Several days ago, I was taking a look through the Wall Street Journal. I came across a holiday-inspired news article that grabbed my attention. The article centered on the topic of holiday cards. Holiday photo cards have been a time-honored family tradition.
A new chapter in holiday cards is upon us. It appears to be an offshoot of the increased photo sharing and exchange of information occurring on social media sites. Designs offered by online card services such as Tiny Prints, Minted, and Paper Culture have set the standard for holiday card expectations.
Tiny Prints offers more than 2,500 designs, while 473 of these accommodate three or more photos. Shutterfly, its parent site, gives customers 3,100 design offerings. These card-design companies are catering to the demands of those desiring multi-photo layouts and a bevy of design options.
There are many choices for consumers when it comes to producing an attractive, high-impact holiday card. Cards come in all shapes, sizes, and with unique color schemes. Magazine-like professional photo shoots are even becoming the norm.
Who would have ever thought that sending out the yearly family holiday photo would become such a detailed and elaborate process?
Happy holidays to all…and remember to send out your family portraits this holiday season!
Jimmie Carmeci is a marketing assistant at The Darwin Agency, and can be reached at jim@thedarwinagency.com.
December 20th, 2011
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Social Media Marketing |
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Klout measures influence across the social web. There will be an addition of two key features to the Klout interface. ‘Sashes’ and the ‘Add a Topic’ Button are now available to users.
Sashes are a visual update to the ‘Topics’ feature. The ‘Topics’ feature allowed users to gain insight on top influencers and +K recipients for specific content areas. The sash concept will provide a new perspective on content.
A blue sash will signify users with the most +Ks for any topic, while a gold sash will be awared to top influencers. A blue-and-gold sash has also been developed in order to reward those who fall into both of these categories. These visual merits will more accurately represent a user’s influence.
The ‘Add a Topic’ button will allow Klout users to add topics that its system does not pick up. Now, those who may be seen as a great source for offline music recommendations and critiques, for example, will be given the opportunity to add music to their influential topics.
Klout is gearing up to become more about being just a number. Users will now be recognized more for what they are influential about, rather than solely on their influence score.
Join Klout today to get insight on your social influence, and to learn more about the unique way in which Klout determines your sociability on the web.
Jimmie Carmeci is a marketing assistant at The Darwin Agency, and can be reached at jim@thedarwinagency.com.
December 10th, 2011
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Social Media Marketing |
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WordPress.com will be introducing an alternative to Google’s AdWords. For those of you who are not aware, WordPress is a popular blogging site. It will now be offering advertising on the blogs created by its users. Bloggers will have another advertising choice to monetize their sites.
The name of this pay-per-click advertising platform is WordAds. It makes use of WordPress.com’s partnership with Federated Media.
Federated Media develops programs and products enabling brands to participate in conversations and host their own discussions with current and potential customers. The sites and applications they represent feature blogs, community platforms, and video, to name a few. These sites and applications all are engaged in quality conversations with their audiences.
Bloggers have been yearning for a WordPress monetization program via advertising.
According to WordPress founder Matt Mullenwegg, ““Since WordPress.com was started, six years ago, advertising has been our #1 feature request.” Jon Burke, ads lead for WordPress.com, stated, “We’ve resisted advertising so far because most of it we had seen wasn’t terribly tasteful, and it seemed like Google’s AdSense was the state-of-the-art, which was sad.”
This announcement is really not a surprise, as WordPress leaked news in October that it would be joining forces with Automattic and Federated Media to allow users to place ads on their blogs.
There is still mystery regarding how WordAds’ features will differ from those of AdWords. Inclusion in WordAds will be
based on a number of factors including level of traffic and engagement, type of content, and language used on your blog. Filling out the interest form will not guarantee that your blog will be accepted.
More than 50,000 WordPress-powered blogs are online each day. WordPress’s main goal is to give users with an improved experience in comparison to that being offered by Google’s Adsense.
Jimmie Carmeci is a marketing assistant at The Darwin Agency, and can be reached at jim@thedarwinagency.com.
December 8th, 2011
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Marketing |
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There have been many rumors pertaining to a new smartphone possibly being in development. There is a belief that Facebook is creating its own smartphone.
A recent report leaked that Facebook is working with HTC on a new smartphone code-named “Buffy.” It is to feature a customized version of the Android operating system with deep Facebook integration.
Now, you may be wondering why Facebook would create its own smartphone in the first place. The only justification for a Facebook smartphone would be the ability to offer a better user experience and a more effective vehicle for its advertising business.
Facebook is seeking to maximize the user’s exposure to highly-targeted ads that use personal data that is provided as payment forits services. A well-controlled smartphone would allow Facebook to compete for advertising dollars with Google.
A recent survey by The Wall Street Journal’s AllThingsD blog offered an interesting take on potential consumer interest in such a device. Over 81% of voters didn’t have interest in a Facebook phone, while less than 8% stated that they’d buy the product. Another 11% would consider it depending on the features and security.
Facebook has denied claims it is developing a branded smartphone. Whether they are factual or not, the recent reports have provided interesting news to the world of smartphone users.
The question remains, though, how interested will smartphone users really be if ‘The Facebook Phone’ is indeed released?
Jimmie Carmeci is a marketing assistant at The Darwin Agency, and can be reached at jim@thedarwinagency.com.
November 28th, 2011
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Social Media Marketing |
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November 29th will mark the date of the first “Pay a Blogger Day.” Swedish micropayment startup, Flattr, is looking to motivate Internet users to send a monetary token of appreciation to their favorite songsters, podcast creators, open-source software developers and bloggers.
The effort is driven by Flattr’s belief that with all the time and effort invested in blogs out there, content contributors have earned the right to receive something in return, at least one day each year. After all, its service is really intended to help innovative individuals in their efforts to get compensated by online consumers.
Blogs serve as a valued source of amusing, enlightening, and educational creative material that make up a large part of our daily web consumption.
Flattr is concurrently advertising itself with the unveiling of this campaign. It is devoting a portion of its operation to the promotion of its own version of the “Like” button. Users are able to pay a small amount each month and then click Flattr buttons on sites in order to share the money they paid among those sites, like an Internet tip jar.
When it comes to “Pay a Blogger Day,” Flattr is intent on starting a movement. “Pay a Blogger Day” may not provide bloggers with adequate income in order to make a living, yet it may give them the necessary inspiration to continue contributing their creativity to the Internet.
This day of tribute could possibly transform the way in which free content is seen on the Internet. So go out and support the content that interests you most!
Jimmie Carmeci is a marketing assistant at The Darwin Agency, and can be reached at jim@thedarwinagency.com.
November 23rd, 2011
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Internet Marketing |
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Social media buzz is defined as the total activity taking place in the form of postings on blogs, message boards, groups, news sites, Facebook and Twitter.
Whether you are a buyer or a seller, holiday shopping is becoming a sizzling topic of conversation across social media platforms. The buzz is not only about Black Friday, but also Cyber Monday.
If you are unaware of Cyber Monday, it is a marketing term used to tag the Monday immediately following Black Friday. Last year, comScore reported the first ever $1 billion online shopping day for Cyber Monday. This was a 16% increase over 2009’s totals.
A study carried out by NM Incite determined that Black Friday makes up 79% of buzz pertaining to holiday shopping activity in 2010. Cyber Monday comprises the other 21% of social talk pertaining to holiday shopping. This percentage of social activity is double the total of the previous year. This rise is a result of more consumer interest in online shopping events around the first week of the holiday season.
The theme of shopping buzz actually made up a 2.5% share of all daily social activity in 2010. This signaled a 25% increase compared to the 1.9% figure in 2009. The study does note that there has been a constant growth of social media messaging these days.
Consumers turn to online search and social sharing in order to search for and socialize about the best deals as they prepare for Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales.
Jimmie Carmeci is a marketing assistant at The Darwin Agency, and can be reached at jim@thedarwinagency.com.
November 22nd, 2011
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Social Media Marketing |
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Earlier today, I came upon a blog post that captivated me. Sarah Evans of social media and PR blog, Commentz, assembled a list of 50 New Social-Media Stats to Kick-Start Your Slide Deck. I narrowed that list down to 10 statistics that are particularly important to reflect upon as a business owner. These statistics are very telling numbers that should encourage owners to adjust their social media trends and actions accordingly.
Here’s my list of the ten most important social media statistics for business owners:
1. On Sundays, B2C Facebook results are 30% above average.
2. 77% of consumers said they network with brands on Facebook by reading posts and updates for the most part.
3. 95% of Facebook wall posts are not answered by brands.
4. B2B (57%) and B2C (41%) businesses state that SEO has the largest influence on their lead generation goals.
5. 56% of consumers are more likely to endorse a brand to a friend after they become a fan on Facebook.
6. 15% of the average local business’s fans are in the city where the business is actually located.
7. 58% of people like a brand on Facebook because they are a customer, while 57% do so in order to receive discounts
and promotions.
8. Consumers who use social media eat out more and are more likely to become recurring customers.
9. 43% of all online consumers are social media fans or followers.
10. 84% of senior execs believe their brand’s sociability is not currently at world-class standards.
Jimmie Carmeci is a marketing assistant at The Darwin Agency, and can be reached at jim@thedarwinagency.com.
November 21st, 2011
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Social Media Marketing |
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Yes, this is true. Facebook is approaching 800 million users. Twitter, on the other hand, reports having 200 million users.
Despite the fact that it is one-fourth of the size of Facebook, Twitter still packs quite the punch in terms of influence.
Twitter’s referrals to news content are of a different nature than that of Facebook. While Facebook encourages users that won’t stay on the site, tweets and retweets on Twitter typically come from people who have chosen to follow an individual, news source or topic. This provides a much more targeted kind of referral than simply putting up a casual, impulsive post on someone’s wall.
The mobile side of Twitter is actually where the bulk of its influence stems from. Smartphones are perfect for Twitter’s 140-character format.
A recent study by ComScore has determined that about 13.5% of Twitter users are mobile ones, compared to only 7% for Facebook users. Its growth on mobile is substantial at a 75% clip per year. Facebook’s yearly mobile growth rate stands at a mere 50%.
The microblogging service that is Twitter provides users a simple and straightforward interface that differs greatly from that of Facebook.
Facebook has chosen to go in the direction of saturating its users with unnecessary features. Its interface is overly complicated; resulting in increased time spent attempting to do things that used to be much faster.
Jimmie Carmeci is a marketing assistant at The Darwin Agency, and can be reached at jim@thedarwinagency.com.
November 7th, 2011
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Social Media Marketing |
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“I don’t care what you say about me, just spell my name right.” P.T. Barnum
Is there really such a thing as bad publicity? Apparently, the answer is yes.
There are a number of potential disadvantages that involve overwhelming the masses with your pitches, content and press releases.
Whether you are promoting your news to people who are unlikely to ever become customers or are practicing poor PR and content placement, you risk wasting resources and driving traffic away from your own site.
Before you decide to simply submit your company’s exciting new announcement to a site with a less than stellar reputation, cheap pay-per-click ads and unfocused content, consider your own brand’s reputation. Any publicity really isn’t beneficial in this case. Simply posting this content on your own site may serve as a better way to utilize and distribute it.
Your public relations and content marketing spend can be effectively targeted in order to achieve optimum return on investment and high-quality media attention. Targeting should be aimed at editors, reporters, bloggers and outlets whose audiences care about similar companies, products and services.
The quality and relevancy of the site on which your content appears is also quite significant in the eyes of viewers.
There are plenty of questionable media outlets in existence that will print and promote anything. Don’t waste your message on an audience that simply does not care about you or your news. Bad publicity can steer readers away from your site and diminish the value of your news and your brand.
Jimmie Carmeci is a marketing assistant at The Darwin Agency, and can be reached at jim@thedarwinagency.com.
November 4th, 2011
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Advertising, Marketing, Pay Per Click |
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The growth of social networks and search platforms has allowed B2C companies to evolve into large-scale consumer identity providers. Companies fill the identity-management gap by assigning employees several different IDs that work across media sites.
Media sites have access to a large quantity of user information such as names, email addresses, and published posts, for example. There’s a substantial burden placed on identity providers to monitor the media companies that are connecting with their users. Media companies also must be able to honor the trust of end-users.
The question is, though, how can we thwart media companies from abusing the extent of access that they have to our user identities? Identity ownership is something that offers abundant opportunity to the user, and yet also brings with it a great risk of danger.
Partaking in social media is a essential component of making your B2C company relevant and recognizable online, but you must pay heed to the security of your social networking accounts. There is extraordinary level of access to our identities and personal information through third-party applications via social networks.
Identification is a hazy area when it comes to the Internet. It, in no way, reflects the reality of the physical world. Still, the topic of third-party applications is a tricky one for social networking sites, which strongly encourage sharing by its users. If developers aren’t creating secure code or are purposely building harmful applications, users could be at risk.
Cautiously read the fine print and be aware when permitting access to third-party apps through your company’s accounts. It is most definitely worth your time, and can save you from a world of trouble.
Jimmie Carmeci is a marketing assistant at The Darwin Agency, and can be reached at jim@thedarwinagency.com.
November 1st, 2011
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adminjim |
Social Media Marketing |
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