to schools or looking for a job.
by Erik Sass on Dec 3, 5:02 PM
Social media may be the wave of the future for marketing, PR, and customer service, but it's a wave that many executives seem determined to avoid, according to a series of surveys focused on bosses at big companies. In the latest such finding, a survey by influence marketing software firm Augure found that just 30% of executive directors at the top 100 companies in NASDAQ are present and active on social networks. That's less than half the rate of the general population; according to Pew, 72% of U.S. online adults use social media.
by Erik Sass on Dec 2, 5:08 PM
This year's Black Friday saw the highest volume of e-commerce sales ever -- but social media sites contributed a negligible share of those transactions, according to the new "Black Friday 2013" report from IBM, based on an analysis of transactions at around 800 retail Web sites.
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