July 2011 - The Social Penguin Blog

A Really Bad Weekend for Twitter

July 31, 2011 By Mike McGrail 13 Comments

Update – 02/08 – The spam storm seems to have calmed, zero nasty followers overnight. Here’s hoping it stays that way…

I arose this morning (sat 30/07) to 43 emails from Twitter stating that I had new followers. A nice start to the day! Or so I thought. Yes, I like it when someone decides to follow me – it makes me think that they may actually be interested in what I have to say, which is a remarkable thing. I started to skim through the emails and very quickly realised that 39/43 of these new followers were spam. These spammers are clearly the spawn of a ‘bot’. They have silly names, are from the USA and appear to be all female. I spent a little time blocking and reporting as spam, but life is too short and I got a little bored. As I went about my Saturday, my iPhone got stacked up with emails from Twitter, and sure enough they were alerting me to a deluge of similar spammy followers. I got pretty hacked off as I was wasting my time churning through these updates. I decided to mention it on Twitter and many of my contact were having the same experience and were similarly peed off.

This spate of spam is damaging to Twitter, over the course of the last 14 hours, I have had over 250 spammers following me. Twitter has to get a grip of this and fast, a monetised and profitable model will struggle to be created and gain traction while so open to spamming. I am led to believe that Twitter shuts down around 20,000 dodgy accounts per day, which is amiable, however the reaction to attacks like this weekend’s has to be sharper. Google+ has come along and many say it is a direct threat to the continued growth of Twitter, it offers a deeper and perhaps more complex communication platform and many will see that as a more attractive proposition moving forward. Twitter has built its success on simplicity – a network swamped with spam can easy become a headache and headaches get very wearing after a while. Twitter has to fix the major spam issues or die trying.

A typical example.

Is the Twitter spam getting you down? Vent in the comment section below!

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Book Review – Launch by Michael Stelzner (COMP!)

July 29, 2011 By Dave the Social Penguin 3 Comments

A lot of people think my favourite kind of delivery is when Mum sends me a parcel of fresh fish, but there’s nothing like the buzz I get when the latest social media book arrives on my desk (yes penguins have desks!), and Michael Stelzner’s ‘Launch’ didn’t disappoint! Whilst ‘Launch’ isn’t exactly a ‘social media’ book, the author’s affiliation to and passion for our favourite topic is certainly evident, and enough to make it a valuable read for any ‘socmed’ enthusiast.

Michael Stelzner, author of Launch

Michael Stelzner is CEO of the Social Media Examiner, which is regarded by many as one of the world’s top Social Media Blogs. ‘Launch’ is based around his ‘Elevation Principle’, which simply defined is, ‘the process of meeting the core desires of prospects and customers by helping them solve their basic problems at no cost’. Stelzner explains that this was the marketing method he used for the Social Media Examiner’s meteoric rise to the top, and therefore it made sense to use the blog as the book’s primary Case Study.

At first I was a little apprehensive about the analogy behind the Elevation Principle, which is that a of a space shuttle gaining more and more thrust as you follow each step, reflecting your business’ growth. It all seemed a little ‘cheesy’ for me, but you quickly realise that this is one hell of a well thought out analogy. Every little aspect reflects a valuable piece of information, from the rocket’s fuel (your content; the better the content the more refined the fuel) to ‘leaving earth’s atmosphere’ (people don’t like marketing messages and using them can hinder your rocket’s (business’) ability to take off into ‘outer-space’!).

Whilst ‘Launch’ will undoubtedly benefit your business planning going forward, a lot of what Stelzner talks about can work for you in any professional sense. For example, he uses Cialdini’s Reciprocity Theory to show how helping someone for free (one of the book’s key messages) makes it far more likely that person will reciprocate that favour further down the line. Like so much of the book’s advice, this is a really simple theory, but one that absolutely works.

Stelzner even simplifies some of his ideas into one word amalgamations, such as “Coopetition” – a contraction of cooperation and competition, which is used to describe his experiences with other experts who worked on SME; whilst he knew he would benefit from their input, they were also gaining great exposure on a fantastically well read blog.

Launch, worth a read for any ‘socmed’ fan!

The layout of the book is excellent, broken down into bite-size chunks of information, which are easy to digest, but what makes ‘Launch’ particularly brilliant is its conversational tone. In the past I’ve found that many ‘How to…’ books, have a tendency to patronise the reader, but this is like you’re sitting in the bar with the author and he’s sharing his thoughts with you. It’s a very clever tactic by Stelzner, because it undoubtedly makes the book more personable and therefore, you’re more likely to trust what’s being said.

I would absolutely recommend ‘Launch’ to you. Whilst it would be stupid to think that Stelzner can instantly turn any of your entrepreneurial ideas into a million dollar business, he certainly helps you to get into the right frame of mind and provides you with hoards of excellent advice. It’s also fascinating to read about the Social Media Examiner’s success story and you can’t help but feel inspired.

Rating – 8 Penguins (out of a possible 10)

Buy a copy on Amazon here!

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Filed Under: Book Reviews Tagged With: book reviews, launch, michael Stelnzer

Why Google+ is a Huge Opportunity for Bloggers

July 25, 2011 By Mike McGrail 9 Comments

The more I use Google+, the more I see its potential. At first I saw it as a challenge, I felt I had to know every last detail of what it can (and can’t do), it has many rich features and it did take a little time to work out. The killer feature for me is Circles, a very simple way of categorising people that + you and keeping a track of what they are sharing. But key to Circles is the fact that you can choose to share your updates with a particular group of people. This got me thinking about blogging…

A chance to get your finger out of the air?

When we publish a blog post on The Social Penguin Blog, we hope that lots of people read it, and most importantly gain something from taking the time to digest it. The post goes live and we will share it across various networks (Twitter for example) in order to alert people to the fact we have new content. Of course, we have lots of nice subscribers who are kind enough to want our content to either pop up in their RSS readers or email inboxes but other than that, blogging can be a ‘finger in the wind’ exercise. Google+ and Circles allows you to post copy, links, images and video and then send that out to not only the ‘public’, but Circles of your choice. You get me? All of the features of a Google+ update can come together to create simple blog posts that you can target people with.

A chance to get the attention of the people you want to read your stuff…

For example, I may want to try and get a new blog post out to key influencers in the social media scene, I can easily create a Circle full of rock stars, ninjas and mavens (please never use those terms, I use them in jest) and try to grab their attention with a new post. Of course, I can’t make them read it but that is besides the fact – this is targeted publishing, yes it’s early days, but Google+ may cause a wide reaching ripple in the blogging world.

Key for search

We don’t know to what extent Google will give precedence to posts and data within the Plus structure, but you can bet that it will start to take a strong role in moulding the search engine results. By publishing content within the platform you may well be securing some serious SERP real-estate. The extent of this remains to be seen.

Wait! Don’t throw all those eggs in one basket…

I’m not suggesting that you stop using your WordPress blog! I just think it’s important that you consider how your content could be effectively used within Google+ and the possibilities of using it to target tighter groups. Remember, Google+ is not mainstream, it is still being dominated by geeks. This is and will change though.

Should Posterous, Tumblr etc be worried?

I think any content publishing platform out there will be looking over their shoulder at Google+. There is perhaps a threat to the more simplistic platforms such as Posterous, as they pride themselves on slick and easy blog post publication. Google+ will not currently allow you to create posts with multiple images placed where you so please, or add multiple links within a post but who knows what will come? Fully pimped out blog platforms such as WordPress offer so much more than the Tumblrs of this world and we have to remember that blogs play a major role in many websites, a Google+ feed is unlikely to replace that.

Don’t forget…

To sort out your Google Authorship Markup on your current blog!

Over to you…

Am I jumping the gun? Will using Circles in this way be seen as spam? Should Posterous etc be worried? Tell me your thoughts below, would be great to hear from you. Oh and you can find me on Google here.

Thanks to Josh Chandler for getting my thoughts going on this post.

Enjoying reading The Social Penguin Blog? Why not subscribe to our RSS, follow us on Twitter or join Dave on Facebook.

Mike is the editor of The Social Penguin Blog and delivers digital marketing strategies in his role at PR & comms agency, The BIG Partnership.

Follow @mike_mcgrail

Filed Under: Blogging Tips, Google+, Social Networks Tagged With: blogging, google

Event – Social Media Strategies Summit London

July 25, 2011 By Dave the Social Penguin 1 Comment

The Social Penguin blog is pleased to announce a media partnership with the Social Media Strategies Summit taking place in London on October 25th – 27th. The event promises to be a real hot-bed of insight, practical skills and great case studies from the world of social media marketing. The line up of speakers is very impressive with some big names taking to the lectern. Speakers include:

Trevor Johnson, Head of Planning & Strategy for Facebook
Christian Cussen, MD of custom social networking tool, Ning
Matthew Sheret from Last.fm
Cedric Giorgi, Director of Seesmic

There are many more great speakers and workshops throughout the conference. For a full list of speakers and an agenda, please see here.

If you would like to buy a ticket please click here to be taken to the form. Hopefully see you there! We’ll be attending the event and sending live reports, so even if you can’t attend, you can keep up with the latest!

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Filed Under: Events

Social Media & TV – A Match Made in Heaven – Sanjay d’Humières

July 22, 2011 By GuestBlogger 3 Comments

Audience Engagement has been key to the success of British television for decades. However, there have been issues in the past few years due to stories of dishonesty, resulting in tougher regulatory and compliance procedures, meaning broadcasters have found it difficult to maintain the relationship with their audience. Modes of communications such as the phone and letters became outdated and even at that time had their limitations in terms of how programme-makers could respond to viewers and how quickly! (I personally waited six months for a reply to my letter sent to Blue Peter about the ‘Bring and Buy Sale’ some of my friends and held to help the programme’s appeal!)

The social networks have been a god-send to the TV networks and producers. Despite what you might think, about old media being over-shadowed by ‘new media’, the new is actually helping the old out. Twitter and Facebook have been instrumental in providing television programmes with new ways of building relationships with viewers. Providing real time feedback not only when a programme is on-air but all day everyday, tapping in the communication addictions within us all.

The Way we Watch TV Has Changed Forever (image - twistedsifter.com)

There are some great examples of television show’s getting social media engagement right such as The One Show on BBC One. They have been great at using Facebook as an exchange forum and publicity platform, publishing a programme preview naming that evening’s special guest every morning. Before Alex Jones and Matt Baker go on-air, fans/viewers can leave comments on The One Show’s Facebook page making the experience even more interactive. This wouldn’t have been possible five years ago. Today 18,791 fans like the page and regularly leave messages. Twitter has also been used by Question Time to great effect, with each question and answer being tweeted during the live programme. In fact, it’s so good you could almost watch the programme via Twitter and never switch on your telly. Viewers at home are also given the chance to ask questions bringing the debate into the homes of millions in a new innovative way.

Recent studies have shown that more people are using social media to enhance their viewing experience and it’s a habit I’ve fallen in to; I love the box AND social media, why not both at the same time?

Social media isn’t without it’s downsides but overall there is no doubt that those of us who work in television should be grateful to social media for what it has done in the field of audience engagement.

Sanjay is studying a MA in Media Management at the University of Westminster in London, UK, specialising in Change Management and Transformation.

Follow @sanjaydhumieres

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Filed Under: Social Networks Tagged With: social media, TV

Social Media Content – Make it Actionable!

July 19, 2011 By Mike McGrail Leave a Comment

Time for a little reality check folks. Content is King, everyone (including me in the past) has been saying it for a long time, but what is it actually achieving? Whilst I believe that added value content that is useful or engaging is key to a rounded digital communications strategy, there has to be a point when said content achieves a sale or at least a strong lead. Your content strategy must take in to account the needs for calls to actions (CTAs) from day one. If you start producing content bereft of all calls to action, people will feel a little miffed when you start to introduce them at a later date.

Start with subtle CTAs such as subscribing to newsletters or hooking up to an RSS and work in email enquiry forms etc as you move forward. Each social channel has it’s own ways of allowing you to include CTAs. Calls to action can take a number of shapes and your business structure will dictate those. If your sales structure allows it, give people the facility to buy your product within say, a blog post. The user will get hacked off if they love your content, want to check out your products but then have to head off to another section of your site to give you their money. Why make it difficult?

Too Much Fluff?

If you float along creating fluffy content for too long then the people that matter i.e. your boss or client will eventually question the relevance and effect of your work. ‘I’m raising awareness’ or ‘I’ve created 10 relationships in the past week’ will only fly for so long. Maintain an interest in the people that are interacting with and absorbing your content, but ensure there is a level of self-interest at all times.

Many will disagree with these thoughts, but if you ask the people & businesses that have had the best results from content and social media and they will tell you that a balanced approach of creating nice content blended with clear CTAs and targets is the only way to go.

Now, don’t you dare leave this page without subscribing to our RSS, or following us on Twitter. Oh and tell a friend too.

Mike is the editor of The Social Penguin Blog and delivers digital marketing strategies in his role at PR & comms agency, The BIG Partnership.

Follow @mike_mcgrail

Filed Under: Social Media Marketing Tagged With: content, digital content, social media content

Is Filtering Messing with your Social Media Metrics? – Kelly Forbes

July 18, 2011 By Kelly Forbes Leave a Comment

Social media monitoring and measurement have really taken a giant leap forward in 2011. There are more tools available and more organizations touting their finely crafted dashboards, all offering a wealth of data on your social media activities. Not having much to compare this data against with we don’t often stop to question how just how accurate the figures are. Apps and dashboard spit out numbers and we just accept their validity. Should the rise of filtering in social media make us think twice about those numbers?

Filtering is everywhere these days; social media providers are allowing users to decide how they consume content. Lists to filter followers, Apps that filter keywords, Facebook hiding status updates; hardly anyone is looking at the full picture anymore. So what does this mean for your data?

We struggled for a good filter image!

Reach is a metric in social media that gets a lot of ink and is especially important for awareness campaigns. (The non social media types you report to usually get a big kick out of this figure when it’s high.) It shows how far a message travelled or how many people it ‘reached’. Reach is the metric that stands to be most affected by filtering but has our ability to determine reach been compromised, should we be worried about filtering??

Yes, because filtering is about changes in consumer behaviour and we should always pay attention to those…and no because reach on its own is a crap metric.

It’s important to remember that reach metrics are usually calculated based on potential; they are the best case scenario, the potential number of people you could reach if everyone saw your content. I think we can all agree that never happens; the actual % of people who consume your content is going to be much lower. Reach metrics are really interesting but they aren’t particularly useful unless they are tied to an action. (How many shared, commented, clicked a link etc.)

On Twitter you have no way of knowing who is using lists and keyword search to consume content, or who is blocking content entirely with services like Tweetdeck that allow you to filter keywords. Facebook Insights can show you how many people have decided not to consume your content through the unsubscribe (how many people have hidden you in their stream) and unlike metrics. You can’t tell how many people saw your content but you can see who has chosen not to. You should still have a fairly accurate idea of your reach because of this.

As a marketer it irks to think that people will actually go out of their way to filter out what you’re trying to say, when this does happen the frequency at which you punt out content probably needs to be looked at urgently. However as a consumer of content I am thrilled that I can block any kind of mention of annoying things (like Big Brother) and avoid spoilers for TV shows like the Apprentice if I missed watching them live. As the number of people you follow gets higher lists become essential for making sure you don’t miss important or interesting things that you would definitely miss with the speed things pass in your main stream. As more and more people start Twitter accounts the need for lists grows as people try to manage their flow of information so we’re likely to see an increase in list usage as Twitter matures.

As a brand do you think people are more likely to see your messages in a main stream or through a filter like a list or keyword search? Yes, we do need to start thinking about filtering and how it affects people consuming content. We need to continue to develop relationships with followers and subscribers to make sure that we end up on the right side of those filters; but I wouldn’t worry too much about wonky reach metrics, they probably weren’t accurate anyway!

This post was created by our co-editor – Kelly Forbes, you can follow her on twitter here and make sure you get your peepers round her magical blog!

Follow @macfack

Filed Under: Online Measurement, Social Media Marketing Tagged With: facebook, Filtering, Reach, Social Media Metrics, Twitter

What Our Writers Think of Google Plus

July 15, 2011 By Mike McGrail 4 Comments

We have yet to mention Google + on The Social Penguin Blog, why? Well we try to publish original content and don’t tend to report on news that the whole world is already covering, it get’s a little dull. However, Google + is big news, so we decided to ask some of our writers to share their opinions on the what is surely Google’s last throw of the social network dice.

James Ainsworth

‘Once you use it in anger for a period of time and you step back from the social media bubble within which many of us operate, it is possible to see the potential of Google+. The problem with the launch phase of Google+ is that access was allocated according to your social graph. Straight away you have an echo chamber of social on social, talking about social. Until this gets diluted and the floodgates open for anyone and everyone to join in, it will continue to operate in such a way.

The talk of which existing network should feel threatened, in my mind, is a bit redundant and too obvious. I see that I will continue to use ALL existing networks, not substitute one for another and their purposes will become more clearly defined. But this still misses the point of why we now have Google+

Anyone who thinks this is “just another social network” should look beyond just that, Google’s business model is to serve targeted advertising and what they were lacking to fulfil this was personalised data. Names, gender and other demographic details, interests and interactions all provide rich data streams and therefore opportunities and revenue streams. Create a social network and you get all that in one swoop. Facebook had that and now Google do too. Clever. Your move Microsoft, Apple etc…’

James Ainsworth is a Community Manager at Alterian.

Stu Bradley

‘I would never want to be a member of any club that would have someone like me as a member.’ When I think of G+ I think of this misquote from Woody Allen’s ‘Annie Hall’ – I was desperate to get on Google Plus, but after I got on it I really didn’t use it much.

I can see the potential, especially given I can stick people I’ve met at events etc in a ‘networking’ circle without having to decide if they should be a Facebook friend or a Twitter follow- the former get spammed with my questionable music taste and the latter get my stream (though it’s more like a fast flowing river…) of consciousness. If they follow back that is…

Prefer it to LinkedIn, which feels much too ‘serious’ for a 23 year old to be lurking around on, and I hope I figure out how I’m going to use it soon!

You can read more from Stu on his blog.

Kelly Forbes

‘I must admit I’m rather enjoying Google+, perhaps because it feels like Facebook but without all the crap baggage that comes with Facebook. (Like Farmville) Ironically for for something that is supposed to be a “Facebook KIller” it’s predominately people from Twitter that I see using it at the moment. I’m still waiting for the benefits of using it to become more apparent, rather than Google+ being yet another social media profile to keep up to date.

Right now I’m watching, waiting and wishing someone would join my ‘Hangout’.’

Hook up with Kelly on Twitter here.

Rob Zaleski

‘I’d have to say that I’m enjoying Google+ thus far, but it definitely has the feel of something that is in its beginning stages. Once it goes completely open, more people are on it, and 3^rd parties find a way to enhance the experience, I think it will be big. (Although I hope Google+ stays away from things like Farmville that just clutter up feeds)

I particularly like the circles aspect, as I can share interesting articles and such with just fellow social media nerds, and silly web comics with just my friends. I do think that this somewhat negatively impacts the interactivity aspect that Facebook provides. If I only share something with a specific circle of people, I do lose the possibility of someone outside of that circle potentially taking interest and sparking up a conversation or debate with others that I’ve shared it with. It has the potential to limit the ‘networking’ portion of social networking.

One thing that I would like to see Google add to Google+ is useful homepage applications, like they had for the iGoogle homepages. I like having a square for news, a world clock (so I know what time it is in the UK! ), etc. Google+ kind of has this with the Sparks portion, where you can get pertinent info on specific topics of interest, which seems to have potential.

In its infancy, Google+ seems to have plenty of room to grow. I’ll be interested to see what we are all saying about it a year from now as Google ascertains what is working and what is not, and acts on feedback received from users.’

Catch Rob on Twitter here.

Dave the Social Penguin

‘I’ve been hanging out with my penguin pals on Plus, the Hangouts let us share videos of puffins having really funny accidents on their skateboards. When will they learn that they are far too stupid to do anything other than stand on rocks?!? I like the circles too, I’ve just been added to one by an old dolphin mate of mine called Trevor, not seen him in years.’

You can follow Dave on Twitter here.

Over to you folks, what are your initial Google Plus thoughts? Just another network you need to spend too much time on? The future of social networking? What’s missing that you really want to see? Please do let us know below…

Follow @social_penguin

Filed Under: Social Networks, Technology

Tech Guide – QR Codes & Microsoft Tags – Rob Zaleski

July 11, 2011 By Mike McGrail 4 Comments

Rob takes a look at QR Codes, and the Microsoft equivalent known as Tags. Also shares some great US based stats regarding smart phone use.

With the USPS QR Code Summer Sale incentive starting (3% off postage just for including a mobile scannable barcode on your direct mail piece), it seems a timely topic to discuss QR codes and their lesser used counterpart Microsoft Tags.

For those of you who are not familiar, QR stands for “Quick Response” Code. They are popping up in numerous magazines, billboards, at train and bus stations, and will definitely be showing up in many direct mail campaigns. QR codes are typically free to set up with many open-source code creators and scanners available. The codes are linked to a URL, typically a mobile-friendly landing page (like Fig. 1) with a video, coupon code, or product/service information. Standard QR codes offer some customization options, depending on which website you go to create them. You can edit them a bit in a photo editing program and insert your company logo like we have done for our company below in Fig. 2 (Be careful to check that the code works. It may require a bit of trial and error).

Fig 1 - QR Code for The Station Theatre

Fig 2 - Add Your Brand

Microsoft Tags (Fig. 3) are newer to the QR code game, but offer some fun color customization. You will likely see less of these than standard QR codes for many reasons. First and foremost, MS Tags require a specific, proprietary reader. With standard QR codes, there are tons of reader apps with different interfaces. This is where Microsoft is getting the most flak. Many people recognize what to do with a standard QR code, but may not yet with a MS Tag. This makes it imperative that you add a call to action along side your MS Tag, or it will likely be overlooked. Both are free to download the app and create, but Microsoft is already mentioning on their website that costs may be coming for “more robust reporting” options.

Fig 3 - An example of a Microsoft Tag

Statistics

As of last year, almost half of Android users polled by ScanLife (48%) said that they have scanned a mobile barcode with their device. Over a third (39%) of iPhone users stated the same. Right now, smartphone penetration is about 30%, but is expected to jump to nearly 50% in the next year or so as more smartphones become affordable. These are statistics to pay close attention to for mobile marketing strategy, given the number of people who now use cell phones as their primary phone line. Also according the Scanlife, 2010 saw a 1600% increase (yes, you read that right) in mobile barcode traffic. I wouldn’t be surprised to see another jump this year with the USPS offering the direct mail incentive (especially in the States).

Here are some points to consider:

Be sure there is a call to action. Give a reason to scan the barcode (more info, promotion, coupon, etc). Most people polled stated they scanned a barcode for these reasons according to Webtrends.

If possible, and space allows, explain the action to be done. i.e. “Scan this barcode with your phone to get a coupon for 10% off. Don’t have a scanner, get one here.” Also, make sure to put your website somewhere close in case someone doesn’t feel like scanning the code or downloading a code reader.

Always test your QR codes and interact with your landing page to make sure it offers a pleasant experience for your customers.

Most importantly-Make sure your landing page is mobile optimized. This seems obvious, but it is often not followed. If people have to wait forever for your site to load or parts of it won’t load (read: Flash, if people have iPhones) they will likely abandon the process and you’ve achieved nothing but perhaps hurting your company image.

What is your experience with QR codes? Have you seen MS Tags anywhere? Have you started utilizing QR codes as part of your campaign?

Rob Zaleski is an Account Manager at Strategic Marketing & Mailing, actor with the Celebration Company at the Station Theatre, and social media newbie.
Follow @robzie81

Filed Under: Technology, Uncategorized Tagged With: microsoft tags, QR codes

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Book Review – Launch by Michael Stelzner (COMP!)

Event – Social Media Strategies Summit London

Tech Guide – QR Codes & Microsoft Tags – Rob Zaleski

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