Cup of Joe: Leveraging ...

Back in November I shared this image on Google+. Chris Brogan , re-shared it and then 370 others followed suit! It is by far the most popular thing I have posted on Google+. Also, in April I blogged about how a piece of my content went viral on StumbleUpon, which as of today has gained over 1.2 million visitors. Every time a piece of my content goes viral its completely unexpected and leaves me asking, why? I could just ignore things and go eat hot dogs, but, as a marketer its my job to answer that question. Recently Jared Keller tried to answer this question, and in my opinion did a great job. Keller tells us that the secret to virality isn’t structure or social tools but rather the inherent culture of the given online ecosystem: In reality, the key ingredient to virality isn’t the number of share buttons or Twitter followers you have, but your sensitivity to culture, that body of nuances that go beyond demographic breakdowns. Each sharing ecosystem on the web has its own unique subculture, its own sets of rules of order and norms of behavior. The secret to going viral is seamlessly navigating these worlds. If Keller is correct then we need to explore ways to leverage culture to move content on the web. Because I like painting with broad strokes, let’s break this down into two basic strategies. The Hard Way Promoting any piece of content online is going to be hard. But, this strategy tends to be harder than the next because it requires a lot of work. Essentially the way this works is publishing a lot of content that attempts to fit in a basic cultural vein, then structuring that content around different sharing strategies that make it easier to go “viral”. Publications like Huffintigton Post, Buzzfeed and others use this strategy everyday. The problem is that you have to constantly push content hoping that something will “go viral”. Its hard to run this type of business because you find yourself having to constantly look for cheap or free content to offset the cost of all the content that doesn’t go viral and just sits there. The Not As Hard Way I call this strategy the not as hard way because even though it isn’t as hard as the one above it’s still not easy. This strategy is to simply create channels for your audience to become an active participate in the content’s creation. Brands like Old Spice and OfficeMax have seen widespread success with this strategy. Their campaigns went viral by tapping into their audience’s culture by making them a featured element to the campaign’s production. In a way they “meme-ified” their content! As Lada Adamic points out above, memes can be a power tool to spreading information. However, they are also difficult to control . Remember that there is no master strategy to making things go viral, but if you stick close to an ecosystem’s culture you have a greater chance at seeing success!

The Importance of Socia...

This post was written by our Social Media channel sponsor Full Sail University. In a previous post here on Marketing Pilgrim, I wrote about personal branding from the perspective of how social media can help (or hurt) in finding a job . That article focused on the basic tactics like setting up professional profiles and who to follow. In this post I’d like to get into the strategy behind personal branding a little more. The basic tenet behind developing a strong personal brand – or any brand, for that matter – is providing your audience with something of value to them. Online, that’s largely about content, and just as businesses should have a solid content strategy, so should you as an individual. Developing a Personal Brand Content Strategy Step 1: What’s your goal? A content strategy is simply a plan for effectively using content to reach your goals. Are you looking for a job? Trying to position yourself as a leader in your industry? Launching a new business? A student looking at potential opportunities down the road? Step 2: Who can help you reach that goal? Once you are clear about your objective, your content plan begins with understanding the audience you are trying to reach. If you’re a job-seeker, that may be others in your industry, recruiters, or industry veterans. If you’re a business owner, your target audience might be potential customers, vendors, other businesses in related industries, or even competitors. Give some serious thought to this step, but don’t get too hung up on it; building your base of connections will be an ongoing process. Step 3: Get out – and stay out – of the Step 2 mindset. Now, stop thinking about what’s in it for you, and start thinking about what you can provide that’s of value to your audience. The saying that it’s better to give than to receive is nowhere more true than in developing your personal brand. Types of Content There are several different ways you can share content online: Original content is anything you create yourself. Always be sure that it reflects well on the brand you want to be; everything you put online is part of the cultivation of your personal brand, from comments on a blog to a full-scale article. Make sure it’s written well and is informative. And please remember to proofread, edit and spell-check, no matter how small the exchange. Shared content is anything that you are willing to promote that was created by someone else. This can take many forms, from retweets to social media shares, likes and plus ones. Remember that everything you share, even if you didn’t create it, also reflects on you. Be judicious, and always consider the value to your audience. Curated content can include both original and shared content. It allows the ‘curator’ to pull together information in a way that may be valuable to the audience. It’s a big web out there, and sometimes having someone gather the best of the best for you is a big help in parsing all that information. Curation can be useful because, as Brian Solis said, the “…thoughts, words and ideas of others can be helpful to establish yourself as a value added resource and as a place or destination for information.” With curation, though, be careful not to just rehash things your audience has likely already seen. (For example, if you’re a marketer, don’t just share every single thing Seth Godin says; it may be smart, but your audience probably already sees it directly.) Marketing Pilgrim’s Social Channel is proudly sponsored by Full Sail University, where you can earn your Masters of Science Degree in Internet Marketing in less than 2 years. Visit FullSail.edu for more information. Which type of content works best? The answer depends on your goals, your positioning, and your skills. If you’re a student or breaking into a new industry, for example, 100% original content may not be the best choice, since you’re not (yet) able to speak from a place of experience. However, perhaps some content curation that exemplifies your interests and goals would also be of value to members of your audience. Notwithstanding the comment above, you should consider creating at least some original content for a few reasons: It’s good practice, especially writing. Just sharing and curating content may not be enough to establish your credibility. Your audience could most likely get all the content you share from the original source. It’s Not Just About Text Any Longer Many people think of content as just textual, but that’s no longer the case. Here are just a few types of content you could create that might allow you to engage your audience effectively: Text – Text does remain the most widely distributed form of content online, from Tweets to full-scale multi-page articles in online journals. Other forms of text-based content include blog posts, social media entries, comments on blogs/forums, and even shares, likes, plus ones and retweets. Photos – A picture can be worth a thousand words, if done well. The important thing is that it provides value to your audience and moves you closer to your goal. Videos – For some, online videos are a quick and relatively painless way of creating content. They can showcase your personality even more than most other mediums because viewers get the experience of ‘almost being there.’ Audio – Podcasts and other forms of audio can be used to share information in a medium that works well for some. Anything you do to communicate with others online is content, and content should always be considered in the context of your goals. Developing a strategy allows you to be conscious in your choices and puts you in a better position to succeed. About the author Rob Croll is Department Chair for the Internet Marketing Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programs at Full Sail University , and the Course Director for Search Engine Optimization there. He also owns Marlannah Digital Marketing, a consulting firm that works with small- to medium-sized businesses and non-profits. Rob was named one of the Top 100 Marketing Professors on Twitter and has had numerous articles published both online and in print on a variety of Internet marketing topics. You can follow Rob on Twitter @rcroll. The views and opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of Marketing Pilgrim. Pilgrim’s Partners: SponsoredReviews.com – Bloggers earn cash, Advertisers build buzz!

Colbert Asks Steve Case...

Steve Case , the co-founder of AOL (which owns TechCrunch blah blah blah) and founder of Revolution , was on The Colbert Report yesterday to get interrupted by host Stephen Colbert after every other word he spoke while attempting to explain the ‘sharing economy’ to him and the audience. Fortunately for viewers, the interruptions were amusing, especially when Colbert lays out his vision for a new startup called Toasterster, which would enable New Yorkers to pick up and ‘rent’ toasters at a central location and return them there after using it for the couple of minutes they need it for. He made the rookie mistake of not securing toasterster.com though (gone in 3, 2, 1 …).

RIM’s New PlayBook Prom...

Well, if you were hoping to snag a BlackBerry PlayBook on the cheap, it looks like now’s the time to act. In what seems like a move born of desperation, all models of the PlayBook are now going for $299 on RIM’s online store . Previous PlayBook sales have set the beginning price point at $199 for the 16GB model, but this time you’ll be able to purchase a 64GB PlayBook for the same price as a 16GB model. Not too shabby, especially if you didn’t jump on a local truckstop special . Of course, that supposes that there are enough of them to go around — with every variant sporting the same price tag, I expect RIM to sell though their 64GB PlayBooks before long. RIM is no stranger to PlayBook price cuts, but this new promotion is slated to run through the beginning of February, which would make it one of the longest, most drastic price cuts in the tablet’s troubled history. With PlayBook OS 2.0 scheduled to hit devices sometime next month, it could be a ploy to move units into people’s hands ahead of the update. Then again, RIM’s most recent earnings statement shows that the audience for the PlayBook is slowly dying, with shipments slowing considerably throughout 2011. It’s beginning to look like the only way people will buy one of these things is with some hefty discounts involved, which doesn’t exactly bode well for RIM’s financial position. Still, their loss is your gain — the PlayBook is a flawed tablet to be sure, but this is a solid deal if you’re already stuck using a BlackBerry.

45 Privacy Changes Face...

In 2012, Facebook will be making 45 privacy-related changes to comply with the recommendations of an audit by Ireland’s Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) released today. Below I’ve compiled a roadmap of all the changes Facebook will implement based on the the 149 pages of  DPC recommendations  and how the social network says it will address them. First, read my  analysis of the audit’s findings from this morning . It explains why these changes won’t seriously interfere with Facebook’s business model or product development. That’s very good news for Facebook. Still, complying with the audit’s recommendations could prevent the company from building a huge stockpile of historical data for some unknown later use. The changes mostly deal with how long Facebook retains data, and how people are educated about Facebook’s usage of that data. Some will require engineering work, such as irrevocably deleting user data within 40 days of an account deletion request. Others will simply see Facebook adding additional links or messaging within the product to improve transparency and user understanding. Facebook avoided having to make some big changes that could have hurt its business, such as needing users to explicitly opt in to ad targeting based on their personal data. It also won’t have to discontinue its facial recognition feature, or requires users to opt into having their content used in Sponsored Stories ads . Here are the 45 changes Facebook will implement and their due dates: Privacy and Data Use Policy Simplify the explanations of its Data Use Policy- End of Q1 2012 Add a mechanism for controlling personal data to the registration process – End of Q1 2012 Increase the size of links to the privacy policy and statement of rights in the registration process -  End of February 2012 Add privacy policy, statement of rights, and Help Center links to the left side of the Facebook home page – End of February 2012 Advertising Use of User Data Clarify how it employs user data in ad targeting to ensure full transparency – End of Q1 2012 Limit data collection from social plugins, restrict access to this data, and delete it on schedule, though social plugin data is not currently used in ad targeting – Immediately Move option to opt out of having one’s content shown in social ads from the Account Settings to the Privacy Settings – End of Q1 2012 Prior to implementation, discuss any plans to provide individuals’ profile pictures and names to third parties for advertising purposes – Ongoing Switch from retaining ad-click data indefinitely to a 2 year retention period – Review in July 2012 Access Requests If identifiable personal data of users or non-users is held, it must be provided in response to an access request within 40 days - Beginning in January 2102 Provide easier access to this data via the profile, Activity Log, and Download Your Information tool – Beginning in January 2102 Retention of Data Clarify to users how deleted data such as received friend requests and removed tags is retained – End of Q1 2012 Provide users with the ability to delete friend requests, pokes, tages, posts, and messages on a per item basis – Begin in Q1 2012, show progress by July 2102. Change Groups invitations so user won’t appear as members until they’ve visited the Group and been given an easy way to leave – End of Q1 2012 Delete personal data once the purpose for which it was collected has ceased – Immediate, ongoing, review in July 2012 Delete all social plugin impression data with 90 days of a website visit For non-users and logged out users, delete social plugin impression data within 10 days Anonymize data about a user’s searches on Facebook with 6 months Anonymize all ad click data after 2 years Significantly shorten the retention period of log-in information Educate users through the Data Use Policy about recording of login activity across browsers and devices – End of Q1 2012 Work with the DPC to identify an acceptable retention period of data from inactive or deactivated accounts – July 2012 Third-Party Apps Roll out updated granular data permissions dialog box to all applications – End of February 2012, review in July 2012 Clarify that use of an app is visible to friends by default (Facebook has fixed this with the audience selector of its granular data permissions dialog box ) – Review in July 2012 Educate users on the importance of reading app privacy policies, possibly increase size of links to report an app or view app its privacy policy in the data permissions dialog box – End of February 2012 Implement a tool that determines if links to app privacy policies are live. First, Facebook will asses the technical feasibility of such as tool – Review progress towards implementation in July 2012 Examine alternative privacy controls for allowing friends to provide one’s data to applications, as currently users must turn off apps entirely to prevent friends from giving apps their data – Report back to DPC in July 2012 Investigate technical solutions to reduce risk of abuse of authorization tokens via one app transferring a token to another – Immediate assessment, solution by end of Q1 2012 Expand mesaging to developers regarding policy prohibiting sharing of authorization tokens –  End of January 2012 Refine automated tools that detect and prevent abuse of user data by developers – Progress review in July 2012 Disclosures to Third Parties Improve system for disclosing data to law enforcement by requiring validation from a senior officer and a full explanation for why the data is needed – Commence in January 2012, review in July 2012 Facial Recognition / Tag Suggest Notify users that Tag Suggest exists with a series of home page prompts and link to an explanation of how it works – First week of January 2012 Prior to implementation, discuss with DPC  any plans to extend tag suggest to allow suggestions beyond confirmed friends – Ongoing Security Formally document security policies and procedures – Review in July 2012 Monitor employees to ensure user password resets aren’t used to gain unauthorized access to user data – End of January 2012 Implement a new access provisioning tool to allow for fine-grained, role-specific control of employee access to user data to ensure all access is authorized – Review in July 2012 Deletion of Accounts Continue devoting engineering resources towards improving the system that irrevocably deletes user accounts and data within 40 days of receipt of a deletion request – Review in July 2012 Friend Finder  Provide education about and review alternatives for reducing risks inherent in transmitting contact information via plain text for use in the contact sync feature – End of Q1 2012 Add text explaining that deactivating the contact sync feature does not remove previously synced data – End of Q1 2012 Prevent Pages that have uploaded email addresses to send messages to European users or non-users via geoblocking of major EU domains and warn businesses using the feature about ePrivacy law – Geoblocking immediately, warnings by end of Q1 2012 Tagging Review implications of DPC’s recommendation to allow users to prevent themselves from being tagged in photos or other content – In advance of July 2012 Posting On Other Profiles Review implications of DPC’s recommendation that prior to posting, users be shown how broad the audience will be for a potential post on the wall of another user, and notify users if that wall’s owner changes that audience size – In advance of July 2012 Facebook Credits  Add information to the Data Use Policy regarding Facebook’s role as a data controller and that information about a user’s use of Credits is linked to their account, and launch a privacy policy dedicated to its payments systems in approximately 6 months – End of Q1 2012 Compliance Management / Governance Develop documented procedures for direct marketing by Facebook employees and train employees to ensure data protection – Completed Review European data protection laws and consult with the DPC when developing new products or uses to ensure compliance with data protection law Additionally, the DPC’s audit made statements, indicating its satisfaction with how Facebook handles these potentially controversial issues: Cookies are not used for profiling or ad targeting Apps were found to not be able to access user data without consent Disabling Tag Suggest deletes a user’s facial recognition profile User data is available to employees on a need-to-know basis There is no threat to user photos during upload to Akamai or during deletion The site protects against large-scale data harvesting through screen-scraping User contact info, including phone numbers and email addresses, is only stored and not used unless users choose to supply email addresses for use in the Friend Finder When users give Friend Finder access to their third-party email accounts and other services, their passwords are held securely and destroyed Facebook has provided sufficient justification of its policy of refusing pseudonymous accounts Facebook provides sufficient ways to report abuse on the site