Whenever I hear about a new social network I want to jump on it immediately and test the waters, so that’s what I did this morning after hearing the buzz about Apple’s newest venture, Ping. First off I have to thank an employee of Dragonsearch , Clayton Walter for letting me hi-jack his iTunes account for my research. (more…)
Posts Tagged ‘Social Media’
Social Media Whiteboard Wednesdays: YouTube Of The Future!
September 1st, 2010 by Mike VazWelcome again to another edition of “Social Media Whiteboard Wednesdays”. This week we’re looking at the recent discussions between YouTube and major movie studios. Dragonsearch’s John Lavin discussed this issue in full detail yesterday on the DragonSearch Internet Marketing Blog but today we’re going to imagine a future where pay-per-view on YouTube already exists. Already more and more people turn to their computers for movies and television shows rather than the actual television. More importantly everyone and their mothers watch YouTube religiously whether they’re watching a teenager fall off a trampoline or watching a Discovery Channel piece. It just seems like a natural transition for YouTube to incorporate Hollywood movies. 
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Social Media Whiteboard Wednesdays
August 25th, 2010 by Mike VazHello once again everybody! As part of our ongoing evolution here at DragonSearch we’ve decided to do something a little bit more fun and different for those of you traveling through the search engine marketing universe. Every Wednesday I shall be portraying various social media issues through the medium of illustration. This will be better known as our “Social Media Whiteboard Wednesdays”
How did this come to fruition?
Well, I just happened to doodle one of my characters onto our company whiteboard one day after work. The character is a sort of an alien creature I suppose which also bears a t-shirt that reads “Market This”. My fellow dragon Clayton Walter noticed it and came up with the idea of a weekly cartoon that would depict social media content relevant to that week. The cartoon I drew this week depicts the recent launch of Facebook Places and how Foursquare might actually feel about it despite their positive feedback in interviews. What are your feelings about this and do you think Facebook Places will either have a positive or negative effect on your life?
If you want to learn more about Facebook Places and how it’s might play out into the future then you should read Allison Teetsel’s recent post about the drama between Facebook Places and Foursquare on the DragonSearch internet marketing blog. Until next time everyone, adios.
Monkeyluv and Facebook
February 16th, 2010 by Ric DragonIn his book “Monkeyluv : And Other Essays on Our Lives as Animals” (Scribner, 2005), Robert Sapolsky explains how it is that gambling is so addictive. Surprisingly, its not the winning part of the process – but the anticipation of winning. Brain waves go wild. And if the odds of winning are closer to 50/50, the wilder the anticipation brain waves. If the odds are too stacked against you, the anticipation factor is diminished.
OK, so how is it that Facebook and Twitter are SO addictive to so many of our milieu? Whats the anticipation of pay-off. Perhaps my wall on Facebook today is an example. Its my birthday, and I’m getting loads of well-wishes. Talk about pay-off! In Twitter, perhaps the pay-off is getting retweeted? Maybe its enough payoff to be spoken to, to have your existence aknowledged. Now, I might be a bit of a nerd-geek, but I’m not that desperate for attention, and I doubt if the nerd/geeks I consort with are that desperate!
Perhaps the pay-offs in social media are the interactions. Lets call them “chits”. We give chits AND receive them. It would be interesting if Mr. Sapolsky or one of those other scientists with very expensive equipment would check that out. If we marketers knew a bit more about those pay-offs, we might be able to create interactions that were more satisfying to our community.
By the way, check out the book Buyology to learn how marketers HAVE hooked people up to the MRI’s and Catscans to learn about the effectiveness of advertising.
SEO and Reputation Management
October 22nd, 2009 by adminThe Ethics Of SEO Services
The Wise Donkey
The Wise Donkey
SEO and ethics might seem like too lofty a subject matter, and/or sound like I’m trying to be more profound than I actually am. The latter is definitely true, although I do not think there is anything wrong with considering what SEO might mean for a business’s reputation, for that is sort of the whole point to begin with, essentially.
For instance, what if the SERP of your brand is littered with, well, unfriendly opinions about you; and you, of course, want to do whatever you can to diminish those opinions; that is, hide them in some way or get them removed completely. I would like to think that these options respectively correspond to a low path and a high path in dealing with negative feedback. Fortunately, it is possible to have the two converge into a practical, ethical middle.
Best Buy’s Major TwelpForce Flaw
September 30th, 2009 by Claudia D'ArcyThe Problem with TwelpForce, @Best Buy and Twelping
I like to watch how other companies, such as Best Buy, use social media to get their messages across. It helps me do my job as the Director of Social Media. I get ideas from them, inspiration and even if the ideas are of what NOT to do, it helps me not make the same mistakes.
Being that I don’t just talk the talk, but walk the walk of full social media interactions, this often crosses over into my personal life. I am not very good at leaving my job at the office. This also, teaches me what NOT to do at times. Best Buy, despite a major TV advertising campaign pushing for customers to ask them questions on Twitter:
Best Buy Blunders on Twitter with Major Social Media Error
They say they have embraced Social Media and they are trying. I see that. I only say this professionally, as a message to Best Buy on how they should improve their social media outreach on Twitter. I have experienced this personally, as a loyal, yet unhappy BestBuy customer. From July 30th until September 27th, I was feeling very unhappy with Best Buy.
Like many Twitter users, I tweeted about Best Buy:
Please note that the Tweets are sent directly to @BestBuy because I want their attention, so I am going to do more than just type them out, I am going to ensure that they see me. I don’t recall actually seeing the TwelpForce ads at that time, so I was not looking for TwelpForce, plus TwelpForce is NOT the Brand Name, yet, it is still BestBuy.
My initial Tweets went out on 7/30 at 7:30ish pm EST. Since I didn’t get a direct and immediate result like I wanted … you know a “hi @FauxClaud; what can we do to help you?”, I kept checking and by the AM, I was feeling really disappointed in the lack of personal response. (more…)
