By: ZHOcial

ZHOcial is a social media management and marketing brand. Focusing on providing clients with an authentic, strategic, high impact social media presence they are committed to fast friendly service at a great price!

Few things make for a hotter social media discussion than Pinterest. Experts keep telling us that it’s time to get on board. Surpassing 10 million users it’s growth has been impressive. Just how big can it get?

So should you get on board? Maybe. Pinterest is currently very good for home decor, crafts and food. If you are in any of these businesses then now is the time to move. It’s possible the Pinterest-verse could latch onto your product. The beauty of Pinterest is that it’s the ultimate in viral sharing. What a user “pins” shows up on others newsfeeds. Have a great image of your product and its possible it could get re-pinned over and over again, going viral.

So, if you are in the food, art/design, home decor or craft business jump on board, if not then take some time to consider how you might visually present your product on Pinterest in an interesting enough way to get people to share the image with their friends.

By: ZHOcial

ZHOcial is a social media management and marketing brand. Focusing on providing clients with an authentic, strategic, high impact social media presence they are committed to fast friendly service at a great price!

Yes, it’s true, 800 Billion folks have signed up for Facebook, Twitter add’s 500,000 users a day and You Tube has about 500 million unique visitors a month but not EVERYONE is using social media, especially the one’s who should be using it.

How many businesses can you think of that either don’t have a Facebook page or Twitter handle? Perhaps you can’t think of many off the top of your head but a search of the places you shop would probably reveal more than you would expect. Even worse is when you look at these places many of the ones that do have a social media presence aren’t using it. Do a quick check and you will find that many of them have a last post date of something like 6 months ago. 

Now imagine you’re an angry customer who posts something on the wall of one of these un-managed Facebook pages. That’s a lot of power for one angry customer but it’s the reality social media presents us with. If you’re a business thinking that you just won’t have a Facebook wall to avoid this situation you’re missing the point. Besides appearing to be “behind the time’s” you’re missing a valuable opportunity to respond to customer concerns, improve your businesses marketing presence and be part of the larger community. Not to mention that the customer can just lambaste you on their personal wall or via Twitter without you ever knowing it if you’re not conducting some type of ongoing monitoring.

As an example I recently spoke with a roofing company about their Social Media presence. Their presence hadn’t been updated since the fall and a quick scan using Social Mention revealed a statement from an angry customer advising that no one use them because of their extremely poor service. At the time the post had been up a week. Hard to measure it’s impact but for a company spending thousands of dollars a month on marketing it’s certainly a misstep.

Please do not ignore your social media! Check it and use tools for scanning social media platforms like Social Mention to address customer concerns and thank those that are giving you positive reviews.

Let ZHOcial monitor & manage your presence

Image: Danilo Rizzuti / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

By: ZHOcial

ZHOcial is a social media management and marketing service. Focusing on providing clients with an authentic, strategic, high impact social media presence we are committed to fast friendly service at a great price!

The answer seems to be that they aren’t utilizing it as well as they should be.

Thanks to Dream Systems Media and AdAge.com we have this handy infographic to help us visualize some of these ideas.

A few of the troubling statistics:

1. 30% of Organizations using social media aren’t tracking it’s impact.

2. 95% of users wallposts about brands are not answered by the brand!!

3. 56% of users said they were more likely to recommend a brand to a friend after liking it on Facebook.

4. 57% of users like a brand or organization of Facebook expecting a discount for it.

So what is the message? Use social media, track its impact on your organization, monitor for brand mentions and respond as appropriate and encourage people to like your brand or organization with incentives like discounts because they’ll be more likely to recommend your organization or product to a friend!

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By: ZHOcial

ZHOcial is a social media management and marketing brand. Focusing on providing clients with an authentic, strategic, high impact social media presence they are committed to fast friendly service at a great price!

In a previous post we talked about how the war for the web is over. Perhaps that could be more accurately stated that the monopoly that Google has on content and that Microsoft has on operating systems is over.

To expand on that a bit the reason for this has to do with the peaking of index search for content, the rise of social media and apps in providing content and the explosion of non-windows based operating systems on mobile phones. Prior to HTML 5 and the explosion of social media Google had a virtual monopoly on content. If you wanted content you searched Google for it. Branding was virtually eliminated from the content search. What mattered was “page rank”,  not brand.

While index search isn’t going to go away there are those that believe it has peaked. This peak is due to the fact that people are increasingly consuming and finding content via a mobile device and people consume content on mobile devices from apps, not search. The data shows that people do just  1% as many index searches on a mobile device as they do on a desktop.

In this great video Roger McNamee explains how the hypernet is changing the architecture of the web in just this way.

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By: ZHOcial

ZHOcial is a social media management and marketing brand. Focusing on providing clients with an authentic, strategic, high impact social media presence they are committed to fast friendly service at a great price!

Facebook is the most visited site in the world with 800 million users. It is expected to grow to over 1 billion users by August. Now Facebook has launched its latest attack on its competition with the introduction of 80 apps designed for its new timeline feature. 

Impressive statistics but the truth is a lot more impressive. The truth that will become increasingly obvious during the next three years is that the social media battle ended in 2011. Facebook won. Facebook is on its way to becoming so ubiquitous that it will not only come to dominate the internet but will come to dominate the manner in which we live our lives.

Facebook’s top two competitors are Microsoft and Google. While both may survive it doesn’t appear they’ll long be able to compete on the same playing field as Facebook. Sure, both are going to go out kicking and screaming but the battle is effectively over. Like a chess master who can see check-mate 10 moves from now and knows the game is over. It’s inevitable, it’s just that not everyone see’s it…yet.

Google’s launch of Google Plus and social search are the kicking and screaming of an angry giant trying to figure a way out of this situation. The trouble for Google is that search is dying. Search is about content and people are going to go where the best content is. With innovations like apps Facebook is hoarding content, and not just any content. They are hoarding trusted content, content that your friends and acquaintances generate, not type of content trash that is pages deep on a traditional search. Googles algorithms have attempted to stay ahead of the curve but even they have recognized we’re looking for content that we can trust, which is why they’ve launched social search.

Secondly, the move toward mobile applications means that people are increasingly going to get their content via apps, not search. Google’s last great hope is Google plus. Yes, it is growing quickly but in reality when it comes to social Facebook has a seemingly insurmountable lead. Furthermore, Google can’t search and index Facebook, at least effectively. That’s a lot of content which Google is essentially blind to. The introduction, and eventual domination of apps add’s another element invisible to Google’s search. It could be that Google simply becomes obsolete due to an inability to index the content people are searching for on Facebook. Sure, the decline and fall of Google is a fairly bold prediction, but not one without some substantial supporting premises which are hard to dismiss.

Windows is dead. The decline of the desktop means the decline of the Windows monster. Tablets, smartphones and eventually a hypernet connecting everything will render a desktop based operating system obsolete for many. Beyond the usage decline of the desktop the cloud might be the death blow for operating system revenue. The cloud means you probably won’t run much software from your desktop by 2020. Why would you? It’s expensive, requires support, and becomes outdated.

Lastly, with Facebook integrating so much into their own platform will you ever need to leave your Facebook homepage? The day will come when you turn on your computer, log into Facebook and interact with all kinds of apps and content not even generated by Facebook and you never leave your Facebook page. Facebook will be your operating system, your search engine, your software, your entertainment, your e-mail and your social life. Think how this will impact web traffic. A businesses Facebook app or Facebook page means that people don’t really have to visit a website outside of Facebook. They can get third party content, interact with third party applications and search for third party information right on Facebook. With apps you now literally get content “INSIDE FACEBOOK”.

Why go to their website? Just stay on Facebook.

Sure, third party sites and apps create content but that content will be integrated via apps into Facebook. Theoretically searching the web won’t be nearly as helpful as searching Facebook since a Facebook search will yield content which Google is blind to and which has been approved and shared by your friends.

So will individuals and organizations fight this? No way. Go where the customers are is tried and true business advice. If your customers are on Facebook then you’re going to design stuff for Facebook. People and organizations are going to get on Facebook and stay on Facebook.

Should this scenario play out it doesn’t mean the end of other social networks. It only means that those social networks will likely survive as applications within Facebook, Pinterest being one example.

So what does Facebook have to say? Zuckerburg thinks he’s building heaven. “There is an old saying that says when you go to heaven, all of your friends are there and everything is just the way you want it to be,…So together let’s make a world that’s that good.”

Facebook knows what they are doing. They’re going to get you and keep you on Facebook all the time by making it pointless to ever leave Facebook. The next decade will be defined by applications and content which integrate with Facebook.

What do you think?

Next week I’ll post on what this new era of social integration means for the future of the web. Here’s a hint, it looks so different and powerful that it’s scary.

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By ZHOcial

ZHOcial is social media management. Focusing on providing clients with an authentic, strategic, high impact social media presence they are committed to fast friendly service at a great price!

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(Good) Content is King.. For years the conversation about social media significance has revolved around content. The key, they said, was having new and interesting content, stuff people wanted to click on, read and share. Every day all across Twitter and Facebook organizations are sharing “interesting” links and thoughts. Most of these posts don’t get shared and they are dead on arrival. In a crowded twitter stream its easy to go un-noticed. 

In his book, Grouped, Paul Adams shares research which suggests people don’t share facts, they share emotions. He found that while  content which is positive and informative is shared more frequently these factors pale in comparison to how “arousing” content was.

Arousing content sparks conversation. He also suggests that the conversation following a post or status update is far more important than the update itself. Conversation produces social bonds in a way that content consumption does not.

So how does one come up with arousing content which sparks conversation?

First you should understand what non-arousing content is. Content which fails to arouse people is generally content that makes people feel at ease and comfortable. This non-arousing content is less likely to be shared, no matter if it is interesting.

Content that arouses is content which induces excitement or anxiety. Content that generates strong feelings get’s shared.

Here are a few types of content which arouses:

1. Content which takes a unique position (Think from a different perspective). This type of content causes anxiety because it makes people question their own longstanding beliefs or the beliefs of others.

2. Content which presents an opportunity. People get excited about REAL opportunities. This doesn’t include “opportunities” to buy your product or program. People don’t get excited about paying for an opportunity, they get excited about taking advantage of one.

3. Ask a controversial question. Your content doesn’t have to be right, it simply must spark conversation. The best way to do this is posing it as a question. You certainly don’t want to take a position which is obviously wrong, it could hurt the value of your opinion and sharability of your future content. Instead ask “why?”. One may lead with only a question.

These are just some examples. Ultimately good content sparks conversation and content which sparks conversation upsets the status quo in some way. Keep it positive and informative but ultimately think how you can make your audience question the status quo.

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By ZHOcial

ZHOcial is social media management. Focusing on providing clients with an authentic, strategic, high impact social media presence they are committed to fast friendly service at a great price!

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With the permeation of social into every aspect of our lives consumers are increasingly expecting their experiences to be integrated with social media platforms. Consumers are no longer content to simply consume. Consumers now want to have a level of connection and creativity infused into their consumer experience.

Here are 5 tips for creating a social experience for your product, service or brand:

1. Make your product, service, place or website social: This means recognizing and encouraging a particular object as something to be talked about. In marketing speak this means recognizing the unique selling point and then encouraging folks to talk about it through presence on key social networks, on your website and at your physical location, if you have one. Identifying this “thing” means asking yourself what are the attributes of this object that people would tell their friends about. Is it a feature, the price, the “newness”? Some “things” are naturally more social than others. Technology is always a topic of discussion, toilet paper isn’t. Look at what products, services or business attributes are worth talking about and help people get talking.

2. Facilitate social interaction: This means making sure you have a presence on key social media platforms and that you actively promote, interact and create content that gets people talking about your product, service or cause. Being present isn’t enough, you have to provide the content that gets people to stand up, take notice and talk.

3. Identification: Anonymity isn’t social. That’s why social networks are great for making your business social. It gives people a way to identify themselves. Creating a social product means making sure that your customer has the ability to attach their name to it. Perhaps this means creating a separate account or campaign for a particular product or service. If you’re a restaurant owner and you think you’ve got a burger worthy of being talked about encourage people to attach their name to your burger, not just your restaurant. Give your burger its own page on Facebook or ask your customers to tag themselves in a picture eating this burger. Make it a contest or offer a discount.

4. Encourage creative interaction: The ability to attach your name to something doesn’t by itself mean your product, business or service is social. Interaction with the business, the product and fellow fans is what makes your “thing” social. There are a few ways to make this happen. Ask for feedback and ideas about how to improve your product or service or help folks create a brand new  product or service. Perhaps it’s a new menu item or design.

5. Stay out-of-the-way: Getting too hands on could impact the authenticity of the social community orbiting around your social product, brand or service. Comment occasionally, answer questions, address concerns and tell folks thanks for sharing ideas, photo’s, video’s and check in’s. Let folks talk amongst themselves. You shouldn’t feel the need to intervene for every comment in the social stream.

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THERE ARE A LOT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS OUT THERE. Yes, that statement is worthy of ALL CAPS. A quick search of social media platforms yields an astonishing number of active social media sites. Wikipedia lists 210 “live” sites, not including defunct platforms, of which, 13 have over 100 million users. The top 13 “virtual communities” combine for over 4.2 Billion accounts. 

It was just reported on Marketing Pilgrim that the “the average large company has 178 corporate-owned social media accounts”, including 40 Twitter accounts, 32 blogs and 30 Facebook and LinkedIn accounts. Not surprising really, considering these accounts are free and many times new marketing campaigns or products  get their own account. What is happening to all of these accounts and who is managing them? Even more troubling, how many are actually a threat to your organization?

We’ve combed through a lot of advice on this topic and the best advice seems to come down to three things. 

1. Audit your organizations accounts.

3. Figure out how many accounts you actually need.

4. Get rid of the waste. 

Start with an internal audit to determine how many accounts your organization has in it’s name. How many of those are active? How many have been destroyed by spam and bots? How many need to be cleaned/frozen/shut down immediatly due to threatening content? 

 Ask yourself what your customers want? For organizations managing multiple products or campaigns it makes sense to have more than one account on a single social media platform. Segmenting has long been an important marketing tool so it seems reasonable that segmenting your message in social media is of fundamental importance. This of course requires multiple accounts. What is the objective of each account? Could the followers spread across 30 accounts be managed by just ten accounts? 

Don’t leave accounts hanging out there. They could land you some bad P.R. An un-managed presence could get filled with spammy content, vulgar comments and links to content you wouldn’t want your organization associated with. 

It’s time to re-purpose those Six Sigma folks for social media.

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Read more: http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/30656/The-Average-Large-Company-Has-178-Social-Media-Accounts-Shocking-Data.aspx#ixzz1jAW1NenJ

Read more:  http://www.ragan.com/Main/Articles/Report_Companies_average_178_social_media_accounts_44179.aspx

Read more: http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2012/01/time-to-take-out-the-social-media-trash.html

Let ZHOcial help you manage all those accounts!