Analysis of Google Buzz

Published February 11, 2010 New Media Alert , Techy Stuff Leave a Comment

It is about federating large amounts of information but still making it understandable in large quantities.

I think most people aren’t getting the point of Google Buzz. Yes, right now it may seem annoying because everything is just popping up. People are asking “Doesn’t _______ already do this?”

The answer is yes, but what Buzz does do that nothing else does is aggregate everything together AND allow you to pick what you see.

With Twitter and Facebook, you get everything with no filters (aside from Twitter Lists). Google Buzz learns what you like and don’t like. After a while, even though everyone’s posts are constantly updated, you only get things you find relevant. So, Twitter, RSS, and other posts are made visible to you ONLY if you actually find them relevant.

Furthermore, the innovation of Google Buzz will drive other social networks to better organize content within their platforms. I believe that it is still overwhelming right now. That’s why “non-techies” view it as a time waster. Once there is an easier way to sift through the noise, I believe social networking and content sharing will boom with other audiences.

Will Google Buzz stick around? Probably not or at least not in its current state. Will it make a difference? At the very least, we will know what NOT to do.

What are your thoughts on Google Buzz?

jkgibbs-avatar Josh Gibbs (@jkgibbs) // Social Media Consultant // Strategic Insights

Google Buzz Released

Published February 9, 2010 New Media Alert , News & Press 2 Comments

Google Buzz is yet another social networking tool that is exclusive for Gmail users. It allows users to share status updates, photos, pictures, and other media in much the same way that Twitter does, but instead of linking away from the post, everything is displayed inline. PC World has a great article that describes some additional features of Google Buzz.

“Google introduced a social networking tool called Google Buzz Tuesday that allows sharing of status updates, images, and videos via a new Gmail tab called Google Buzz. The Google Buzz features will also be available on Android based phones as well as the iPhone (via a Web-based application) allowing for real-time updates to your Google Buzz feed that can show up on a new version of Google’s mobile maps.”

Read entire article »

Engage Your Customers in Social Media; It’s Important

Published February 3, 2010 New Media Alert 2 Comments

Knowing what is going on in your market, maintaining good relationships, and making your brand look good is key in getting repeat and new business. Social Media is a great place to facilitate talks and gather information because you are able to join an ever-expanding conversation at any point of that conversation.

The great thing is that if you embellish both the good and the bad, and handle the bad with proactive and open efforts, it will make your brand look even better. Clients and potential customers will flock to a business that can show the ability to respond quickly to problems and questions. Making your efforts visible in a public or social network is one of the easiest ways to do this.

Keep in mind that no matter if you are the one that creates the place for discussion or not, the discussion will and is taking place. Whether or not you are a part of that conversation, negative or positive, is what makes the difference and can show that your brand is able to respond to problems and questions. If you are facilitating the environment in which people are commenting, you have the ability to not only establish rapport and control your image, you also gain  insight into your own brand or product(s). You may even learn that you need to pitch your product in a different way, change your value proposition, or even make the product/service better.

If you start it, you have to maintain it. Allocate a resource to your social media communications. It looks worse for your brand if the conversation is happening right in front of you and you still are not acting. This same principle applies to any aspect of your business. If people are calling sales and you don’t respond, you lose a sale. If they call customer service to get a question answered and no one responds, they go to your competitors for help.

jkgibbs-avatar Josh Gibbs (@jkgibbs)  //  Social Media Consultant  //  Strategic Insights

Twitter Provides Communication in Iran Govt. Lockdown

Published June 16, 2009 New Media Alert Leave a Comment

The United States government has asked Twitter to delay routine maintenance after Iranian leads create a communication lock down.

See entire article: US asks Twitter to maintain service after Iran vote: official

Changing Marketing Strategy in a Recession

Published April 21, 2009 New Media Alert 1 Comment

A recent article from the Google Retail Blog points out that in a down economy, marketers must change their strategy to compensate for consumers’ lack of confidence.

“It seems that everywhere I look, I am reminded that we are battling tough economic times. Whether watching the news or my favorite TV programs, reading content on the web, at the bus stop, or while reading magazines…I am bombarded with advertisements on how I can afford products and services in an economic time that rivals the Great Depression. Most advertisers seem to recognize that in order to keep sales up in a time when many are cutting “unnecessary” purchases, they must appeal to consumers where it counts the most…click here for full article.

Twitter Tips for Corporate Accounts

Published February 12, 2009 New Media Alert Leave a Comment
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A recent study by Ignite Social Media about corporate Twitter accounts shows some interesting results. Apparently, you don’t have to post often, as long as your posts are meaningful.  It is more important for corporate accounts to reply to followers and address their questions, concerns, issues, blah, and blah. I don’t need to explain all this. You can read it for yourself. :)

View the whole article: Best Pratices for Branded Twitter Accounts

by Josh Gibbs, New Media Development

White House gets Social Media Overhaul

Published January 22, 2009 Marketing Musings , New Media Alert 2 Comments
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presidential-twitter-sealThere’s no stronger way to show the importance of Social Media in today’s Web 2.0 world than looking at it from the perspective of the President. And what does he think? Well, just minutes after Barack Obama was inaugurated, Macon Phillips (Director of Social Media at the White House) made this blog post outlining the new President’s approach to communicating to the masses.

What’s in store? First off, Whitehouse.gov has an all new Web 2.0 look, complete with frequent homepage blog snippet updates, intuitive site navigation/search, and site mapping. To help promote blog posts and stay even more in touch with online users, the White House has launched its own official Twitter. To date, the White House has just over 6,000 followers and has made over 200 tweets. However, it looks like whoever is in charge of managing the official Twitter is somewhat of a follow snob since it only gets updates from people like Joe Biden, Senator Chris Dodd, and the Governator himself – Arnold (who also seems to be more popular…go figure).

Obviously social media is here to stay and will probably play a large role in our new administration’s methods of communication to the public. So if the President can do it, so can you.

Does anyone know of any other Social Media tactics being implemented by the government or political officials? Slap ‘em down in the comments.

by Josh Gibbs, New Media Development

Digg Article for MyTireMonkey.com

Published January 8, 2009 News & Press Leave a Comment

MyTireMonkeyOne of our clients, MyTireMonkey.com, was featured on WWAY Channel 3 in Willmington, NC. You can check the article out here on Digg, and give it a digg.

MyTireMonkey makes buying and installing tires fun. You can choose on your favorite brand tires at wholesales prices, then pick your preferred neighborhood installer and you’re done! Low prices on top tire brands like Goodyear, Uniroyal and Michelin. Passenger, light truck and off-road tires. Great prices and fast delivery to your local neighborhood tire installers, plus guaranteed low-price installation.

by Josh Gibbs, New Media Development

TV Advertising Down…Spongebob dead

Published January 7, 2009 Marketing Musings 3 Comments
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spongebob_squarepantsIn a recent New York Times article, Time Warner Cable was said to be thinking about dumping about 20 channels provided by media giant Viacom. Apparently, Viacom wants Time Warner to charge 23 cents more for every customer subscribed to these 20 channels. Time Warner refuses, saying that the increase is an outrage and is a bad business move, especially in a bad economy. And since Time Warner is dropping the channels to save their customers some cash, the kiddies will have to look elsewhere to get their Dora and Spongebob fix. In a smart move, Time Warner will be sending out a notice to all customers stating:

  1. Where customers can go online to view the content.
  2. How to hook a PC up to a TV

The reason behind Viacom’s decision is that fewer advertisers are willing to pay to have their ads on the network’s programs. This is because fewer and fewer people are willing to pay for high costing cable and satellite connections. I personally canceled my cable subscription about 7 months ago because it was simply too expensive for the amount of television I watch. Instead, I use my existing subscription to Netflix to instantly stream both movies and TV shows straight to my TV via an Xbox.

I also visit sites like Hulu.com, TheWB.com, and Joost.com to stream even more free movies and shows. What’s even better is that I can watch whatever show I want, whenever I want. I don’t have to worry about missing any of my favorite shows, and I don’t have to buy an expensive DVR to record anything. It’s all on demand.

So what’s it all mean? Advertisers are going to start shifting their media dollars to these online video sites in lieu of traditional broadcast. And why wouldn’t they? Since many of these sites allow users to create profiles, advertisers will know exactly who is watching (name, age, gender), where they are watching (down to the exact street), when they watch, and all kinds of other information. Additionally, advertisers can directly interact with consumers, driving them immediately to a website with more information. There is no drop-off rate for the call-to-action (such as visiting a website) because watchers only have to click. And watchers are already engaged with the ad because it is usually very targeted. Also, since there are so few ads, people are more likely to pay attention. In contrast, traditional television watchers have to:

  1. Actively acknowledge the ad in an array of ad clutter
  2. Actually go to a computer, that is away from the TV
  3. Remember the URL of the site

Each step is a huge expectation for the consumer with drop-offs at each step, especially in an age of instant gratification from the internet.

In much the same way newspapers are failing to properly leverage the web as a compliment rather than a competitor, TV networks and companies are falling behind because of the lack of integration with online streaming video. The video sites are here to stay as far as I can see. So networks need to get on the bandwagon, follow audience trends, and start offering combo packages for advertisers to hit both traditional and new media outlets.

by Josh Gibbs, New Media Development

Spit on Rumors about Your Biz with Social Media

Published December 30, 2008 Marketing Musings Leave a Comment
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23andMe.com Step 2Spitting is gross, or so my mom always told me. Just a few hours ago, I posted on Twitter about a company called 23andMe.com. For a fee, this company will send you a test tube to spit in. After you send it back, you can log in to their site and “start exploring your genome.” Crazy, I know, but what’s crazier is a representative from 23andMe.com found my “blurp” (excuse me…blurb) and sent me a message within just an hour or so of my original post.

That’s why with today’s social media mayhem, simply sending out a customer survey isn’t going to cut it. There are tons of Twitter (search.twitter.com), blog , and other social network monitoring tools out there. So it is easy to find out  what people are saying about your business by monitoring all the social media customers are conversing through. Too often businesses are afraid to listen to what their customers have to say. Don’t let rumors, complaints, and other nasty mentionings ruin you behind your back. Meet them head on! Find out why a customer is dissatisified and correct the problem. There’s nothing like a satisified customer to promote your business.

At the same time, monitoring your social media presence can also help boost employee moral. Eat up all the good stuff people are saying about your company. Nothing gets the staff more revved that good customer feedback. So don’t just spit on the idea of monitoring what people are saying about your business and products online.

The friendly folks here at Strategic Insights can help you manage that social media presence…for a small fee.

by Josh Gibbs, New Media Development

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