This is a follow up to my previous article about Bebo, and why Bebo should be part of your social media strategy, especially if you are in the U.K. Recently released data from Hitwise shows just how powerful Bebo is becoming:
Bebo is catching up quickly to eBay as the most searched for brand in the UK. Since May, the term “bebo” has ranked #2 in the share of UK internet searches after “ebay”, and Bebo’s rapid rise is narrowing the gap. The market share of UK internet searches for “bebo” has increased more than three fold in the past six months and 17.6% in the past three months
Interesting article by Paul Dusseault of Fleishman-Hillard on how MySpace is being overrun by marketers. One of the most interesting points that Paul made in the article was identifying what are the characteristics of a successful MySpace marketing campaign.
The most successful marketing initiatives via MySpace are those that tread most gently on the eggshells of credibility that hold the entire concept together. They offer real information/entertainment/ humor void of blatant plug. They respect the audience, value participation from uncontrolled sources, and seek to form relationships of indefinite duration with people who may or may not ever become customers. They are, in other words, credible.
Nothing like a little rivalry within the US Military. Just days after the US Air Force announced that it was canceling its MySpace profile came news that the Army is launching their own MySpace campaign.
You might remember that the Air Force cancelled their MySpace account because as Col. Brian Madtes, chief of the Recruiting Service’s strategic communication division put it:
The danger with MySpace is we got to the point where we weren’t real comfortable with the potential for inappropriate content to be posted [on the page of] a friend of a friend. We didn’t want to be associated with that … and tarnish our reputation.”
If the 16-24 year old crowd is your target, you already know you need to use the social networks. Knowing HOW to address this group is much harder. As highlighted by the San Clara panel the Next Generation is always on, always connected and always communicating with friends. To get inside this inner circle you need to be invited or endorsed by someone already in the circle. Banging on the door unannounced will result in resentment, tuning out, and potentially long-term damage to your brand.
I read with interest an article in the Oxford press about how web sites and social networking sites could be a potent tool for politicians. Really. I had not thought of that before.
I was shocked to read that Republicans and Democrats are interested in “social networking and user content sites like MySpace, Facebook and YouTube, which have proved wildly successful among the under-30 potential voters that Republicans and Democrats would like to reach.”
But moving on, the article did have some interesting observations on how politicians can use and react to, social media sites. Carol Darr, director of the Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet at George Washington University in Washington is quoted as saying:
Guy Kawasaki (managing director of Garage Technology Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm) recently held a panel discussion in Santa Clara with a group on high school and college students which offered a fascinating insight into how to marketing to the next generation of consumers (18-24).
There is a video of the whole panel discussion at Veotag. Note that I have never used Veotag before, but I instantly loved the ability to move back and forth between the segments that interest me. It is much more effective than anything that Google Video or Yahoo video has.
Lexis Nexis issued a press release this morning touting that traditional media was seen as more reliable than social media or as they put it:
Consumers are more likely turn to the mainstream media when they want information about urgent matters than to blogs, podcasts or Web-only publications
Not surprisingly the study showed that Americans turn to traditional news sources for breaking news.
Half of the respondents said they would turn to network TV for such news, while 42 percent chose radio, 37 percent would read daily local newspapers or watch cable news or business networks, and 25 percent said they would turn to Web sites of print publications and broadcast stations. But just 6 percent said they would turn to social media, including user groups, blogs and chat rooms.
It is well known that one of the first steps that a Human Resources department takes after receiving a resume from a recent college graduate is to head over to MySpace and Facebook and learn more about the candidate. A bad or negative profile on these social sites can mean the end of the application process for many students. Reputation management should be something that every college senior focuses on this year. It can make the difference between finding your dream job or just any job.
