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Monday, November 15, 2010
How I Blogged Myself A Job
BlogsHow I Blogged Myself A Job
A really strange thing happened to me this year.
I wrote this post on 15 Facebook for Business Tips and landed myself the ideal job working in social media in Dublin. As some readers might know, up until June I was working in the Waterford Institute of Technology as a researcher.
I always say you have to have a point in everything you do, and this is also true in social media. My point in starting this blog while doing my Masters, was to give me the edge over other’s looking for work. So 2010 arrived and I managed to get a couple of speaking engagements from organisations who had heard about my Masters research (Why people are friends with brands in social media) and read the blog. My talks were on social media. I used the blog as a way of expanding on points raised at the presentation and as a way to direct people to here, who knows maybe some have even ended up as subscribers.
Anyways the post gained traction and it’s probably the most tweeted post on this blog at 20+ tweets and also 20 Facebook likes (not bad since I only added the Facebook like button at the end of August). So that post got tweeted about and one person who saw it was an employee at Neworld Associates. It just so happens the company had a new position in their digital division as a Social Media Strategist. Out of the blue I received an email via Linked In asking if I’d be interested in this position.
At first I had mixed feelings. I had vowed years ago, never to ever return to Dublin. But at the same time I had only days earlier began looking for work in social media, looking a bit further to the UK, thinking there would be very few positions like this available in Ireland. And here I was, being head hunted for a job, I had just started looking for. Talk about timing.
Within a week I had a contract in my hand and a month later I started the job.
Pretty cool. One of my highlights of the year, and it’s mostly down to blogging. The blog got me noticed, got me in the door and demonstrated I knew what it is I talk about. My CV has a good bit of social media experience anyway, but my CV didn’t get me in the door in the first place. So some part luck, some part CV, but mostly thanks to the blog.
That is how I blogged myself a job.
1. Set goals for your blog / social media
2. Work out how those goals can be achieved
3. Good content is still the most critical thing when it comes to blogging
4. The post that got noticed was actually an updated post I had written a month earlier. So did the update work better? Or had I not done enough to promote the original content? I think it was the fact the updated version featured much more examples was why it caught on. Lesson, make your posts as good as possible, even if that means not hitting publish for a day or so while the idea can be fine tuned.
5. Keep plugging away at it. I did start the blog in December 2008 and while not actually looking for work for most of that time, when it was called upon the blog did what I set it out to do.
6. Finally, luck may play some role in achieving the goals or objectives. However, while this scenario happened by chance, I don’t think it would have worked unless all the pieces had been in place.
Subscribe to this blog by RSS or Email, or leave a comment belowRelated posts:
Neworld: Facebook Credits, Google Instant, Priority Inbox & Calls, 16 Blogging Tips, Ping & Why Social Media FailsMarket To Me (Powerpoint)Friendster: The Greatest Disappointment in Internet HistoryYoutube the Real Facebook Killer?Digital Music Event Marketing (3)Google Instant Previews
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Call of Duty: Black Ops Shatters Sales Records, Fixes Bugs
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Sunday, November 14, 2010
Breast Cancer Awareness on Facebook
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15 More Facebook For Business Tips
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Just like every hit Hollywood flick there’s always the inevitable sequel. Considering the original 15 Facebook for Business Tips managed to get me a new job, on the radio and remains one of the most popular posts on this blog. It was inevitable that I would post something similar. So here it is 15 More Facebook For Business Tips. But is it a Godfather Part 2 or a Matrix Reloaded? It’s quiet long so maybe it’s more of a Lord of The Rings The Two Towers. Anyways, I’ll leave that for you to decide.
I am so against this, but if you have set one up and you have reached the 5,000 friends limit, or are about to, you may be happy to know that while you cannot confirm people over that limit they will still receive your updates, and if you set your page to public they can read your page and access its content. They just won’t be able to interact with the page. So its still not ideal.
This option used to be tucked away for admins, but since the redesign of the admin area on each page its been brought into the open more. Go into edit page – marketing – send an update. These updates will be emailed to fans of your page. Or you can narrow the target audience to a specific group of fans. Click on target this update and then segment the audience by location, gender and age. As a word of caution don’t over use this. Like any form of communication it can be deemed as spam. I used to like several pages until they went into over drive on the updates.
So you have a promotion happening in a specific city or country which isn’t relevant to every fan. But how can you tell one set of fans without annoying others? It’s very straightforward. Facebook allows you to segment who sees your updates by location (city and country) and by language. Click on the lock icon beside the share button and you can do this. Remember if your message is for a specific segment of your fans you should try to only target them. Otherwise its could be deemed irrelevant, only annoy and eventually might get the page unliked.
This post is pretty useful for this . There’s a few options listed. You could like every post that goes on the wall, that way when anyone comments on it you will be notified. However, the ‘like’ will be from your personal profile. And what if it’s a complaint the person has made? You will hardly ‘like’ that. But you also need notifications when someone posts a comment to photos, videos or even older posts on the page. For this I suggest Page Notifier . It’s a Facebook application that will scan your page for free once a day or on a sliding scale up to every 15 minutes, at $14.95. The first day you get the 15 minute scan for free. I’ve used this for a month and it’s pretty good truth be told. Page Notifier picked up on discussion board and photo comments that would have been cumbersome to find otherwise. I also saw this post from Amanda Webb who suggests it as a way of catching spam too. The new Facebook Spam filter doesn’t catch everything.
A person walks up to you and asks a question regarding your brand. Without saying anything you turn around and walk away. Isn’t that just rude? So is ignoring posts and comments on your brands Facebook page. I don’t understand why brands still do that, especially in relation to queries. Why have a Facebook page in the first place?
I noticed this a few months back, you can target ads at people with specific likes. This includes fans of specific pages, my question is, does this include fans of competitors pages? I honestly don’t know, but the option is there. Go to this link, create your advert and its section 2 you are looking for. Scroll down to Likes and Interests, there type in the page name you wish to promote your advertisement to. It allows me to enter in names of business pages, so in theory this should also allow me to advertise to fans of a competitors page. (Anybody care to confirm?) It’s a bit sneaky and I did read somewhere ages back Facebook wouldn’t allow such tactics, but Google do it all the time.
UPDATE NOV 7th: According to a reader you cannot target pages of competitors, see comments below.
A really good post from Amanda Webb at Spiderworking.com on this. Allowing friends to be tagged in photo’s means greater exposure for that photo and it gives fans a new way of interacting with content on your page. All pluses, but Facebook automatically sets this to off. How to get around it: edit page – in your browser’s URL, note the number that comes AFTER ‘edit/?id=’ – That number is your Page ID. The go to this URL and change REPLACEME to your Page ID:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/edit/app_settings.php?id=REPLACEME&aid=2305272732
Click the setting for “Allow All Fans to Tag Photos” and now fans can tag photos.
Did you ever notice when some people post an update a friends name is also tagged in it. By tagged I mean its highlighted and links to the friends page. This is done simply by adding the @ symbol and typing out the persons name. A drop down should auto suggest it. This can also be done for brand pages too. However for this to work the personal profile belonging to the admin of the page, must like the page or be friends with the person they wish to tag ie. The admin must have a connection from their personal profile to the one they want to tag. When you tag a person or page on Facebook the update also appears on their wall as well as you rown. Handy way of getting a message out there, but don’t overuse it.
By guidelines I mean guidelines for the page. Few pages engage in this, but it sets expectations for the audience and defines what functions the page will perform. Is it for customer service? No, then where can people contact customer service? Here’s a pretty decent checklist of points for your guidelines. It’s straight forward enough and can help take the pressure out of a stressful moment on a page
A fan has had an awful experience and in a no holes barred post to your page, lets rip on your organisation. There is no language, and the complaint seems genuine enough. What do you do? Have you thought that far? Well this is where you can dictate the rules to a certain extent. Remember I mentioned guidelines well if Facebook isn’t the customer service channel then you can move the conversation off Facebook. I’m lucky not to have moderated over many complaints in my time. But in my experience most people will either not take the complaint further once they know you have acknowledged it (I have seen people edit/delete their comments once they realise th ebrand is watching!), have a genuine complaint and seek resolution (which is only fair), or be unreasonable. On Facebook its hard to be anonymous, but you can easily take complaints made on Facebook and try to resolve them via email. That way it doesn’t play out in front of all the pages fans. But you must also be attentive and proactive enough to demonstrate good customer care. In my worst experience dealing with a complaint, was on a message board in about 2005 and one individual was being completely unreasonable. I was a little dumbfounded by their comments. So I traced his IP address and it went back to? competitors office. I shared this information on the thread and the individual never responded. Some people are worried that getting involved in social media will lead to a deluge of complaints. It often leads to a deluge of comments from happy contented customers, but there will be complaints. However, think about it – they don’t want to dip into social because they are worried about a negative backlash, why would you be worried about a backlash? Do you have reason to? If you do then that backlash is probably happening (or will happen) somewhere online and your brands non-response will lead to a vacuum of information and general speculation from people. Or you could deal with it head on and try change opinions and attitudes? No? Oh yes, head in sand is the easier option.
I posted about this over on the Neworld Associates blog earlier in the week. You might wish to read the full article here. Essentially to give your updates the potential to rank high in the fans Top News (the other listing is Most Recent), you need to be getting clicks on your page, updates with links rank higher than just text, photo and video updates will rank higher again, while comments and text also help too. Facebook is about engagement and so posts that are media rich tend to get favoured more. I also make some speculative comments on the role of Facebook insights and since Facebook also have access to this information do they rank pages with higher engagement levels better than those with lower engagement levels. They do this to personal profiles, so why not pages?
Another post from the Neworld Associates Blog (read it here). How exactly does Facebook rank its search listings? I suggest reading the full article as it’s complex enough. Facebook is essentially a place for people then users with the keyword you are searching for will appear first, then it’s a mix of historical activity on pages with the keyword, the users likes, their friends likes, events with the keyword and eventually the amount of fans your page has. Although the post outlines the criteria for the auto search box at the top of each page, the all results page and also the ‘pages’ filer on all results. Ultimatly its good to know this information but it can’t be gamed. You need to pick a good URL, link build so when potential fans visit your other social media channels they see the link and also to help build ranking in Google, and don’t forget Bing either. But point 11 and 12 also point to a race for likes in Facebook which may not be good for brands in the long run.
I’ve always wondered this. How accurate is it, I mean according to this there’s 1.75 million people in Ireland on Facebook. But how accurate can we take that to be, or even the demographic breakdown. Well I decided to compare some pages I moderate using point 5. That is to target an advert to a page I admin to compare what the Facebook Ad demographics are to what the page insights are, I could also get this breakdown by country. I wanted to check for discrepancies because if both ad demographics estimated reach and page insights have the same figures what stops me from checking the demographics of competitors pages?
I looked at three pages with varying amounts of fans, two had mainly International fans and one hand a mainly Irish audience. I tested the top 3 countries on each page and left the age filter at ’any’. The estimated reach was always lower than the page insights from between 5% up to 50%. So what does this mean? Well Facebook won’t give you access to the demographic breakdown of competitors pages, because if the insights and estimated reach were accurate then you could get a fairly good picture of how a competitor is faring. Also I have a feeling that the estimated reach is a figure that lags behind the actual reach. I read during the weak that the total number of people on Facebook in Ireland is 1.83 million, the current figure available in the create ad section of Facebook quotes 1.75 million. This would indicate that estimated reach figures are somewhat older, while page insights are right up to date.
A post I made recently, based on an exercise carried out at Measure It a monthly social media get together held in Dublin, that’s really well worth attending. There’s usually two industry case studies followed by group exercises. You can find the original post here. Essentially its about defining what the objective of the content is, knowing what the routine of your audience is, what time zone they are in, what kind of content it is, testing the content (although for Facebook media rich posts perform better), the timeliness of it (is it seasonal content), look for opportunities to tie in with current events, do you post during peak or off peak times (both have advantages and disadvantages), and how does you audience access the internet.
From this months Measure It, in the exercise we had to estimate how much time should you allocate to Facebook. The answer is important as it will help estimate the cost of running a Facebook page. It will mostly involve time, but there may be other costs such as research, content creation, monitoring online activity and building awareness around the Facebook page. There were varying estimations as would be expected with different size organisations. For example a restaurant page was estimated at an hour per day in the initial three months, while an organisation the size of Eircom might need to allocate 15 days per month. A huge difference. Ultimately the time invested has to be evaluated against the cost of the individual who does it and the revenue generated from such actions. My group worked on the restaurant example and estimated one hour per day by
- Building awareness for the page, piggybacking on other community pages such as tourism or cultural pages
- Offline promotion such as including the Facebook logo or icon on the menu or discreetly within the restaurant
- Monitoring the web for mentions using free tools such as Google Alerts
- Creating content such as posting daily specials, offers and promotions
- Moderating the page
- Then to evaluate how much business Facebook is actually driving to the business, run Facebook only offers that require coupon downloads from the Facebook page, or require Facebook to be mentioned when booking to receive 10% off.
Subscribe to this blog by RSS or Email, or leave a comment belowRelated posts:
15 Facebook for Business TipsNeworld: Facebook Spam, Blogging Tips, Google Realtime, Facebook Places ResourcesNeworld: Facebook Credits, Google Instant, Priority Inbox & Calls, 16 Blogging Tips, Ping & Why Social Media FailsUsing Facebook in Business? This Podcast will HelpNeworld: Facebook Places, Pages, Streetview & When to PostTop 50 Apple iPhone Apps Available
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“If your economy is toast, you may as well have some cheese on it.”
Ireland“If your economy is toast, you may as well have some cheese on it.”
The free cheese story of last Friday set Twitter alight with many excellent cheese related puns. It’s another example of the lack of understanding of how the country feels by the Government. Not only is the county about to teeter over the brink, thanks to the Governments insistence on bailing out corrupt banks full of cronies, developers and Fianna Fail mates, so much so that every man woman and child here is going to be up to their necks in debt for many years to come.
Yet Fianna Fail (FF) treated the free cheese story like it was the good news story to beat all good news stories. It’s one of the most bizarre stories to make a song and dance about especially since its not news, but a scheme that’s been in operation for years.
While this is/was a political story, it also gives an idea of how Twitter works as a communications platform. Twitter is great at is bringing people together to talk about matters that affect us. Be it #Cheesegate, #Freecheese, #Xfactor, sports events, TV shows or whatever your having yourself. Twitter acts as a platform for hundreds or thousands of people to come together and discuss what is happening, in real time. It removes the barrier of location, and unlike Facebook you can start a discussion with just about anybody on it. I would imagine that of my almost 400 followers on Twitter most I have never met before, some I have met since we started following but the vast majority I will probably never meet. But these anonymous links to people and organisations provide me with an incredible amount of information, news, views, insights, topics and entertainment. A day without Twitter and sometimes you don’t feel like you know whats going on in the world.
For more on Twitter Marketing check out a couple of posts I wrote on the Neworld Blog (link and link) which give practical examples of how 140 characters can be used as a powerful marketing tool.
But for now here’s the Top cheese related Tweets from the last few days;
Ireland: There is Philadelphia Light at the end of the tunnel?- @HybridVigour
Cheese release me, let me go
Apparently it’s quantative cheesing – both @SeanMoncrieff
The Irish Economy: Things Can Only Get Feta -??@kevnmur
This?#freecheese?thing doesn’t seem like a modern idea, more like something fromages past – @AllanCavanagh
Things?Can?Only?Get Cheddar?#freecheese?-?johnmadden78
It’s un-brie-lievable -?@PaddyDuffy
Gov’s bold initiative.. Quantitative Cheesing.. Edammed if we do, edammed if we don’t!?- @lstwrd
For the love of Gouda – @flowersmadeeasy
Letter in the_irish_times today: “Free cheese for Ireland! From the very people who rennet into the ground in the first place.” ?- @KimHarte
Most listeners feeling Blue about?#cheesegate, it really gets their Goat, things couldn’t Brie any worse. – @LauraByrneTdfm
#freecheese best things in life are brie! -?@lisaocarroll
Hello… Is it Brie you’re looking for??#freecheese?@blogtackular
Fianna Fail meetng, Dermot Ahern pipes up, the only thing that can win Donegal for us is Jesus, Cowen mishears now -?@cooper_m
I’m furious! Brian Cowen thinks he can spend all my tax money on cheese. How dairy? – @phildargen
Government has finally shown it does give edam- @SeanRocksARENA
I thought we were looking at 4 years of Hard Grind not Hard Rind – @boucherhayes
RTE Xmas movies: The Gouda Father, Goodfetas, Das Brie, From Riccotta with Love – @gooneradam
#freecheese just in time for Christmas so we can celebrate the baby cheeses…. – ?@phildargan
Jules Carbonara
“Let them eat cheesecake!” ~ The Laughing Cowen – @julescarbonara
One of my producers says he camembert this anymore. He says the country is between a roquefort and a hard place -?@cooper_m
Subscribe to this blog by RSS or Email, or leave a comment belowRelated posts:
Facebook: No Guns, No Drugs, No CheeseNeworld: Facebook Credits, Google Instant, Priority Inbox & Calls, 16 Blogging Tips, Ping & Why Social Media FailsMarketing Ideas: A 3 Step FormulaDrinkAware.ie Rag Week Ambient AdvertisingHurts (UK band) & Their Online MarketingBest iPhone GPS Apps
Planning on taking a road trip, but don’t have a GPS?? Maybe an app for your iPhone is the way to go.? While, not the cheapest apps in the iTunes store, they offer a lot of the functionality of a personal navigation device, like a Garmin or Tom Tom, combined with portability of your phone.
Mobile Navigator: This is one of iPhone’s most advanced GPS apps brought to users by NAVIGON.? Features include ability to use in portrait or landscape mode, precise voice announcements, intelligent address entry, lane assistant, real sign post displays and a speed assistant with adjustable audio-visual warnings.
TomTom for iPhone: Allows seamless navigation, even when you’re on a call.? It also has background navigation instructions, allowing you to use other apps, like Pandora, while still receiving turn-by-turn voice command instructions.? It even has automatic music fading so you won’t miss a beat if you are listening to music.
Magellan RoadMate: Magellan’s GPS app offers a one touch favorites menu, spoken street names, highway lane assistance, 3D landmarks, address book integration and in-app music control.? However, the app requires Magellan’s GPS receiver in its car kit, which is sold separately.
Mobile Maps America: Provides turn-by-turn instructions and 3D maps without a monthly fee.? International maps are available for those who need them.
iGo My Way: Features navigation to your iPhone contacts, controlling music playback, a QWERTY keyboard, 3D landmarks, a route overview and more.? It works as a fairly standard GPS, displaying your map, distance to go and estimated time of arrival.
G-Map: For those who don’t do a lot of traveling, G-Map offers an excellent solution.? Available for sale by region, you only pay for what you need.? It features live traffic, spoken directions, music control, and 3D views.
Co-Pilot Live: One of the more affordable GPS apps, Co-Pilot live still offers turn-by-turn directionality, multi route direction, and signals in tunnels.? Currently they’re offering free map updates through December 2010.
Motion X: Brings Facebook to your GPS allowing you to update where you are from your GPS.? It also integrates landmarks, businesses and marine charts, making it the perfect GPS for on the road, hiking or even on the water.
The huge variety of GPS apps available to you for your iPhone should make it no problem to find one within your price range that has all the functionality you need.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Facebook Groups: How To
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Sunday, October 31, 2010
Twitter Search Upgrades
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Google Wants to Drive Your Car
Google’s latest innovation is attempting to take the driver out of the driver’s seat.? After conquering the internet, and lately the world of smart phone operating systems with Android, Google is taking to the road.
Project leader Sebastian Thrun wrote on Google’s corporate blog, the goal of the research is to “help prevent traffic accidents, free up people’s time and reduce carbon emissions.”
The cars use video cameras and laser and radar technology to sense other traffic, construction or possible road blocks, and road signals.? They also used detailed maps that were gathered and drawn up using manned cars.
As the car’s computer system can respond to variables and emergencies faster than a human driver, the possibility to significantly reduce traffic accidents is exciting.? While the software needs to be monitored, and the cars themselves are never unmanned, it’s a huge leap forward in automotive technology.? The possibility of eliminating the human element in driving a car, making the road experience safer overall could trump all other safety devices, like air bags, and even seat belts.
Google fitted several Toyota Prius’s and an Audi TT with their latest technology.? And so far, the cars have driven a total of 140,000 miles on some of California’s major roads without a whole lot of human intervention.? In fact, seven of the company’s prototypes have driven 1,000 miles each without a human touching the controls at all.
Thrun’s blog even said the cars have navigated some of California’s most curvy and cliff side roads.
Google’s application of robotics for the self driving car could present a huge leap forward for the industry, which stands where the personal computer industry was 35 years ago – on the verge of an explosion in versatility and demand.
There has been no word on how Google intends to profit from this research, or how, when and if this technology will be made available to consumers.? While the technology could easily be marketed to the automotive industry, even optimists estimate its availability at least 8 years from now, and probably more.
Nokia Ipad Lawsuit
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IPad Coming to a WalMart Near You
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Skype for Android…Finally!
Android users running version 2.1 or higher can finally use Skype on their phones.? Skype announced the expansion of its Voice over Internet Protocol services (which just means they offer telephone services using the internet’s connectivity system) to Android users nearly worldwide.
In the U.S., Skype users can currently only make calls using an operating Wi-Fi connection.? Verizon’s Android customers have been enjoying the use of Skype over a closed 3G gateway for quite some time.? The new version doesn’t require users to be Verizon customers and makes true VoIP calls.? There wasn’t much word on when, or if, Skype will eventually allow users to utilize its services over any 3 or 4G network and what that would entail.
The free app allows users to take advantage of most of Skype’s features, including free Skype-to-Skype calls worldwide.? It also lets users call mobile phones or landlines for a small fee assessed by Skype.? The app may even help cut down on pricey texting fees by texting between users.? It will also synchronize the user’s contact list with their address book to show who’s available for calling or texting.? When an existing Skype user downloads the new app they will conveniently find their full contact list automatically transferred to their mobile device.
While users can’t take advantage of Skype’s video capabilities via their cell phones and mobile devices just yet, it does allow you to be able to communicate for free with other Skype users without a computer.
Skype is having some difficulty with the app for Samsung Galaxy S users, and said they’re working to fix the bugs.? The new app was tested on the HTC Android with version 2.1, and worked well on that device.
The Skype app is not yet available to Android users in Japan or China.
It’s rumored the next version of Skype will focus on Facebook connectivity and functionality, although nothing has been confirmed.? Android and Skype users will just have to wait and see.
Android users can get the new Skype app from the Android marketplace, on Skype.com.
Yahoo’s New Search Engine
Yahoo’s search engine just got a face lift.? In an attempt to separate itself from other engines, Yahoo updated its software in a big way, making room for new additions in the future.
As far as what the new engine already has, the news, entertainment and sports sections were directly affected with new multimedia boxes that give the user all kinds of interactive options on the left side of the screen.? The features offer a more user friendly and convenient organization of important information like images, articles and even tweets.? Users will also be able to buy things like movie tickets through the new multimedia boxes.
To investigate these features, I searched Nicholas Sparks and the left side of my screen was totally revamped.? At the top was a “Quick Links” feature that has a direct link to Netflix where I could find any Nicholas Sparks tear jerker I wanted. I was given the option to make notes as I went – convenient when comparing or compiling research.? It also gives you a few of the top sites like Wikepiedia, IMDB, etc.? Additionally, there’s a list of related searches.? Mine came up with James Patterson, Jodi Piccoult, The Last Song, etc.
The Web interface has also been enhanced for iPhone, Android and other wireless users.? A new “Trending Now” slide show provides users with brief information on the most popular topics at that moment.? Tweaks to the image search feature also provide results in a slideshow format which can be viewed from Flicker and public Facebook albums.
However, real-time may be the name of the game for the future of Yahoo’s new search engine.? Yahoo’s 10-year relationship with Microsoft will allow Yahoo to use Bing – Microsoft’s search and search advertising engine.? This frees up space and money – $425 million to be exact – for Yahoo to focus on the possibility of developing real-time searches, technology that sites like Twitter already has.
For example, a real-time option in the future would allow Yahoo users to search for a hurricane about to strike South Florida and find a map of all Twitter users in that area and read their first-hand account of what is happening.? Of course, this hypothetical situation assumes users have cell phone service and can update their tweets during and after the storm, but you get the idea.
So, hold on to your hats as Yahoo takes advantage of its new found space and funds.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Angry Birds is Coming to Android
Love your Android phone, but hate that your addiction to the game Angry Birds makes you harbor some resentment for it?? Well, worry no longer!? In just a few weeks Android users will have a full version of the application at their fingertips.? Angry Birds has been on the top of Apple’s paid applications list for a long time, and Android users have had to settle for a lite version that only has 15 levels.? Not for too much longer though!
The wildly popular app is a typical destroy the castle type of game.? The story behind the game is the pigs stole the bird’s eggs, and the birds are attempting to rescue them with your help.? You’re equipped with an angry bird and a sling shot.? There are six varieties of angry birds, each with special abilities, which can be acquired as you progress through the game.? The goal is to perfect your aim to get at the pigs inside the structure and cause the most destruction.? Points and stars are awarded for getting the job done using fewer birds or being overly destructive.? Visit youtube.com for a full trailer of the game.
With Android’s wide range of screen sizes, developers are finding programming difficult. That’s what they are pointing to as the reason for the delay.
Once finished, the app will be very similar to the iPhone version, but will not include the “mighty eagle” plug-in.? Not all devices support apps with in-app purchase options.
Future versions of the game may allow users to transfer game files between devices.? iPhone and iPad users have been bugging for this feature, however Android phones make sharing files and data much easier.? So, the feature may be available on the Android front sooner than iPhone and iPad.
For those who just can’t wait for the full version, get the lite version for free at the Android marketplace. The lite version runs as a beta, and developers are asking users to report any problems, so they can be repaired in the full version of the game.
Google Full Page Previews
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Skype for Android…Finally!
Android users running version 2.1 or higher can finally use Skype on their phones.? Skype announced the expansion of its Voice over Internet Protocol services (which just means they offer telephone services using the internet’s connectivity system) to Android users nearly worldwide.
In the U.S., Skype users can currently only make calls using an operating Wi-Fi connection.? Verizon’s Android customers have been enjoying the use of Skype over a closed 3G gateway for quite some time.? The new version doesn’t require users to be Verizon customers and makes true VoIP calls.? There wasn’t much word on when, or if, Skype will eventually allow users to utilize its services over any 3 or 4G network and what that would entail.
The free app allows users to take advantage of most of Skype’s features, including free Skype-to-Skype calls worldwide.? It also lets users call mobile phones or landlines for a small fee assessed by Skype.? The app may even help cut down on pricey texting fees by texting between users.? It will also synchronize the user’s contact list with their address book to show who’s available for calling or texting.? When an existing Skype user downloads the new app they will conveniently find their full contact list automatically transferred to their mobile device.
While users can’t take advantage of Skype’s video capabilities via their cell phones and mobile devices just yet, it does allow you to be able to communicate for free with other Skype users without a computer.
Skype is having some difficulty with the app for Samsung Galaxy S users, and said they’re working to fix the bugs.? The new app was tested on the HTC Android with version 2.1, and worked well on that device.
The Skype app is not yet available to Android users in Japan or China.
It’s rumored the next version of Skype will focus on Facebook connectivity and functionality, although nothing has been confirmed.? Android and Skype users will just have to wait and see.
Android users can get the new Skype app from the Android marketplace, on Skype.com.
What is the iPad’s Competition?
As with most Apple products, the introduction of the iPad left consumers digging into their wallets and competitors wanting in on the action.? So, who should Apple watch out for?
1.?????? HP Slate: This prototype device is said to be coming later this year.? One of the only tablets running Windows 7, it is capable of some gaming, and has multi touch capabilities.? Other than that, Microsoft isn’t saying much about it just yet.
2.?????? Dell Streak: This device is only about 5-inches and is going to have trouble sizing up its competition.? Details are fluid at best, including the fact that the Streak may not even be the products name upon release, whenever that may be.
3.?????? Compaq Tablet: This 7-inch device runs on a new processer NVIDIA announced at the latest Consumer Electronics Show called the Terga 2.? This technology allows the tablet to have excellent battery life while running 1080p videos.? This product ran the Android 2.0 operating system.? The release date for the Compal was unknown.
4.?????? Notion Ink Adam: This tablet, scheduled for release sometime this year, is also an Android tablet using the Terga 2.? However, it’s 10-inches wide and combines optimum touch screen quality with technology allowing use in direct sunlight.
5.?????? Samsung Galaxy Tab: This 7-inch device lands somewhere between the Streak and the iPad as far as size.? It should be available to the U.S. market sometime before year’s end.? While pricing is still not known, it comes with Android 2.2 and the option of 16GB or 32GB of memory.? It will also come with a video-chat capable camera and an impressive 7 hours of battery life.? This seems to be the most promising and realistic competitor for the iPad so far, and is generating a lot of buzz.
6.?????? Google: Google has long since had an intense rivalry with Apple, and currently a Google tablet device is mere rumor.? It’s assumed it would run on Google’s Android system and content is unknown.? However, techies across the board speculate the device would be excellent.
Come Christmas, the iPad may have to share the tablet market with 1 or 2 competitors that can genuinely keep up with it.
Verizon 4G Coming to a City Near You!
Verizon Wireless has announced that it’s making the fastest internet available to users in 38 cities.? Verizon users complained they couldn’t access data and talk on their mobile devices, so the company answered with a 4G network.
So, what’s the difference between 3G and 4G?? It all boils down to speed.? Most 3G networks range from 600-1,700 Kbps (kilobytes per second) download speed and 500-1,200 Kbps upload speed, depending on the carrier.? Verizon’s new 4G network claims it will be able to reach download speeds of 5-12 Mbps (megabytes per second) and upload speeds of 2-5 Mbps.
Verizon is targeting on the go business users who need an internet connection all the time.? But, with more and more people wanting to play games and stream videos online with their smart phone, the demand for a faster mobile internet is rising.
To ease the transition, the new 4G phones will also be 3G compatible.
Using technology called Long-Term Evolution, or LTE, the new network claims to be 10 times faster than the current 3G one most smart phones use.
According to www.ajc.com, Tony Melone – Verizon’s chief technology officer – said the migration to the new network is like adding lanes to a highway.
“The more capacity we give [people], the higher the speeds, the lower the latency, the more things that they do in a wired environment they can do in an unwired environment,” he said.
So, in an environment that’s always trying to move faster, what does that mean for the everyday smart phone user?? Potentially instant video downloads, online gaming capabilities, and instant access to news statistics while simultaneously video chatting on your phone.
One question Verizon has yet to answer is what the fees for this service will be.? Should calls make the transition to Skype type internet only technology, will your phone bill only consist of data fees?? Time will tell.
Sprint has had a 4G network for quite some time, but it is incompatible with LTE.? AT&T and T-Mobile are waiting for the technology to work out some of its kinks, and are expected to release 4G phones later this year or early next year.
Weekly LAB Twitterings 2010-10-22
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Neworld: Facebook Spam, Blogging Tips, Google Realtime, Facebook Places ResourcesNeworld: Facebook Places, Pages, Streetview & When to PostReaders! Here’s a load of new articles written by me…2010: The Year Video Marketing Kicked it up a NotchNeworld: Facebook Credits, Google Instant, Priority Inbox & Calls, 16 Blogging Tips, Ping & Why Social Media FailsSunday, October 3, 2010
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Tracking Online and Offline Marketing Campaigns with Google Analytics
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Use the generated link URL in your email (ex. “Visit the Store” button”)
Use the generated link URL in your banner (ex. “Shop Now” button”)
Shorten the generated link URL using any URL shortening tools (I usually use bit.ly)
Tweet about your promotion using the tiny URL
Use the tagged URL for the “Destination URL” field
Add the following code to the header of landing page before the Google Analytics tracking code
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Although every day is a mother’s day, here in the US we dedicate one day especially for her to show our appreciation and thankfulness.? Mother’s Day is just around the corner. As a marketer or a business owner you are getting ready, like all retailers, to kick-off your Mother’s Day campaigns. Last year’s campaign did ok. You didn’t get fired , but you didn’t get a promotion either! 
You are a much smarter marketer now and you want to better track your initiatives, assess what channel is performing and fix what is not performing. You are planning all sorts of marketing activities: offline: TV and newspaper ads; online: paid Search, email, banners, social media, and others.
You have your messaging, promotions, copy, creative, and landing pages all ready, and soon you will go live and you have a week to figure out this “tracking, measurement and analytics” business!
No worries! Google Analytics and this post have come to the rescue!!
In this post I will walk you through a process of how to plan and implement a comprehensive external campaign tracking.
You have Google Analytics implemented on your siteYou have a basic familiarity with URL taggingLast but not least this post also assumes that you are ready and willing to be proactive and you do care about analytics and campaign ROI As you know, the sole purpose of tagging is to differentiate between the different ads and campaigns you are running, so it is very important to agree on the structure and the naming convention as a first step. Here is an example:
As you can see from the chart above, we are running different online and offline ads for our Mother’s Day campaign. In the next section, we are going to tag all these ad’s links with the campaign variables using the URL Builder tool provided by Google.
Email campaigns are one of the most effective ways of attracting visitors to your site especially existing clients. If we don’t tag the emails links with the right campaign tags, visits from emails will be attributed as referral or direct traffic.
How do we tag email links?
Use the URL Builder to create tagged linksEnter the following variables into the URL builder:Use the generated link URL in your email (ex. “Visit the Store” button”)
We will follow the same tagging steps that we used for email campaign to tag our banner campaign:
Use the URL Builder to create tagged linksEnter the following variables into the URL builder:Use the generated link URL in your banner (ex. “Shop Now” button”)
Social media today is reshaping the online marketing landscape. People are using YouTube, Facebook, Flicker, and Twitter for more than just personal updates and video/picture exchange. There is a huge amount of promotion and branding taking place in these sites and our job in this post is to measure the success of these marketing efforts.
Let’s use Twitter for our Mother’s Day campaign and make sure we tag all links to our site with the proper campaign variables.
Use the URL Builder to create tagged linksEnter the following variables into the URL builder:Shorten the generated link URL using any URL shortening tools (I usually use bit.ly)
Tweet about your promotion using the tiny URLThanks God that Google AdWords and Google Analytics are cousins and integrate very well together! Google AdWords has a nice feature called auto-tagging which makes it easy for us to see AdWords campaign information in our Google Analytics reports without any manually tagging.
To learn more about auto-tagging visit this help topic.
Sign in to your AdWords accountClick on My account tab and select Account preferencesUnder Tracking section, click EditCheck the Destination URL Auto-tagging checkboxClick “Save changes”Unlike AdWords, to track Yahoo paid traffic we need to manually tag the destination URL with the campaign variables.
Tag your yahoo ad link using the following variables:Use the tagged URL for the “Destination URL” field
Similar to what we did with Yahoo ads, but with the following variables:
Website URL: http://www.store.com/Campaign Source: bingCampaign Medium: cpcCampaign Term: {QueryString}Campaign Name: Mother’s Day 2010
When we talk about tracking campaigns, it is not enough to focus only on online campaigns. We have to include the offline campaigns in our reports for complete analysis. In this section, I will share with you one method of tracking your offline campaigns in Google Analytics in 2 simple steps:
How to tag all visitors to www.store.com/mother with the campaign variables?
We will assume that all visitors to the unique landing page [www.store.com/mother] are coming from a specific offline campaign let say the USA Today newspaper. When the USA Today visitors request the promotion URL and before we fire the Google Analytics code, we will refresh the landing page using meta-refresh tag, which update the URL with the campaign UTMs. When The Google Analytics code gets executed after the page refresh, it will see the URL with the campaign UTMs attached to it and will attribute the visit as desired.
Go to the URL BuilderEnter the following variables into the URL builder:Add the following code to the header of landing page before the Google Analytics tracking code
Now as we had all tags in place, it is time for deep dive analysis into the “Mother’s Day 2010″ campaign. I suggest that you isolate the campaigns’ visits by using advanced custom segment and look at this unique segment across reports.
Sign in to your Google Analytics accountAdvanced Segments > Create a new advanced segmentAdd the following dimensions:Now, you are ready to conduct analysis based on the customized segment. You can look at the traffic sources report and see how many people purchased and from which medium:
From the first look at the ecommerce numbers above, we can confirm that:
The TV campaign has the highest conversion rateThe newspaper campaign was not as effective as other campaignsSocial media has the highest ROI (Return on Investment)Click on the dropdown menu below for more marketing campaign tagging examples.
If you like this exercise and you were able to extract some valuable insights for your business, apply the same concept for the upcoming Father’s Day, which is on June 20th here in the US and do a comparison between the users’ purchasing behavior in these two very special occasions.
Share your findings and happy analyzing and drop us a comment below!
For advanced users and those interested in multi-channel attribution, you can make use of the the Multiple Custom Variables (MCV) feature in Google AnalyticsIf you are running social media and online viral marketing activities and?you are active in blogging, on Twitter and Facebook, you should include “off-site”?measurements in your overall campaign?analysis. In addition, be sure to dedicate resources to listen and participate in the social conversations around your brand, products and campaigns
Tags: campaign analytics, campaign tracking, google analytics, msn adcenter, offline tagging, pay per click, search engine marketing, social media, web analytics, yahoo search marketing
This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 21st, 2010 at 5:04 PM and is filed under web analytics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.The Battle for the #1 Mobile Web Browser – Apple vs. Google
Forget IE and Firefox, the tech world is focusing on the latest web browser showdown heating up between Apple and Google. Both companies will be able to show off their new mobile operating systems with the release of two very sought after smart phones this month. Apple’s Steve Jobs announced they will release their updated version of the iPhone with the new iOS 4 mobile operating system. And what better way to show off the Google’s updated Android 2.2 operating system than including it in the new HTC Evo available with Sprint service. It is the first 4G phone in the U.S.
Why are mobile web browsers becoming an important focus when it comes to technology? Mobile web browsing is increasingly growing in popularity. For some of us, mobile internet is a basic necessity that cannot be compromised.? The proof that mobile web browsing is growing is the surging advertising market with everything from rapid increase in application development to mobile sponsored ads. Currently, there are 200,000 applications available in the Apple App Store and 50,000 available in the Android Market.
Both companies, Apple and Google, are fighting for the top spot in mobile web browsing. What makes these two particular mobile web browsers iOS 4 and the Android 2.2 so great? The web browsing capabilities of these two browsers are impressive. ??They both connect to the internet seamlessly with the look and feel of a browser viewable from your laptop or desktop.? With other phones, this is hard to accomplish. Even with a Blackberry or a phone that runs Mobile Opera. While the internet is still accessible to these other competitors, nothing is able to beat the viewing capability of the iOS and Android operating systems.
How do these two operating systems match up? One of the advantages the Android operating system had over the iPhone was its ability to run multiple apps and other multitasking features. Apple made it a point to include multitasking capability in their new iPhone 4. Apple has many more applications available in its store than the Android does ; however, this will likely equal out in the future since the iPhone had a significant head start in front of the Android phones. Also what gives the iPhone a head start is its media and music synching capabilities. Android can play MP3’s but for media the iPhone is more attractive. For documents and email, Android 2.2 syncs nicely with your Gmail account, calendar, and documents.
Keeping with Apple’s exclusivity the iOS 4 is only available on the new iPhone. Android operating systems are available on a variety of phones like HTCs, Samsungs, and Motorolas. Apple is able to sell an impressive number of beautifully designed products while still keeping them exclusive and sought after. Does that make sense? Google has taken on Microsoft’s approach by making Android mobile operating systems available in a series of smart phones.
Country Life Game On FaceBook
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Hacked FaceBook Photos
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Saturday, October 2, 2010
Neworld: Facebook Credits, Google Instant, Priority Inbox & Calls, 16 Blogging Tips, Ping & Why Social Media Fails
FacebookNeworld: Facebook Credits, Google Instant, Priority Inbox & Calls, 16 Blogging Tips, Ping & Why Social Media Fails
As you know I post three to four articles a week at the Neworld Associates blog, specifically about social media and online marketing. At the end of most weeks I like to give a quick recap of what I have been writing over there. You may just think it’s worth checking out!
In the last 2 weeks my posts have included;
1. Facebook: You Can Check In But Never Leave
A look at some of the changes that are taking place with Facebook. Not only are they bringing in a subscribe option to follow (or stalk) people, but also a social bar and Facebook credits which could impact everything from Paypal to credit cards and even Ireland – as payments outside the US and Canada will be processed through their Dublin headquarters. Which could mean more jobs.
2. Google Instant: Faster Than The Speed of Type
Google Instant is revolutionary or so say its makers Google. I give a quick overview of the service. Having tried it last night for a few minutes I have to say its ok. Might take a bit of getting used to, but I actually thought it was slower!
3. 16 Tips for Starting a Business Blog Part 2
Thinking of starting a business blog? Then look no further, this was the second part of my 16 blogging tips on how to get a blog off the ground and stop yourself from going crazy trying to get traffic and content!
4. Why Social Media Projects Fail
Yep some social media projects fail and some of the fail for unbelievably stupid reasons. This includes slides of a study carried out amongst 563 European marketers. If you are involved in social and any of these have happened to you, for shame!
5. Ping: Apples new Social Network
Ping – its the Facebook Killer, no I mean Twitter Killer, nope Myspace killer, yep Myspace and last.fm and Spotify killer. Its going on a brutal murdering spree, mutilating the still warm corpses of these rival social networks. Or not. One or the other. I’m hedgeing my bets.
6. Gmail Priority Inbox & Gmail Calls
Two pretty nifty services from Google, one that prioritises your email by removing alerts and your subscriptions and dumping them in another ‘inbox’. It could so easily become another spam box also. This has implications for email marketing so worth investigating. Gmail calls – make calls from right in Gmail. Not available here yet, but would make a nice addition to maybe say some search engine giants new social network that is being launched later this year.
Subscribe to this blog by RSS or Email, or leave a comment belowRelated posts:
Neworld: Facebook Spam, Blogging Tips, Google Realtime, Facebook Places ResourcesNeworld: Facebook Places, Pages, Streetview & When to Post5 Local Businesses Rocking Facebook (& Social Media)15 Facebook for Business TipsVT: Nike, Ask Social Media, Pepsi, Apple, Google, DiggSocial Media Marketing
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Google Analytics Training @ SMX East in New York – October 7, 2010
The digital marketing space is constantly evolving and for those of us in the web analytics industry, staying up-to-date and relevant is a challenge (for some of us analytics geeks, this is the only thing that keeps us going! ) But your job doesn’t end here- you are still expected to generate more revenue, reduce costs and improve the return on investment for your marketing campaigns, all in a ‘New York minute’ .
You know analytics will do the trick, but where and how can you get the proper training? Easy. Come and learn the tools of the trade at a full day hands-on Google Analytics training.
If you’re convinced and ready to register, do so before October 3. Feel free to use this code for a $100 dollar discount: smx100gaw (case sensitive). You can register here and enter the promo code or just click on this URL. But if you’re holding out and still need a bit more convincing, check out some (uncensored ) testimonials from previous training attendees.
The training will cover some basics, but will focus on much needed, yet underutilized, best practices. We will also explore various advanced topics and leave a lot of time for Q&A. You’ll be prepared for morning’s work with specific action items to implement on your own site (or your clients’ sites).
So whether you’re a marketing manager, a technical webmaster, or a consultant, and whether you’re working for a start-up or a Fortune 500, this workshop will help you leverage Google Analytics to the fullest.
Web Analytics Strategy – approach, opportunities and limitationsHow It Works – overview, accuracy and privacy implications, integrating with other dataPractical – understanding the user interfaceAdvanced Features Overview – clever stuff you can do with Google AnalyticsAccounts & Profiles, Filters & Goals – structure your data properlyExternal Campaign Tracking – measure performance of search, email, banner campaignsReporting – dashboards & insightsAdvanced Segmentation & Custom Reports – powerful ways to find insights“I wanted to thank you for the great work you’ve done in helping Blue Shield set up Google Analytics and taking us through the process of understanding the User Interface. We are enjoying the training sessions and the entire team feels very confident in your expertise. Thank you!”
-T. S., Online Member Acquisition, Blue Shield of California
“I think Feras did a really good job presenting to an audience that had a wide range of Google Analytics experience. Glad I stayed the extra day to attend.”
-C. S., Search Engine Marketing Expo
So why wait any more! Register today and don’t forget to use this promo code for $100 discount: smx100gaw (case sensitive) or simply use this URL.
If you have any questions about the Google Analytics training, don’t hesitate to email or call. For latest updates on the workshop and other (mainly) analytics tips, follow me on twitter. And above all stay in touch!
Technorati Tags: google analytics, smx east, training, web analytics, workshopTags: google analytics, smx east, training, web analytics, workshop
This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 14th, 2010 at 7:16 AM and is filed under general. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.Analytics Works in Both Politics and in the Private Sector
I’m at the Googleplex this week participating in a summit. One of the keynotes is Dan Siroker, Former Director of Analytics for the Obama Presidential Campaign and is currently co-founder of CarrotSticks, a website aiming to improve math skills in kids.
Yes the election is over and this might sound like an out of the date post, but actually the message here is that Dan went on to found a start-up with the knowledge and expertise he gained from the Obama campaign. What he accomplished and learned in the political campaign is very applicable to the private sector and hopefully we can all learn a thing or two.
Some interesting facts about Obama is he out-performed McCain in the “new media” category significantly, in terms of Facebook friends, YouTube views, and website unique visitors, as well as the very important aspect of fund raising. The money raised for Obama was $656 million versus $201 millionfor McCain (not counting the Federal funds). Out of the $656 million, a staggering $500 million was raised online.
Define success and also define quantifiable success measures.Metrics, like cost per click, email sign up rate, and revenue per email recipient. In Dan’s startup, he is now measuring: cost per click, cost per playing user (free account), revenue per paying user (paid account). So when the revenue per paying user exceeds the cost per playing user, they make money! Question assumptions.Testing is king, A/B and multivariate testing both play a key role in deciding what call to action, what creative, and other aspects work best!Divide and conquer.Segment users, for example, those that never signed up, those signed up but never donated, and those that previously donated.Don’t reinvent the wheel.Use available and free tools like Google Apps, Google Websize Optimizer, and Google Analytics.Take advanatage of circumstances.Whether it is internal to your business or something external (economy, competitiion, etc), give your visitors current and relevant content.Technorati Tags: google adwords, google analytics, google website optimizer, web analyticsTags: google adwords, google analytics, google website optimizer, web analytics
This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 13th, 2009 at 11:33 AM and is filed under web analytics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.iPad Backgrounds
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Senior Social Networking
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Friday, October 1, 2010
New Google Analytics Features: Annotations, Additional Advanced Segementation Options, API & More
For those of us who started implementing and benefiting from the recently announced Google Analytics features, more is coming your way, and the Google Analytics team is calling it the “holiday bonus”!
Today our dear friend Phil Mui, Google Analytics’ Senior Product Manager, announced at SES Chicago, new and advanced features in Google Analytics. We will have specific posts with detailed examples and case studies in the future, but for now here is a quick summary of these cool new features:
I would say, a very very long-awaited for feature. You can now quickly add your own notes within the Google Analytics user interface!!! Say you see a spike in traffic in last week’s reports and you know exactly what caused it (e.g. a recent email campaign that worked well). Now, you can add use Annotations to add a comment about this email campaign, so few weeks down the road you’ll have a reference of what happened and you won’t be searching all over your email, notes, and asking your colleagues (and maybe pulling your hair as well ) to help explained the traffic spike. Other scenarios where annotations can be very helpful:
)External campaign not tagged properly causing data from one source to show in another sourceIntroduction of new design/landing pagesSite related issues causing data collection problems and inaccuraciesAs you can see the relevant marketing campaign and site information will be right there next to your Google Analytics reports “bringing more Intelligence to data” as Phil said in his post. Very very useful and time saving feature, give it a try and start using it! Also, you have two options in Annotations, you can have the comment private or shared with others.
Here is an example of using Annotations to comment on a spike in traffic generated by a blog post.
You can now create custom reports and use advanced segmentation to leverage the power of the new Multiple Custom Variables functionality. Slice your data and reports based on the visitor, session, or page level custom variables you have created and get the insights and actionability you that will make you a hero!
For those of us that are less technical savvy, this Google Analytics Tracking Code (GATC) Wizard will be our best friend . You don’t have to manually construct the GATC code for sub-domains, multiple domains, cross-domains, mobile, etc; the wizard will help you get the code in a packaged and ready to use form.
For the GA ninjas, you also have a reference on How to Structure your Google Analytics Account.
More details to come out later this week, but get ready for more capabilities in the GA API, namely support for Advanced Segmentation.
Whoa, it sometimes feel like it’s a challenge to keep us with all these new features, but it’s worth every bit of effort. Roll up your sleeves and give these features a try, and start improving your site and your marketing campaign performance.
Comments or thoughts about these new features?
Technorati Tags: google analytics, web analyticsTags: google analytics, web analytics
This entry was posted on Monday, December 7th, 2009 at 11:01 AM and is filed under web analytics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.8 Content Marketing Lessons from 80′s TV Shows
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Advertising8 Content Marketing Lessons from 80′s TV Shows
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Advertising8 Content Marketing Lessons from 80′s TV Shows
What phrase do you prefer? The ‘content is king’ or the ‘marketing its all about the content now’? Content is king sounds nice and grandiose, a brash and bold statement that justifies all this ‘content’ creation. I don’t disagree with either of those statements (I’m sure I have used both countless times) and will continue to do so (maybe less of the ‘king’) but the truth is that marketing has always been about the content. Marketing and content have always been linked way before social media, even before the internet and tv, radio, you could even go back 100 years or much much more.
Think about it. No one has ever sat down to watch television for the adverts, no one buys a daily paper for the adverts, no one switches on the radio a few minutes before each hour to catch the adverts. Nope. People sit down and tune in for the content. Due to technology and costs the easiest way for marketing to work was to slot in between other peoples content and catch people as they waited for the ‘content’ to return.
If anything there has always been a?dependence?on marketing by content in order to pay the costs of the content. While marketing depended on content in order to communicate the message.
What technology has done is it’s facilitated a shift in who the content provider is, basically cutting out the middle man and allowing the brand to become the writer, broadcaster and publisher rolled into one. The audiences are still there at home consuming media – all provided by someone. So what lessons can we learn from traditional media, and, for the purpose of this post, 80′s TV shows, for our new age digital content marketing strategies?
1. Bad TV Shows Never Worked
Bad TV shows had poor audience figures. For good reason, they were dire, lame ideas, or re-hashed content that was packaged in some format the TV station hoped the audience would consume. ‘Manimal’ anyone?Similarly bad marketing content in this age of content is king, will not gain traction. It will pull in the equivalent of a ‘bad audience’ and the communication will be ignored by most of the desired audience. It almost begs the question why bother?
2. But Bad TV Shows Were Cheaper To Advertise During
Yes, because they attracted lower audiences. Bad content, in terms of digital marketing, often has less resources invested in them in terms of time, planning ?and creativity. Facebook might be free but there’s tonnes of poorly used pages out there that could be doing a lot more – if the necessary resources were applied.
3. Good TV Shows Always Surprise and Delight the Viewer
Good TV shows always managed to surprise audiences. Something amazing on the TV the night before and people would talk about it the next day. Water cooler moments they were called. Those who hadn’t seen the episode would hope that maybe someone recorded it onto VHS so they could watch it. Think about it – who shot JR? OMG Bobby just got out of the shower? To get people talking about the good content they needed it to be a surprise, pleasant or shocking, but different. In todays terms if it has that surprise and delight factor it might get linked to on Facebook.
4. Good TV Shows Didn’t Always Get Big Audiences
When you first met Lieutenant Frank Drebin was he in the flop show Police Squad, or the hit Naked Gun films that came long after the TV show? This still happens today, does anyone remember Arrested Development or The Wire? All great shows that never had huge audiences until many years later when eventually a friend of a friend made you watch it. It took years for these shows to achieve ‘cult’ status because of the friend of a friend. Lesson here for content marketers is to make sure you’re distributing your content in as many ways as possible, who knows where the ‘friend of a friend’ hangs out online.
5. Viral Marketing ‘Seeding’ has Always Been Around
By seeding, I mean getting the content into as many available points from which the audience can either hear about it or see it for themselves, and hopefully spread the ‘word’. This hasn’t arrived with the advent of Web 2.0. It’s always been here. Do you remember that Gold Blend ad from the late 80’s with Anthony Head. There’s a compilation of the ad’s just below. As an aside, I’m looking at the stats for the 20+ year old set of ads. Believe it or not they have clocked up almost 78,000 views in the last 2 years. I’m sure there’s plenty of new ‘virals’ that wish they were just that ‘viral’.
I remember reading about that the final part of their ongoing ‘will they, won’t they’ saga in a newspaper, how it was going to be broadcast that night and how ‘the nation’ would gather round the tv set for it. Yep, I thought that day the world had literally run out of news and was now reporting on adverts. But no it was some clever PR dude looking to get greater exposure for the advert and in turn get as many eyeballs in front of the set at 9.10pm or whenever. It worked.
Last weekend on the X-Factor the two girls who had been friends until their audition fight, and haven’t spoken since finally made their appearance. I say finally because Sky News were talking about this two weeks ago and gave the impression that it was going to be on weeks back. Nope that was to build anticipation and interest in the actual broadcast of the fight. Which it did, even a friend of mine who doesn’t watch X factor knew it was on last Saturday night. Its such a popular clip that typing ‘X Faxtor’ into Youtube right now will bring this 5 day old clip up as the first search result. Subo’s they aint.
Its got 4.3 million views so far. Now I’m not comparing the two but by seeding content in offline and online ways (I’m sure that Sky News weren’t the only media outlet talking about this before it happened), is going to increase the probability of more people seeing it. The more people that see it, perhaps the more people that will spread the content and it may just go ‘viral’. You may not have access to Sky News but I’m sure you have plenty of other possible options to get word out about your marketing efforts.
6. Great TV Shows Have a Longer Life Span
Great content always had a longer life span. Not only are the stats impressive enough for the Gold Blend adverts from the 80’s, above, but how much of current television output is made up from decent enough older TV shows? I still watch plenty of old shows like Cheer’s, Seinfeld, and every five years I dig out Larry Sanders and watch them back to back. Great content lives on in the minds of the audience because it will always be great. Examples like these and even these will be remembered for a long time to come.
7. Copying Another TV Show, No Matter How Great, Doesn’t Work
A TV station has had a big hit. It’s now time for all the other TV stations to try and have a similar hit. So they take a formula and tweak it enough to be slightly different, but its never as good. Can anyone remember Airwolf or Blue Thunder? Knight Rider or Street Hawk? Did every TV show in the 80’s revolve around solving crime? Even so, how many digital marketing campaigns are just ‘tweaks’ of others hoping to grasp some of their glory, but failing to understand the originality of it all?
8 . Great Ratings + Big Audiences = Best ROI?
When I was a kid the Late Late Show was the highest rating show in Ireland. It may still be, albeit with a smaller audience. In the late 80’s it would pull in well over 1 million people every Friday night out of a population of 3.5 million. It cost big money to advertise on, but how else could you get to such a high percentage of the population in one 30 second slot? Today, Facebook is logged into by 1.73 million people in Ireland an incredibly high number of people for such a small island. Brands, companies and organisations are heading to the social network in their droves because the statistics say it has the highest audience. And what do ya know, it’s free to get a profile on Facebook. What a bargain! Except to be successful on FB requires resources, time, ideas and a certain amount of financial investment also. But is that the best use of your resources to reach your audience? I mean my family never watched the Late Late, and maybe your audience don’t use Facebook? Maybe they watch other shows and can be reached using far less resources but?achieving?better results. Just because it’s the most watched in the land doesn’t mean ‘everybody’ is actually watching it.
But it would seem there’s many parallels that can be taken from traditional advertising into digital marketing strategies. Many of the lessons remain the same, its just the source, context and technology have changed.
Do you think there’s any other lessons that can be learned?
Subscribe to this blog by RSS or Email, or leave a comment belowRelated posts:
18 Blogging LessonsThe Marketing of Breaking BadNeworld: Facebook Spam, Blogging Tips, Google Realtime, Facebook Places ResourcesTV’s Dexter: 8 Great Marketing Moments15 IKEA Marketing Examples Problems with the Bounce Rate in the Top Content Report
A lot of time, the issue is not reporting nor analysis but it is making sure:
Data is accurate (or as accurate as it can get )What we think we are analyzing is truly what we are analyzingIf you think one of your most important pages has a 100% bounce rate, you might panic (and rightfully so) and gather all your resident experts to figure out what is going on. Imagine, after hours or days of analysis and review you find out that all of your bounces come from a statistically insignificant number (in our example, 3) of pageviews! Most of us would not bother to investigate further and try not make the same false misperception again.
Let’s explore this issue in more detail.
Question: How does my e-commerce thank you page, which is not a landing page, have 100% bounce rate in the Top Content report in Google Analytics?
Answer: You are in the wrong report, my friend!Let us start with the definition of Bounce rate:
“Bounce rate is the percentage of single-page visits in which the person left your site from the entrance (landing) page,” by Google Analytics.“Single page view visits divided by entry pages,” by the Web Analytics Association.
So bounce rate is a metric for only landing pages and not for all pages. Reading the bounce rate for pages that are not entrance pages will lead to misperceptions, incorrect conclusions, and wrong actions.
What is the issue?
The issue starts when we try to make sense out of the bounce rate column in the content performance report. This report contains all pages visited in your site, including entry pages and non entry pages.
So let’s say we want to study and analyze the performance of the ‘confirmation.htm’ page and we started with the top content report.
When we look at the bounce rate on the content performance report, it is quite misleading since the 100% bounce rate is only applied to visits when this page was a landing page. One might ask, if this page is not a landing page and you have to go through a few steps before you reach it, where did these three visits in our above example come from?
There are a few scenarios where a non-landing page could be tracked in Google Analytics as an entry page (landing page). These scenarios include but are not limited to:
The thank you page was bookmarked by the visitor for future reference.The visitor hit the refresh button on the non-landing page window after 30 minutes of no activity.A direct visit to the non-landing page by developers/site owner. Excluding the internal traffic will solve this one.If we look at the “Landing Pages” report, we can see these leaked pages and their bounce rate; 3 single pageview visits out of 3 entry pages leads to a 100% bounce rate.
Suggestions for web analysts:
I advice my dear analyst friends to not look at the bounce rate column in the “Top Content” report for non-landing pages. If you insist then I suggest excluding bounce visits with an Advanced Segment.
Now you have clean and accurate data
Suggestions for Google:
I suggest to the Google Analytics developers to remove the bounce rate column from the top content report all together. Or at least make it possible to remove the column from the display.
From now until the next blog post, I wish you a happy April and an enjoyable month of analysis.
Tags: google analytics, web analytics
This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 14th, 2009 at 12:06 PM and is filed under web analytics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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