‘Social Media Optimization’

Twitter has taken the bold step to say what everyone is thinking – Google promotes it own social network Google+ at the expense of other social networks.

Twitter has not been tactful about it as well. The company outright complained that users and news organizations will all be disadvantaged if there are no tweets in the Google search results. Since news of important events often appear first on Twitter, then the news networks, and finally in search results, it goes without saying that the tweets are the most relevant when it comes to up to date reports on events.

The Google+ centred approach has been criticized widely, with Twitter being the most prominent of the complainers.  The company loves the traffic from the search giant, but with no direct advantage for Google to send traffic to tweets, one can understand the shift in focus to promote their own struggling social network.

Twitter’s Perspective on Google+

Google can still index the tweets which are public and most of them are. Twitter feels that people rely on the search giant to deliver accurate search results including breaking news and events. With Twitter being a major source of information fitting the profile, it goes without saying that the results should include searches in their 250 million or so daily tweets covering just about any given topic.

Twitter boasts about a 100 million users and as such their input should not be ignored. With the changes in Google’s focus and subsequent search results, the users and publishers definitely are at a disadvantage and the results cannot be given as the most accurate or relevant to the user.

Google hasn’t included any public Facebook content in its search results up to now and Twitter has thus just joined the low search results ranks together with other social networks.

Google’s Perspective on Social Networks

Google’s response is that they don’t have access to crawl the content of certain sites including social networks. They can thus only provide results on information not hidden behind password protection and pay-walls.

Google has also announced that they are surprised by Twitter’s outrage since the company chose not to renew the pay agreement and since then the search giant has simply observed the no follow instructions.

Review of the Twitter versus Google+ War

If one has to be completely objective then Google certainly has the right to promote Google+ more than any of the other social networks and if Twitter has not renewed their agreement, there is certainly no reason for the search engine giant to send traffic their way. Google also has the right to get others to play nice and open up their networks for crawling, but look closer and you will be able to see that the exclusion of such results and pushing sites down the rank, influence the accuracy and relevancy of results.

Even though a user with a Google+ account now has a more relevant search experience when taken into consideration that search results are adapted to the user’s past searches and profile, essential results don’t show up. For Google, it may seem relevant, but the user is suffering because of their policies. With that then the giant engine shouldn’t proclaim the best results when indeed they are self-promoting and then demoting others at the same time.

Google+ is struggling and with all its excellent privacy features, little circles and clean lay-out, it cannot compete with Facebook and Twitter following. The search engine wants access to Twitter and Facebook to crawl, but then one also has to look even deeper. Google doesn’t make ad revenue from Facebook accounts and being excluded from revenue on Twitter, it seems like another ploy to downsize competition.

One must appreciate Google’s effort to get all information accessible under one umbrella. Currently you will search your Facebook page, do a Twitter search and a Google one if you want to get up to date and really relevant results. But, Google has also been accused of bullying Android and Motorola has complained that they don’t have freedom of decision. It does seem that Google pressures every other network, platform, mobile provider and site into submission to fit their own agenda.

Does this Tug of War Hurt the User or the Company the Most?

Undoubtedly the ongoing monopoly tugging does hurt the Internet user. One should, however, ask whether another social network is needed. Does anyone have the time to login at Facebook and Google+, make your way to Twitter for some tweeting, chat at Skype and then move onto searching? Indeed, Google surely doesn’t have in mind to just add another social network, it is more an issue of taking down the one network where it doesn’t get an income from and then if they succeed in pushing tweets down the results far enough, they may even take the market there as well.

The search giant, cannot however, be criticized for being so large and marketing itself since they do give a lot of free stuff. If many of their competitors would have done the same, they may also have flooded the market. They certainly also have the right to put pressure on companies to use their products.

Twitter’s complaint against Google is somewhat legitimate and resembles how many of the smaller companies also feel. With the constant changes made by Google, several thousands of little AdSense publishers have seen their income dwindle and their sites pushed down far on the search results.

One must ask whether Google has become so big that they have lost touch with their users in the quest to promote their Google+ and other products. One must also ask whether ad income from the large companies have become more important than accurate information as search results have become focused on the large sites recently. The Twitter versus Google+ war is far from over and one can expect to see more complaints surface in future.

Back to the question of whether Twitter’s complaint against Google for promoting their own social network while pushing others down should be supported – it depends on whether you still benefit from Google’s traffic and whether you want your searches and social network to be an integrated experience.

 

You may have heard that Google takes videos serious and if you want to attract traffic in future that you will have use videos in combination with solid and fresh content at your website. If you have wondered about how to market on YouTube, it is your lucky day.

Why Marketing On YouTube Works

One of the benefits of marketing with videos is that you have viral marketing work in your favour. When a user sees something at YouTube that they like, they tend to share the link with friends. Most people share their likes and links at Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus. Once there others like it and share it again. Your only important task when you market on YouTube is to get the video noticed, liked and shared. Once done you can be assured that the grapevine will do a lot of the work for you. Rapid exposure can thus be gained at a fraction of normal web marketing costs.

How To Market Effectively With Videos On YouTube

Certain principles must be followed to ensure maximum exposure and optimal return on any video marketing campaign. Note that content must still be good if you hope to attract a large audience, but instead of focussing on long videos giving away everything, you want them to be bite size, just enough to spark interest and a viral campaign.

Short Is Better

As mentioned, long videos are not the best. Keep the videos short ensuring that the user doesn’t have to wait for buffering. Most users want video clips that are shorter than 60 seconds. Respect their time and you are already one step closer to an effective YouTube marketing campaign. If you can, make the videos 30 seconds or less. Rather break up the video than have one long video.

Break The Video Apart

When the YouTube video is broken up in short pieces, you have more videos and thus more exposure. Chances are that once the viewer enjoyed or appreciated the first part that they will also click on the second and third parts.

Remix Concept

You may not like the idea of someone remixing your video, but if you want it to become truly viral, you should make it as easy as possible for others to remix and use the clips in their own videos. Note that they will do you a favour when remixing and reposting. As such help them to do their part of the job.

Stay Away From Direct Advertising

Few people go to YouTube to watch boring ads. They want something funny, crazy, shocking or useful, but don’t give them a straight advert. Viewers may click on the video if it is a straight ad, but don’t expect them to share such. Only ads like the latest Nando ads get viral status. If you thus want to create a straight advert video, know that it will have to be awesome.

Get Attention

Create a public outcry through the shocking technique or one that is so useful that someone will want to return to it often or will want to share it with others. Here the headline will play an important role. You want the YouTube viewers to become curious.

How To Attract Thousands Of Views

Once you have created the video which will be used in the YouTube marketing campaign, you have to get the views. Fortunately YouTube already has tremendous traffic and all you have to do is to tap into the audience power to market your videos. To get the views, you need to land the video on the Videos page and preferably on the most viewed videos for the day. This will make the video more prominent and one that will get the clicks because it will no longer have to compete with millions, but only a few for that specific day. The ultimate goal is to get it as high on the video page rank as possible for maximum exposure.

How To Market The Video To Get To The Top Viewed Page

The vehicles to use for getting to the most viewed page of YouTube can vary. Don’t use only one. The idea is to create an effective marketing mix. Blogs are excellent vehicles. Allow for embedding of your videos in the blogs of viewers. You can even pay blog sites to embed videos. They will become affiliate marketers. Another place to get the wheel rolling is a relevant forum or two. Be careful though, as you don’t want to spam the forums. Just start a thread and then embed one of your videos.

Although MySpace may seem dead to some, it is still effective enough. Announce the new video and then embed the video at one of the sites which will allow for such. Next stop is that of Facebook. With millions of users and people loving the idea of sharing, linking and conversing about hot topics on the Internet, you will have a whole community marketing your YouTube video in a short period.

Start by sharing the video with everyone in your friend list and do the same with your Google Plus account. Next, give incentives for people to share the videos. Place an advert at Facebook to let people watch the video and like or share it. Use the Facebook setup to link back to the original video at YouTube.

Use newsletter campaigns where the link to the video is shared with the subscribers to your company newsletter. Your video, once it reaches the top viewed list for the day, will feature for two days and then will go to the most viewed list for the week. Make sure it is a hit and you will have an awesome number of people view it over seven days.

It is hard work, but if you struggle with doing it even when you know how to market on YouTube, get in the help of experts such as iLeadOnline. Such companies can also assist with the title optimization, commenting on the video and releasing it together with other related videos in your profile. In addition, the team can handle the tagging and tracking part to ensure ongoing success.

The SA Blog Awards for 2011 lists three top South African blogs for each category and there are several:

• The Groupon – Best Science & Technology
• The Groupon – Best Entertainment & Lifestyle
• Photographic
• Travel
• Music
• Environmental
• Fashion
• The Pick ‘n Pay Best Food & Wine
• The Evox Advanced Nutrition – Best Sport
• Business & Political

The winners of each category of the SA Blog Awards will be announced on 10 December 2011 at the Crystal Towers. Getting the prestigious award is an honour not to be taken lightly. Various sponsors are involved including that of Evox, Pick ‘n Pay, and The Groupon, Ogilvy, and African Pride Crystal Towers Hotel & Spa.

Science & Technology

The three top South African blogs in Science & Technology category are that of:

• D Chetty – a blog about technology also featuring political satire and opinions from the author about cars and business.  The author is 29 years old and has some strong opinions shared in a relaxed manner. (dchetty.co.za)
• Lazygamer – blog features reviews of the latest games, videos, and updates. It covers handhelds, pc, Xbox360, Nintendo Wii, and Playstation 3. (www.lazygamer.net)
• BWTH Blog – Another tech blog, but with loads of information about the latest news, developments, gadgets, and events. It features interviews, game reviews and the top 5 lists. (www.bandwidthblog.com)

Entertainment & Lifestyle

The top South African blog contenders in the entertainment and lifestyle category are:

• Watkykjy? – Afrikaans alternative blog catering to the not so conservative Afrikaner with updates on events, guide, letters, opinions, and a place to sell stuff. (www.watkykjy.co.za)
• Baydu –  Baydu Adams blogs about entertainment related news, events and also opinions about actuality related topics. (www.baydu.co.za)
• Just Curious – blog with several contributors looking at African related entertainment news and topics (www.justcurious.co.za)

Photographic

In the photographic section the top blogger sites are:

• Londolozi – blog about the African wilderness with opportunities to share photos and experiences. (blog.londolozi.com)
• Rikki Hibbert Photography -  blog page of the photographer containing a profile and loads of tips on photography. (www.rikkihibbert.co.za)
• Diary of Ward – Profile blog of photos taken at events. (www.diaryofward.com)

Travel

The travel section for the best South African blogs contains three rather compelling blog sites:

• Safari Interactive Magazine –  blog of Safari Travel Magazine that provides interactive multi-media travel related content.  (africageographic.com/safari/blog)
• Getaway -  blog of the Getaway Magazine with loads of travel tips, fun stories, photos and destination guides. (blog.getaway.co.za)
• South African Travel Portfolio – contains snippets and opinions of travel destinations, restaurants and more. (travelblog.portfoliocollection.com)

Music

On the music scene, the three top sites are:

• Durban Is Yours – site about Durban featuring a gig guide. (durbanisyours.co.za)
• Alles Gevaarlik – an Afrikaans blog with a personal touch and reviews of bands which includes a guide to events and parties. (gevaarlik.com)
• Funzunzi & Me East Coast Durban Radio – as the name suggests music and entertainment based. (ecr.co.za/kagiso/content/en/east-coast-radio/east-coast-radio-blogs-ecr-life/)

Environmental

The environmental section contains a gardening blog amongst the top contenders:

• Sprig – South African blog about gardening and that is run by garden enthusiasts from Durban. (sprig.co.za)
• Ranger Diaries – a place to visit if you want safari stories, pictures and information. (rangerdiaries.com)
• Africa Geographic  Safari Magazine Blog – the blog features in two of the top contender categories.(africageographic.com/safari/blog/)

 

Fashion

 

On the trendy scene the following blogs made the short list of three for top SA blogs:

• Kim Gray – a beauty shop, fashion tips, news about the latest trends, places to shop and items which you simply must have. (www.kimgray.co.za)
• Superficial Girls – A Cape Town fashion conscious girl blogging about everything a trendy young person should know about what’s hot and what’s not. (www.superficialgirls.com)
• Pop Ya Collar – Street fashion blog by La Muse about fabulous clothing and accessories in Cape Town. (www.popyacollar.co.za)

Food & Wine

For the connoisseur of tastes three South African blogs that stand out are that of:

• Food And The Fabulous – Ishay, an independent blogger shares her recipes, photos, ideas and restaurants in a fun and fabulous way.(www.foodandthefabulous.com)
• Drizzle & Dip – a blog by Sam X for the finer tastes in life; full of recipes, travel and restaurant reviews, as well as some of the best food photos ever. (www.drizzleanddip.com)
• Ask Namina? – a home industry portal with recipes, information about charity and projects, a newsletter and some travel info. (www.namina.co.za)

Sport

For the active sport viewer and conversationalist the contenders for the best South African sport blogs are:

• The Bounce -  a blog for men with bounce girls for every month and a lot of talk about sport.(thebounce.co.za)
• Compleat Golfer – blog of the Compleat Golfer Magazine. (www.compleatgolfer.co.za/subscriber/3062)
• Jabu – lists of sport stars, discussions about team sports including hockey and then also interviews. (www.allthingsjabu.co.za)

Business & Political

For the actuality orientated reader, the three main blog contenders in the business & political category are:

• Road Trip 2011 – Old Mutual Sponsored blog taking the reader on a journey through South Africa.(www.oldmutualfoundationroadtrip.blogspot.com)
• ZANews – political humour at its best with videos and commentaries.(www.zanews.co.za)
• Hayibo.com – political satire about contemporary South African politicians and situations. (www.hayibo.com)

To qualify as one of the three top South African blogs for the 2011 SA Blog Awards,  blogs had to be registered  and had to meet specific requirements such as the blogger residing in South Africa. Only two categories per blogger are allowed and then the public vote phase started. Once a blog has taken up one of the three top spots in the public vote phase, it moves to the top three category list and then the judges decide. The winner of a category is one with the most first places as selected by the judges.

Should there be a tie, the two contending blogs go back for another public vote to decide the outcome. The judges are experts related to the specific fields and most of them are already well respected in the social media fields.  The SA Blog Awards 2011 is a prestigious award that gives recognition to efforts and commitment of South African bloggers.

 

Just as you think that now you have seen it all, the tech world stuns again with something as amazing the Siri personal assistant in the iPhone 4S. It is the ultimate replacement of the secretary on the go. Not that secretaries will ever be replaced, but if you want a mobile one in your pocket then you will adore the stunning new features of the iPhone 4S.

What can the Siri Personal Assistant Do For You?

Say you are driving and want directions without having to type in a search in Google Maps. Simply speak to your iPhone 4S and get it to locate the place on the map. If you quickly want to find a restaurant nearby ask the assistant to locate such. It will take some time to learn exactly how to phrase the question, but once you have cleared up any misunderstandings with the Siri you will find it to be rather responsive and accurate.

Directions are not the only reason for getting the iPhone 4S with Siri. If you for instance, want a meeting to be setup with one of the persons in your contact list, all you have to do is to give the command, and the Siri will check your calendar. If it is open for the particular time frame, it will request permission to go ahead in notifying the person about the meeting. Once given, the phone will do such and schedule it as well as remind you about the meeting in due time.

Two functions don’t make for the perfect mobile phone, agreed, but if you want the Siri to play a particular song or remind you of something that has to be done or even write a note, it can be done by simply speaking to it. The best of all, it will be done immediately.

Glitches as Part of Growing Pains

The Siri personal assistant is not without flaws, not yet. It has to deal with network problems which may occur from time to time and then there is the problem of sounds in the background which can cause confusion.  You have to learn how to structure questions to ensure it understands such and you will also have to refrain from talking again until it has carried out the instruction as to avoid confusion. Siri is the voice recognition feature now available with the iPhone 4S and with it also being part of the Apple product stable, it can be seen as a direct threat to Google, especially the controlled searching features of Google.

Is Siri More Accurate Than Google?

With Google one gets the familiar list of blue lined results. Although Google is certainly known as an accurate search engine, it does save time to just ask Siri and get the perfect answer.

Is Siri a Serious Threat to Google?

With the Siri concept, artificial intelligence is optimized and with thousands of users added in a short time, one can expect a large database of knowledge to develop in a short period. The estimate is that the personal assistant will shortly be able to answer questions with the same speed and accuracy as can be expected from a human. Shortly, however, means around two or three years of learning. This should give Google enough time to develop a counter strategy, although some feel that Google doesn’t have enough time to respond to the artificial intelligence threat posed by Siri.

At present Google allows interaction, but not at the extent offered by Siri. You have to speak in a voice similar to that of a bot. It still has to grow a bit before reaching the ideal level, already accomplished by Siri. Speech recognition is still at infancy stage with Google, whereas the personal assistant is more natural and allows for greater interaction. You will certainly not feel that you are speaking to a robot. With an eloquent voice and a human like feel, it leads the way for human and computer interaction of the future.

The iPhone 4S is the Next Generation Phone

Gamers have become used to bots and on many forums, bots answer the questions. Teaching your computer to answer you is not new, but having an intelligent phone with the potential of becoming just as efficient as a personal assistant on the move, is something that is revolutionary.

Apple is Happy with Siri

Apple apparently did not anticipate the many uses and popularity associated with the personal assistant, but with all the potential now discovered, it is possible that Apple will allow for other developers to create even more applications to ensure a competitive edge in the mobile market and especially to oust all the Android driven phones.

Third party developers, at this stage are not involved since the basics are not yet fully established. Although the personal assistant has an exceptional accuracy level it is not at a rate of more than 96% of the time. The day is coming and with that then the preference of users to rather interact with Siri than ask a human a question. Humans tend to have moods and can be slow at times. A reliable machine doesn’t have all that and if consistency is what you want then a mobile personal assistant will be the answer in future.

Personalisation is the Key

The Siri can be personalised to understand a particular user and the general queries, commands and needs of the user. It may very well become the next best friend of many mobile users. Apart from travel arrangements, entertainment location, and meetings, the personal assistant can further more do a bit of ecommerce bargain hunting. For people regularly buying online, Siri can develop a profile of preferences and do automatic buying without involvement of the user. Let’s hope the personal assistant never gets shopping mad.

Google has a real contender with the iPhone 4S Siri personal assistant. If a consumer has the choice of not having to deal with ads, the choice seems obvious and the days of structured searches may be at an end.

The battle between Facebook vs. Twitter has not even begun and may never really. Instead, the two social media tools are just that – communication tools and are not likely to ever replace normal search engines or portals, but they are important for any business wanting to rapidly expand its market and brand name.

What is more important is that for business applications you may need to choose, simply because of the time constraints involved in using social tools such as Facebook or Twitter. Many people have asked which of the two will be the best to use for business and who will take the lead in future?

Main Differences

Facebook with millions of users is a vast network. Small businesses often make the mistake of having the owner trying to self promote, social, and communicate on both business and social level with disappointing results. It can be compared to a person trying to sell a MLM scheme or perhaps cosmetics to her close circle of friends. They will simply attend the first time and then ignore all her calls and messages thereafter. If you want to keep your friends and use Facebook as a business application, the two must be separated.

Twitter, on the other hand, is perhaps not the best tool for simply communicating as it gets a bit dull to follow every step of a business through tweets. It is, however, a fast track communication tool to share breaking news. Anyone entering the world of tweeting soon realise that to create a loyal following means work and also sticky content.

Facebook is More Suited for In-depth Communication

Businesses can utilise the features such as photos and videos, links, updates, and discussions. One can create two profiles – personal and business. Nowhere is it more important to separate work and private life than on Facebook. To make it as a business on the social medial networking site you must setup a business fan page. It is also a good idea to purchase PPC ad space as such seems to be highly effective. There is also the Like feature that allows for others to quickly add LIKE and then receive updates about your company as you send such out. In addition, users can easily recommend your page or anything of interest. Because it is such an excellent viral tool, brand awareness can quickly spread to millions of users.

Twitter is for Quick Communication

Twitter doesn’t have features such as videos or photos, but it offers an exceptionally fast communication tool. The tool allows for an endless stream of posts, viral communication and information about events. Links can be created in an instant and it is the ideal tool for quickly getting an answer.

The Usage is All Important

Because of the differences in the two communication networks, the usage reason becomes important. Recent research indicated that around a third of people using social media are willing to pay for the services offered by Facebook and only about a fifth of users willing to do the same for Twitter. When it comes to business though, the figures suggest that businesses are more willing to pay for Twitter services rather than Facebook ones. The main reason – instant communication and feedback from users.

Another study showed Facebook trailing behind Twitter when it comes to business to business marketing and communication, but when it comes to the business to consumer category, Facebook is on tops. This is largely due to the interactivity and visual tools available in Facebook. The consumers love the glamour and glitz of images, discussions, and videos. Businesses, however, are information focussed and as such appreciate the fast flow of information on Twitter.

Facebook is doing better when it comes to businesses that have already developed a brand and strong presence on the Internet. Twitter seems to perform well in the B2B category for quick updates. With the Retweet option, a message can quickly spread and large amounts of traffic driven. Unlike with Facebook where a large fan base may be needed to create the desired awareness, the simple manner in which Twitter tweets and retweets work make it easy to quickly get the message out.

Twitter Overall Advantages and Disadvantages for Business

Easy navigation and quick updating in addition to linking for spreading the message are some of the positive features of the tool. You are not limited to your immediate fan list or group of supporters because re-tweeting allows for spreading of the message world-wide. Quick responses and immediate customer feedback are essential when launching a new product or service. With the RSS feeder a user doesn’t have to login to get updates. It is interactive and streamlined.

On the negative side, it offers less functionality than Facebook with only 140 character tweets allowed. People don’t fall in love with the tool right from the start and it can become a bit of a spam magnet.

Facebook Overall Advantages and Disadvantages for Business

It is easy to interact and create sticky content. Many users have already indicated that they prefer logging into their Facebook and stay logged in the whole day. As such they update and because of the like feature, what your fans like will also mean their friends will see. Pretty soon all the likes will feature at your site. They can see which of their friends like and use your site and transparency is improved. It offers a tremendous user base and with fun to use applications and gifts that can be send to users, loyalty can be built pretty quickly.

Responses are not as quick as with Twitter and users must be logged in to ensure quick responses. The updating and navigation part are time thieves.

How to Choose Between Facebook and Twitter

The good news is that at the end of the day you don’t have to choose. Use Twitter for the important B2B communication requiring quick responses and to rapidly spread a message. It is a perfect news tool. Use Facebook to build a loyal customer base.

Make the Most of Social Media Networking

Create lists at Facebook to ensure that users only get what is relevant to them, ensuring quicker responses. Make sure that every time a person leaves a wall comment that a response is given. Stop self promotion efforts from users. Simply delete and keep the page clean.

Link to others by means of posting links to their articles – one a day will do the trick. Create polls and make it fun to participate. Link to your own website articles and anywhere your business features on the Internet – once a day. Note that you must create a fan page if you want to succeed as a business at Facebook.

In terms of Twitter – create content worth reading and following. Customise your Facebook pages and at the end of the day – use both because they are here to stay. The tools will not replace normal search, but will improve B2B and B2C communication.