December | 2010 | Maggie Fox

Best of 2010: Social Media Stats & Year in Review

December 31, 2010 / 2 Comments / Posted in: Blog, Social Media Roundup

Our SMG social media roundup this week is all about the year that was 2010. I hope you had an amazing year filled with much awesomeness and that you have a happy and healthy 2011.

Off the top, a hat tip to Steve Harris who helped out with the research for this post.

Sharing in 2010

Social sharing service AdThis shares some insights in this handy infographic about how, when and where we share. Facebook represented 44% of all sharing (up from 33% in 2009). Gmail and StumbleUpon had the greatest growth with increases of 394% and 254% respectively.

(via Web Analytics World Blog)

Bonus: Mashable’s 19 of the Best Infographics from 2010

Top Search Terms 2010

In the no-big-surprise department, Experian Hitwise’s analysis of the top 100 search terms for 2010 shows “Facebook” was the top-searched term overall accounting for 2.11 percent of all searches. When you factor in four variations of the term “facebook” also in the top 10 terms, Facebook accounted for 3.48 percent of searches overall. Compared to last year “Yahoo! Mail” and “google” are the two terms that fell out of the top 10 for 2010.

The top 10:

2011 Social Media Marketing Trends to Watch

The smart folks at trendwatching.com have identified 11 Crucial Consumer Trends for 2011. A number of them are directly applicable to social media marketing in 2011.

A few of the trends we’re watching out for in 2011 include Urbanomics, Pricing Pandemonium, Online Status Symbols, Social-lites and Twinsumers and Planned Spontaneity.

Happy Holidays from Team SMG

December 24, 2010 / Comments Off / Posted in: Blog, Social Media Roundup

It’s the last official working day of 2010 for those of us who work at SMG, as we’ll all be taking some time off next week to celebrate the holidays and ring in the new year.

We’ll leave you with one of our favorite videos from this week, the story of the nativity as told through social media.

(How great is the rental donkey?)

Happy holidays and looking forward to a great 2011!

Why I Joined SMG

December 20, 2010 / 2 Comments / Posted in: Blog

As the old saying goes, a rolling stone gathers no moss. As a proud, newly minted member of Social Media Group, I am confident that there’ll be no lichens sprouting on my sides any time soon, because this company is on the move.

Why Social Media Group? There are many reasons, but my primary motivator was the fact that SMG was clearly interested in engaging clients at a much deeper, strategic level than most of the firms I spoke with as part of my search. SMG’s consultative approach to helping global organizations align themselves to meet the challenges and opportunities afforded by social technologies was an irresistible opportunity because it means helping clients with business issues that extend beyond communications.

SMG also offered me the potential to build upon the invaluable experience I gained establishing Social Currency™ at Northstar Research Partners. I originally joined Northstar because, in my view, the manner in which social media “listening” was being conducted lacked true rigor and heft. Too often, anecdotes were being passed off as insights and I thought that partnering with an organization that specialized in consumer research made for a valuable and compelling value proposition. In the end I believe I was right as the listening market has now split between social media monitoring and research.

Looking beyond Northstar, what I really wanted to do was pair my solid research foundation to develop innovative, smart, and compelling social strategies and campaigns for top tier clients. And after working here for just three days, I can already see the potential. In a pitch meeting on my very first day the prospective client asked: “So are you guys an agency or a consulting firm?” Maggie’s answer : “We’ll resist being put into a box because we offer the best of both worlds – the research based practice of business consulting with applied, market tested social media campaign experience.”

My heart swelled, and I knew I’d made the right decision.

Cross posted from PatrickGladney.com

Social Media Roundup for December 17, 2010

December 17, 2010 / Comments Off / Posted in: Blog, Social Media Roundup

2010 Twitter Statistics Revealed

Social media monitoring company Sysomos has released a new study on Twitter usage comparing 2009 data to 2010. The company examined over a billion tweets and discovered some pretty interesting findings. Here are the top line, most valuable insights from their study:

44% of all Twitter users joined during January to mid-August 2010

Users with 100+ friends have increased by three-fold to 21% since 2009. 98.5% of users have fewer than 500 friends.

22.5% of users accounted for about 90% of all activity. 80% users have made fewer than 500 tweets.

Significantly more users are disclosing their location, bio and web information in Twitter profiles. People who created a profile before January 2009 only accounted for 4.7% of the total population.

On the whole, more and more Twitter users are providing detailed information about themselves in their profiles. From full names, locations and website URLs, Twitter users are getting comfortable.

My favourite finding from the study? Justin Bieber is one of top two-word phrases and top name in user’s bios. That kid sure gets around.

You can ready the full Sysomos study here.

YouTube to produce it’s own video content?

The New York Times is reporting that YouTube is in talks to acquire Next New Networks, a web video production company. If the acquisition goes through, this will be YouTube’s first foray into the world of original content production – a sign that the company is getting serious about showcasing professional video content rather than just amateur videos.

The potential acquisition raises some interesting questions around whether or not YouTube will favour it’s own content in search results.

Surviving (and celebrating) the holidays social media style

If you’re addicted to checking your Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr feeds every hour on the hour like we are, you may want to check out this Holiday Survival Guide for Social Media Professionals to help you get through all those family get togethers.

Among the suggestions? Schedule time for social media breaks and make peace with the fact that it’s okay to have a “silent night” every now and again.

Also, if you’re looking for ways to make someone’s holidays a little bit brighter, Mashable has put together a guide of 75+ ways you can do good with social media this year.

Metrodome roof goes bye-bye

One of the most popular videos to go viral this week was the unfortunate collapse of the Metrodome roof in Minneapolis. Check out the roof caving in under the pressure of the snow.

Introducing the Social Media RFP v2.0 / RFP "Bill of Rights"

December 16, 2010 / Comments Off / Posted in: Blog, News, Social Media Fundamentals, Social Media News, Social Media Strategy

In January 2010 Social Media Group released the original Social Media Request for Proposal (SMRFP) template to help organizations select providers of social media professional services. This template was covered extensively in the media and widely adopted: in early January, 2010, searches for “social media RFP” generated fewer than two pages of results, whereas in December 2010 this search returned over 300,000 links.

Many of our peers and colleagues have encountered the template, and their feedback has been fairly consistent: while valuable, the Social Media RFP template is too long, has too many questions, and many clients and purchasing departments are simply cutting and pasting the content with little or no thought about their actual needs. In other words, the Social Media RFP has in some ways become more of a hindrance than a help (SMG has also experienced this firsthand).

So, it’s time for a revision (available for free download here). We’ve also added an RFP “Bill of Rights” which is intended to encourage fairness, acknowledge the investment on the part of respondents and foster the mutual respect that should be observed in all business relationships. We’d love to hear what you think about v2.0!

RFP Bill of Rights
I will not issue an RFP “Cattle Call”. Issuing an RFP to more than six or seven agencies is overkill. Instead, identify agencies you would like to work with and be selective in whom you invite to respond. Fifteen or 20 responses are too many to be able to truly judge relative merit, and it’s wrong to ask agencies who are not a good fit to waste valuable resources on an RFP they are unlikely to win.

I will be thoughtful. This and other RFP templates are intended to provide guidance, but don’t simply cut and paste the contents. Think about what you actually need and edit accordingly. Information overload will only winnow out quality agencies that are too busy to wade through all the unnecessary details.

I will do my own homework. Asking agencies to identify their own competition is only going to get you two things: a list of second-tier competitors that is of dubious value and respondents annoyed that you essentially asked them to undermine their own competitive advantage. A thorough briefing on your needs at some point during the process is also essential for success (ever heard the phrase “garbage in, garbage out”?). Spend the time.

I will be flexible. Yes, we know you have a timeline. We also know (even though you might not) that it is going to slip. Don’t ask vendors to meet your timelines or else. There are significant cost savings in being able to book flights in advance (and you want an agency that keeps an eye on the pennies, right?). Give respondents at least a week’s notice and be flexible in your dates.

I will keep you updated. Nothing is worse than the “black hole”. A response is prepared at great effort, submitted and… crickets. Let respondents know that their RFP has been received, and what the next steps are. When the dates slip, let them know that, too. They put a lot into their submission – show them the respect that this effort deserves.

I will give you feedback. You can’t win ‘em all – any agency team who responds to RFPs knows this well. What they don’t know (magic crystal balls being in short supply) is why they didn’t make it to the next round or win the brass ring. Acknowledging vendors’ efforts and letting them know why their response didn’t meet your needs helps them improve, and is more than a fair trade for the cost and effort invested on their part. It also ensures good feelings – you never know what your needs might be next; maintaining good vendor relationships is good business.

We’d love YOUR feedback on this latest round (please leave us a comment), and big thanks to everyone who provided us with their thoughts on the first version, especially Jake McKee of Ant’s Eye View!

Social Media Roundup for December 10, 2010

December 10, 2010 / 1 Comment / Posted in: Blog, Social Media Roundup

Welcome to your all-kids themed weekly roundup.

Starting Kids Off Right

Boing Boing posted this picture of a homemade baby quilt designed to look like the iPhone. You can’t ever start them too early! If this is the child’s first blanket, will his first toy be an iPad?

Kids Watch the Darndest Things

Continuing on the kiddie theme, check out the great video we stumbled on this week. From The Fine Bros., the guys who brought you 100 Movie Spoilers in Five Minutes, comes this video in which children are shown some of the most popular recent viral videos (including Double Rainbow) and asked for their reactions, some of which are amazing.

If You Can’t Play Nice, I’ll Take My Caps Lock Key and Go Home

This last one isn’t about actual kids, but rather Google treating its customers like ones. Google announced this week that all their new notebooks made for Chrome will come without a caps lock key. Google’s stated goal is to improve the quality of online conversation, by taking away the choice to use all caps in online conversation. While I can appreciate the effort, people will obviously find a new way to indicate raised voices and outraged tone. Also, this move really makes me want to type in all caps, which I never do, JUST TO REBEL.

Social Media Group Receives Women’s Business Enterprise Certification

December 6, 2010 / 2 Comments / Posted in: Blog, News, Social Media News

I’m very pleased to announce that Social Media Group has just received certification as a woman-owned business from WeConnect, which is an affiliate of the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council. WBENC is the largest third-party certifier of businesses operated by women in the United States. They partner with regional organizations across North America to provide a national standard of certification to women-owned businesses and are also the nation’s leading advocate of women-owned businesses as suppliers to America’s corporations.

What does this mean for Social Media Group? A couple of things:

1. Acknowledgment and official certification that the company is owned, operated and controlled by a woman, which I think sets a great example.

2. Many large corporations have active supplier diversity programs. Receiving this official certification will now qualify SMG to participate in those programs globally.

Are you a female entrepreneur? Then check out WeConnect in Canada or WBENC in the United States to find out more about these organizations, which are committed to both helping corporate members bring more diversity to their businesses and helping certified businesses make the most of all available opportunities.

As a side note, I’d like to thank Katie from Ford Motor Company purchasing for mentioning this program to me more than three years ago. The program didn’t extend to non-U.S.-based companies at the time, but now does, thanks in part to the questions you encouraged me to ask!

Social Media Roundup for December 3, 2010

December 4, 2010 / Comments Off / Posted in: Blog, Social Media Roundup

That’s right, only 21 more shopping days until Christmas… oh yeah, and here’s the Social Media Roundup!

Being a bully online can hurt your SEO

Google, this week, did something almost unheard of… it changed it’s search algorithm because of one person. Last week the New York Times ran an article talking about the online eyeglasses company, DecorMyEyes. The basics of the story are that the company intentionally gives customers horrible service and borderline stalks individuals. The whole goal of this process is to get customers to head online and write bad reviews or complaint posts talking about and linking back to the company website. In SEO this, of course, provides constant fresh content to the web with links back to the site which in turn aids the search rank performance of DecorMyEyes website. Well, when Google caught wind of this, they decided to change their ranking algorithm to help prevent a similar situation from happening again.

I’m wanted for what?!?

A Florida college student recently had quite a shock when he Googled his own name. A victim of a spelling error by authorities, Zachary Garcia found a news story online saying that he was wanted by the police for murder. As it turns out, the real suspect was Zachery Garcia with an “e” and not Zachary Garcia with an “a”. In light of the oversight, authorities distributed materials looking for the college student and even sent out photos from his drivers license. When asked how he felt about the mix up, Zachary was quoted as saying, “I work at Publix and I might get somebody’s sub (order) wrong. But for somebody to get (the photo of a suspect) wrong… it’s not a sandwich, it’s somebody’s life you’re playing with.” Moral of the story, Google yourself. You never know what you might find.

(via Switched)

Your Klout might not be all it’s cracked up to be

Adriaan Pelzer, the “Creative Technical Dude” over at RAAK, decided to ask himself the question of if one could achieve a high Klout score simply by tweeting a lot on Twitter. To test, Adriaan setup four Twitter bots that tweeted mildly humorous quotes at either one, five, fifteen or thirty minute intervals. His test results over 80-days showed two things. The more you tweet, the more followers you get. In a weird overlap, even the bot that tweeted every single minute, each account gained followers on a stead and linear scale… granted a lot of the followers were bots themselves (birds of a feather?). The second result and conclusion was that Klout is broken. The one minute interval bot had a Klout score of 50 on day 80 and then 51 on day 81. The other three bots had fairly low/minimal scores around 30, but for the five minute interval bot, the true reach score changed by over 31 between day 80 and day 81. Adriaan’s conclusion was that Klout needed to up their game on filtering for bots and even providing more regular results. This is a conclusion I have had myself from my own testing with the system. On a positive note though, the CEO of Klout, Joe Fernandez, took some time to comment on the post and said that Klout was working on making results and monitoring better.

So much for tweeting from the other side

Oklahoma has passed an interesting law that allows executors or administrators of estates in Oklahoma the ability to access, manage, or delete social profiles of deceased users. According to Erik Sass of the blog “The Social Graf“, the legislation’s sponsor former State Representative Ryan Kiesel stated: “The number of people who use Facebook today is almost equal to the population of the United States. When a person dies, someone needs to have legal access to their accounts to wrap up any unfinished business, close out the account if necessary or carry out specific instructions the deceased left in their will.” Kiesel added: “Digital photo albums and e-mails are increasingly replacing their physical counterparts, and I encourage Oklahomans to think carefully about what they want to happen to these items when they pass away.” So the question then is what would you want done with your social media accounts after you pass on to the other side? I think a Twitter bot with mildly humorous quotes would be in order (wonder what my Klout score would be then?).

(via The Social Graf)

“Please stop using social media, Mom”

Social media addiction is an area that is just starting to receive study and attention as more and more people are online using sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Flickr. I know that I could probably be diagnosed with an issues as I start to twitch kinda funny if I’m away from my Facebook and Twitter feeds for too long. In a very humorous first strike, YourTango created a spoof “After School Special” to help people see the dangers of social media addiction.

So what do you think? Do you have a social media addiction?

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