http://www.bulletproofblog.com The blog on crisis communications Fri, 30 Jul 2010 17:06:27 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 http://www.bulletproofblog.com/2010/07/30/weekly-web-wrap-up-for-july-30-2010/ http://www.bulletproofblog.com/2010/07/30/weekly-web-wrap-up-for-july-30-2010/#comments Fri, 30 Jul 2010 17:06:27 +0000 Patrick Kerley http://www.bulletproofblog.com/?p=3487 Bulletproof’s Weekly Web Wrap-Up offers a compilation of key discussions regarding social media’s increasing relevance to business.

A few weeks back, Old Spice created considerable online buzz when it released a stream of videos featuring bare-chested, ex-football player Isaiah Mustafa responding directly to individual fan messages and questions submitted via Facebook and Twitter. This week, a debate has erupted over the actual bottom line impact of the social media blitz.

While the return on Old Spice’s digital investment still remains a question, this integrated use of multiple social media platforms in a single consumer engagement has set the bar high for future online marketing and communications campaigns.

This week’s Wrap-Up highlights this and other key developments in the social media space from the past week:

Real SEO:
Now Old Spice’s Sales Are Up – Make Up Your Minds Already

Mashable:
Facebook Questions Officially Launches

Mashable:
How 12 CEOs & Founders are Leveraging Web Video

YouTube Blog:
Upload limit increases to 15 minutes for all users

The Next Web:
Tweetdeck to test 5,000 users in new version with User Streams API

]]> http://www.bulletproofblog.com/2010/07/30/weekly-web-wrap-up-for-july-30-2010/feed/ 0 http://www.bulletproofblog.com/2010/07/23/weekly-web-wrap-up-for-july-23-2010/ http://www.bulletproofblog.com/2010/07/23/weekly-web-wrap-up-for-july-23-2010/#comments Fri, 23 Jul 2010 20:00:04 +0000 Patrick Kerley http://www.bulletproofblog.com/?p=3426 Bulletproof’s Weekly Web Wrap-Up offers a compilation of key discussions regarding social media’s increasing relevance to business.

The big news this week is Facebook’s latest milestone: an unprecedented 500 million users. Considering the social network’s aspiration to eventually double this groundbreaking figure, the phenomenon that is Facebook is clearly nothing for businesses to thumb their noses at. With many of the newest users representing older and more affluent demographics, there is no question that companies must now view Facebook as the critical consumer engagement venue it is – and one that will continue to play an increasingly important role in any consumer outreach or marketing campaign.

This week’s Wrap-Up highlights this and other key developments in the social media space from the past week:

ZDNet:
Facebook Hits 500 Million, Aims for More Growth

Wall Street Journal:
Social Media Draws a Crowd

Inside Facebook:
Facebook Allows Advertising Accounts to Have Multiple Users

Future Lab:
Learning Social Media from School-Aged Users

Mashable:
Mattel’s “Street Team” Using FourSquare to Help You Hook Up with Barbie

Click here to receive the Weekly Web Wrap-Up in your inbox each week

Patrick Kerley is a Senior Digital Strategist at Levick Strategic Communications, the world’s top crisis firm. He is also a contributing author to Bulletproof Blog™. Connect with him @pjkerley.

]]> http://www.bulletproofblog.com/2010/07/23/weekly-web-wrap-up-for-july-23-2010/feed/ 0 http://www.bulletproofblog.com/2010/07/21/facebook%e2%80%99s-growing-pains-aren%e2%80%99t-deterring-users/ http://www.bulletproofblog.com/2010/07/21/facebook%e2%80%99s-growing-pains-aren%e2%80%99t-deterring-users/#comments Wed, 21 Jul 2010 19:37:19 +0000 Patrick Kerley http://www.bulletproofblog.com/?p=3415 surpass 500 million users by Friday, the results of the 2010 American Consumer Survey Index show that consumer satisfaction with the site ranks below that of airlines, cable television providers, and even the Internal Revenue Service.

There’s no denying that Facebook’s explosive expansion has generated more than a few growing pains. With near-constant changes to the site’s functionality, an uptick in unsolicited advertising, and ongoing debate as to the effectiveness of Facebook’s privacy controls, users have found plenty to gripe about. But even as the complaints continue to pile up, Facebook is attracting new users at a feverish pace – many of whom represent the older, more affluent demographics that many once believed would shun social media altogether.

This continued growth suggests Facebook isn’t likely to go the way of Friendster or MySpace any time soon. But, when paired with American Consumer’s survey, it does suggest that people join for the same reason they put up with ever increasing airline fees, expensive cable packages, and complex tax forms. Today, people might not join Facebook because they want to; but because they have to. Facebook has crossed a virtual line in the sand where even if users are on the site begrudgingly, they’re still logging in to keep up with the friends and family, follow the latest news and developments, and participate in promotions and contests hosted by their favorite brands.

While more members will mean a more diverse population and increasingly disparate demands on the site – and we will likely continue to hear from small but vocal sections of the community that are concerned with some aspect of its services – the bottom line is that Facebook is growing; and if you’re company doesn’t have a presence there, it’s missing out on major messaging opportunities.

While companies would be wise to monitor user complaints to ensure that their own actions do not exacerbate user frustrations, there’s no question that Facebook still remains a top consumer engagement venue and that businesses of all shapes and sizes should be leveraging it as such.

Patrick Kerley is a Senior Digital Strategist at Levick Strategic Communications, the world’s top crisis firm. He is also a contributing author to Bulletproof Blog™ and is on Twitter @pjkerley.

]]> http://www.bulletproofblog.com/2010/07/21/facebook%e2%80%99s-growing-pains-aren%e2%80%99t-deterring-users/feed/ 2 http://www.bulletproofblog.com/2010/07/16/weekly-web-wrap-up-for-july-16-2010/ http://www.bulletproofblog.com/2010/07/16/weekly-web-wrap-up-for-july-16-2010/#comments Fri, 16 Jul 2010 21:14:18 +0000 Patrick Kerley http://www.bulletproofblog.com/?p=3396 Bulletproof’s Weekly Web Wrap-Up offers a compilation of key discussions regarding social media’s increasing relevance to business.

Whether your company is actively engaged in social media or not, chances are your employees are making use of platforms – such as Facebook and Twitter – to connect with friends, family, and colleagues. And while they are likely using social networking in their free time for personal purposes, many employees may not realize just how significantly their online activities can impact both themselves and their companies. In order to protect your brand and your people, it is critical to develop a formal employee social media policy to provide guidelines and remind employees of the potential consequences of sharing information via social media.

This week’s Wrap-Up highlights several examples of both good and bad employee social media policies, along with various social media news and developments from the past week:

Fast Company:
Corporate Social Media Policies: The Good, the Mediocre, and the Ugly

New York Times:
Social Networking Takes Flight

Mashable:
Microsoft Launches Outlook Facebook Integration

eConsultancy:
Six Reasons You Shouldn’t Invest in ROI

HubSpot:
Ben & Jerry’s Drops Email Marketing in Favor of Social Media

Click here to receive the Weekly Web Wrap-Up in your inbox each week

Patrick Kerley is a Senior Digital Strategist at Levick Strategic Communications, the world’s top crisis firm. He is also a contributing author to Bulletproof Blog™. Connect with him @pjkerley.

]]> http://www.bulletproofblog.com/2010/07/16/weekly-web-wrap-up-for-july-16-2010/feed/ 0 http://www.bulletproofblog.com/2010/07/09/weekly-web-wrap-up-for-july-9-2010/ http://www.bulletproofblog.com/2010/07/09/weekly-web-wrap-up-for-july-9-2010/#comments Fri, 09 Jul 2010 13:57:32 +0000 Patrick Kerley http://www.bulletproofblog.com/?p=3198 Bulletproof’s Weekly Web Wrap-Up offers a compilation of key discussions regarding social media’s increasing relevance to business.

The power social networking is not limited to social networking sites. Rather, with the expansion of Facebook’s Open Graph functionality and open-source Twitter and Facebook logins to sites throughout the Web, social networking truly defines many users’ online experience. This means that engagement with customers on a corporate Facebook page or Twitter profile is just the beginning; and as such, companies must also consider adding social sharing options and other integrated social media capabilities on their own websites and blogs.

This week’s Wrap-Up includes news about the saturation of social networking on third-party sites as well as general social media developments and tips:

ReadWriteWeb:
Facebook Dominates Third-Party Logins for All But News

VentureBeat:
Twitter Search Queries up 33% from April to 800 Million per Day

HubSpot Blog:
Top 10 Questions Business Ask Us About Facebook Marketing

TechCrunch:
Twitter Explains What @EarlyBird Is: It's All About Distributing Advertising Deals

Brass Tack Thinking:
5 Age Old Issues We Blame on Social Media

Click here to receive the Weekly Web Wrap-Up in your inbox each week

Patrick Kerley is a Senior Digital Strategist at Levick Strategic Communications, the world’s top crisis firm. He is also a contributing author to Bulletproof Blog™. Connect with him @pjkerley.

]]> http://www.bulletproofblog.com/2010/07/09/weekly-web-wrap-up-for-july-9-2010/feed/ 0 http://www.bulletproofblog.com/2010/07/02/weekly-web-wrap-up-for-july-2-2010/ http://www.bulletproofblog.com/2010/07/02/weekly-web-wrap-up-for-july-2-2010/#comments Fri, 02 Jul 2010 16:37:39 +0000 Patrick Kerley http://www.bulletproofblog.com/?p=3172 Bulletproof’s Weekly Web Wrap-Up offers a compilation of key discussions regarding social media’s increasing relevance to business.

Despite its myriad opportunities, social media also can present some serious brand risks, as we saw with the Gulf oil spill and the tremendously popular fake BP Twitter account. However, nearly all of these potential brand hazards will exist whether your company is involved in social media or not. It is only by engaging in advance, establishing a social media identity, and building a base of online brand ambassadors that companies can effectively protect themselves against these threats before they ever happen.

This week’s Wrap-Up highlights a number of challenges and risks associated with social media and how companies can overcome these perils, as well as social media news and developments from the past week:

Mashable:
6 Challenges to Managing a Brand on the Social Web

TechCrunch:
When Social Media Becomes the Message: The Gulf Oil Spill and @BPGlobalPR

Reuters:
Consumers Say: “In Tweets We Trust”

Marketing Pilgrim:
With Facebook Open Graph Search, Is Facebook SEO Next?

TechCrunch:
ComScore: YouTube Reaches All-Time High of 14.6 Billion Videos Viewed in May



Click here to receive the Weekly Web Wrap-Up in your inbox each week

Patrick Kerley is a Senior Digital Strategist at Levick Strategic Communications, the world’s top crisis firm. He is also a contributing author to Bulletproof Blog™. Connect with him @pjkerley.

]]> http://www.bulletproofblog.com/2010/07/02/weekly-web-wrap-up-for-july-2-2010/feed/ 0 http://www.bulletproofblog.com/2010/06/25/weekly-web-wrap-up-for-june-25-2010/ http://www.bulletproofblog.com/2010/06/25/weekly-web-wrap-up-for-june-25-2010/#comments Fri, 25 Jun 2010 19:00:37 +0000 Patrick Kerley http://www.bulletproofblog.com/?p=3118 Bulletproof’s Weekly Web Wrap-Up offers a compilation of key discussions regarding social media’s increasing relevance to business.

Social media’s exponential growth is showing no signs of slowing down. In fact, statistics released just this week by LinkedIn show that the site now has more than 70 million users and more than a million company profiles. As the self-described “professional social networking site,” even the most social media-resistant companies should at least consider leveraging the opportunities provided by LinkedIn to foster relationships, recruit new hires, and control their online reputations.

This week’s Wrap-Up includes some of these new statistics and features from LinkedIn, as well as case studies and social media news that developed over the past week:

TechCrunch:
LinkedIn Tops 70 Million Users; Includes Over One Million Company Profiles

TechCrunch:
LinkedIn Takes Groups to the Next Level with Likes, Follows, and More

Social Media Today:
How Do You Manage Negative Comments on Social Networks?

Mashable:
How Salespeople Are Using Social Media for Real Results

GigaOm:
The World Cup Yields Record Tweets and Traffic

Click here to receive the Weekly Web Wrap-Up in your inbox each week

Patrick Kerley is a Senior Digital Strategist at Levick Strategic Communications, the world’s top crisis firm. He is also a contributing author to Bulletproof Blog™. Connect with him @pjkerley.

 

]]> http://www.bulletproofblog.com/2010/06/25/weekly-web-wrap-up-for-june-25-2010/feed/ 0 http://www.bulletproofblog.com/2010/06/24/in-the-social-media-space-authenticity-is-essential/ http://www.bulletproofblog.com/2010/06/24/in-the-social-media-space-authenticity-is-essential/#comments Thu, 24 Jun 2010 16:54:24 +0000 Patrick Kerley http://www.bulletproofblog.com/?p=3111 TWTRCON conference – a one-day gathering in New York City where business leaders discussed leading strategies for effective corporate messaging on Twitter – Martha Stewart shared the secret of her success on the exploding social media platform. “You have to be you,” she stated. “I write all my own tweets. To me, that is the best use of the medium.”

Ms. Stewart’s chosen approach seems to be paying off. In only five months, she has attracted more than 1 million followers. With tweets that share recipes, offer housekeeping tips, and solicit feedback from followers, she has clearly demonstrated an understanding of social media’s greatest utility to commercial endeavors – building personal relationships.

Twitter, Facebook, the blogosphere, and other social networking venues aren’t just another avenue by which the corporate mouthpiece can disseminate the news of the day. Rather, they provide powerful opportunities to foster the personal connections at the root of brand loyalty. Users want to feel as if they “know” the person on the other end of their Internet connection – and that simply isn’t possible if they feel they’re being talked “at” by a company, rather than talked “to” by a person they respect and admire.

Patrick Kerley is a Senior Digital Strategist at Levick Strategic Communications, the world’s top crisis firm. He is also a contributing author to Bulletproof Blog™ and is on Twitter @pjkerley.

]]> http://www.bulletproofblog.com/2010/06/24/in-the-social-media-space-authenticity-is-essential/feed/ 3 http://www.bulletproofblog.com/2010/06/22/six-six-6-evolving-search-optimization-tactics-from-smx-advanced/ http://www.bulletproofblog.com/2010/06/22/six-six-6-evolving-search-optimization-tactics-from-smx-advanced/#comments Tue, 22 Jun 2010 20:49:36 +0000 Andrew Stoltzfus http://www.bulletproofblog.com/?p=3088 The top six social media tips to know before you leave the office.

As the search marketing space continues to evolve, I traveled to the SMX Advanced Conference earlier this month to find out more about what’s next in search engine optimization (SEO) and to better understand how businesses can adapt accordingly. With 88 billion monthly searches executed on Google alone, it is critical for companies of all shapes and sizes to understand the importance of optimizing Web content to appear among the top relevant results.

Recent months have seen drastic changes to the ways search engines work: real-time social media indexing, new sorting options on Google, the launch of Google Caffeine, the advent of of Bing, and the upcoming partnership between Bing and Yahoo have all dramatically altered the landscape. In the wake of such evolutions, this week’s Six @ Six outlines six new search optimization insights and tactics gleaned from SMX Advanced. Do you have additional suggestions? Are there other tactics you’d recommend? Let me know on Twitter @astoltzfus.

1. Speed of websites is critical

One often-overlooked factor that is becoming an increasingly important component in search engine ranking algorithms is the speed with which a website loads. After all, search visitors in particular tend to be looking for quick results and will often hit the Back button instead of waiting for a slow-loading site. Search engines, with Google leading the way, are now treating site speed as a significant factor in determining the most useful results to searchers. In order to ensure that your site appears among the top results, try to avoid using heavy multimedia content whenever possible and be sure the server that hosts your site can handle expected traffic and maintain speed under heavy conditions. If you’re unsure how fast your site speed compares with others, there are plenty of online tools to help test it.

2. Look beyond Google

It’s true that the focus of most search marketers over the past decade has been Google. But with Bing’s successful launch last year and this fall’s upcoming partnership between Yahoo and Bing expected to capture 25-30 percent of search engine market share, it’s important to focus on sites beyond Google as well. This doesn’t necessarily mean creating separate sites optimized for different search engines the way many sites were ten years ago – but it does mean you should test and track results on Bing, Yahoo, and Google. Additionally, search-based advertising on Google will likely no longer be sufficient for saturating target audiences, as Bing and Yahoo become increasingly popular platforms on which to advertise services or products.

3. Traditional PR tactics can build inbound links

If content is king in search optimization, then links are its queen. Generating critical inbound links doesn’t have to involve underhanded negotiations or magic code manipulation. Instead, try using traditional public relations tactics to build inbound links; such as reaching out to the owners of related websites with useful content and building relationships with other site owners. A tried-and-true tactic is to develop interesting content that others will want to share (such as a timely infographic or relevant blog post), and then share it with high-authority bloggers and other online outlets. Other successful link-building tactics include authoring guest blog posts on related sites, leaving comments on relevant blog posts elsewhere on the Web, and leveraging other online publishing opportunities. In the end, it all comes down to relationship-building and developing interesting content – both of which are mainstays of traditional PR.

4. Optimize real-time updates

Search results today increasingly feature “real-time updates” – or recent updates pulled from social media sites such as Twitter, Friendfeed, and Facebook – among the top search results. This presents an ideal opportunity to jump to the top of the search results for any currently trending topic. While it’s unknown exactly what criteria go into determining which updates appear in search results, it is nearly impossible to rank among the “real-time search” results without a regularly updated social media profile – so, if companies are still looking for a reason to get involved in social media, here’s yet another reason. Once you have a social media profile, a few of the factors likely to play a role in determining the search rank of social media updates include user authority, freshness of content, the quality and quantity of followers, follower-to-following ratio, number of recent re-Tweets, and inbound links to the account – all of which reflect general best practices for effective Twitter engagement.

5. Add “juice” to existing content

Once you’ve developed content and put it up on your site, it’s easy to let it sit there and hope its popularity will organically grow. But old content also provides great raw material to help “juice” a site and boost the search ranking. Consider creating podcasts out of old press releases or blog posts and push them out via iTunes and podcast directories – as this can generate new, high-authority inbound links and can even spark a new type of audience for your site. Additionally, you can create RSS feeds of old content, use RSS Footer plug-ins to automatically add links to new posts, and create custom RSS feeds that include your content as well as external content to help piggyback off other sites.

6. Chase after a positive user experience

With so many changes to search ranking algorithms taking place on a near-daily basis, it’s tempting to chase after the minor adjustments and optimize your content accordingly. But as Matt Cutts, Senior Engineer at Google, pointed out at SMX Advanced, search engines always try to provide searchers with the content that best fulfills their search needs. As a result, chasing after an overall positive user experience is much more valuable than trying to identify the next algorithm adjustment. Content should load quickly, be easy to navigate, be organized well, and speak to the needs of your audiences. Developing strong content and creating a positive user experience is the only guaranteed way to ensure top search rankings that will last through the next week, next year, and beyond.

Click here to receive Six @ Six in your inbox each week

Andrew Stoltzfus is a Search Optimization Strategist at Levick Strategic Communications, the world’s top crisis communications firm. He also is a contributing author to Bulletproof Blog. Connect with him on Twitter: @Astoltzfus.

]]> http://www.bulletproofblog.com/2010/06/22/six-six-6-evolving-search-optimization-tactics-from-smx-advanced/feed/ 1 http://www.bulletproofblog.com/2010/06/18/weekly-web-wrap-up-for-june-18-2010/ http://www.bulletproofblog.com/2010/06/18/weekly-web-wrap-up-for-june-18-2010/#comments Fri, 18 Jun 2010 17:39:57 +0000 Patrick Kerley http://www.bulletproofblog.com/?p=3069 Bulletproof’s Weekly Web Wrap-Up offers a compilation of key discussions regarding social media’s increasing relevance to business.

Social networking isn’t just for kids anymore; and it hasn’t been for some time. New studies show that more than 25 percent of Americans over the age of 50 are engaged on social networks, and that 22 percent of all online activity centers around social media. With social media use growing so rapidly among older demographics and dominating more and more of the average Web user’s online activity, brands cannot afford to pretend this phenomenon is just a passing fad. In fact, active engagement in the online space is now a direct conduit to lasting brand loyalty and enduring reputational strength.

This week’s Wrap-Up focuses on new studies on the permeation of social media as well as other social media tools and developments:

InformationWeek:
75% of U.S. Households Use Social Networking

Mashable:
Why Your Grandpa is on Facebook

Social Media Today:
Message Boards: The Overlooked Piece of Social Media Real Estate

ReadWriteWeb:
Social Media Era Set to Peak in 2010

Mashable:
Twitter Rolls Out New Ads in Trending Topics Section

Click here to receive the Weekly Web Wrap-Up in your inbox each week

Patrick Kerley is a Senior Digital Strategist at Levick Strategic Communications, the world’s top crisis firm. He is also a contributing author to Bulletproof Blog™. Connect with him @pjkerley.

 

]]> http://www.bulletproofblog.com/2010/06/18/weekly-web-wrap-up-for-june-18-2010/feed/ 0