Tagged: social

SPAM-A-LOT: It's going to get worse…

… before it gets better. We are talking about social spam on Twitter.  Other social networks suffer from this problem as well, however recent changes to Twitter this last month has made the issue worse. We feel the worst is yet to come.

This last month, Twitter launched its new front page / logon screen. This gave us insight into their revenue model, which includes trending data and analytics. Many companies  understand that their brands need to be in this space, but they don’t understand how to use social networks.

The proven models are about volume and numbers, not about engagement or advocacy on the social web. Therefore are many semantic bots that have been created and are now spaming the Twitterverse with hashtags and links. Volume, not authenticity, is the focus.

Businesses understand Pay-Per-Clicks and numbers more than they understand brand equity, authentic fellowship and brand advocates on the social web. We at Activating Word of Mouth use a metric that measures a brand’s Social Web Impact. This measures how influential your following is and how authentic.

The reality is, that brands still focus on volume and not engagement. Thus, new strategies like pay-per-tweet and celebrity endorsements are moving forward. This type of marketing will inevitably trend high on the twitter feeds and consequently land on the front page.

Is this good? Continue reading →

AWOM Weekly Tip: Measuring Influence

In the coming weeks we will be releasing details behind our measurments tools. Until then, here are some tips and tools to assist you in measuring  your network’s influence.

People engage the social web for many different reasons, but mainly to connect with others.  There are so many social engagement levels, measuring your network’s engagement with you is difficult.

There are several third party applications that measure parts of your network’s engagement level. If you are looking for basic evaluations of your impact, here are a few great sites we recommend. If you are looking for specifics, well… of course, come see us ; )

How much influence  does your brand have on the Blogosphere and Twitterverse? Continue reading →

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In Order to Succeed You Must Get Out of the Bubble

Many businesses look to other businesses in their market and/or geographic area for ideas. In social media we find this is a double edged sword. We recently wrote about the Perils and Rewards of Being First in the market. This was in response to many conversations with prospective clients wanting to understand more about social media but not really wanting to make that dive into resourcing out part of their marketing budget toward Word of Mouth marketing on the social web.

We at ActivatingWOM have been traveling a lot. We are still amazed that geographic markets drive the decision to jump into the social web. When we are talking to clients in the Bay area, where social media applications, networks, etc are born every day, the dialogue is about new analytics and how to maximize new networks before the main stream takes advantage of these tools. In LA it is about how to define your social presence as it relates to fans of various talents and how engagement is measured. In DC it is about identifying policy trends in conversations and identify influencers of various policy discussions.

In Arizona, people are will watching and learning. Few companies are willing to jump out of their bubble and take the social media plunge. Even the various markets mentioned above are still in a bubble. They rarely look at how practices in these various markets can help with their web presence.

I come from an extensive political background. I saw the “bubble effect” often. In various campaigns you tend to surround yourself with like minded individuals who further strengthen your ideals but tend to disconnect you with others outside your bubble. I often challenged organizations and candidates to get out of their bubble. Washington tends to be so deep in the beltway bubble that they hire pollsters after pollsters to get the pulse of the American public.

On the social web, everything is available. Case study after case study is available. What relevance does it have to your industry? No one else in your industry is really resourcing out this work you say? It is time to get out of your bubble. In a previous post we demonstrated various companies’ success on the social web.

If you are a company that has never used Twitter or often laugh at discussions around social media, I have a test for you. Go to http://search.twitter.com and type in a few words related to your product and or services. I guarantee you that there are conversations happening around your services and or products. From Tea to Athletes we manage a wide range of clients who at one time thought the social web was not for them. This simple tests showcases that there are potential customers and/or fans out there. If they are already talking about you, why are you not engaging?

It is time to get out of the bubble, and make the jump. Don’t let bubble vision keep you from success.