2012 marketing trends and predictions
It’s the time of year when everyone is talking about what will be big in 2012. By that I mean, what marketing trends consumers, brands – and their agencies – will be participating in. Tuesday night we headed to the Networx 2012 marketing trends forecast, to hear what a panel of those in-the-know (including Nigel O’Rorke from Microsoft Australia, Lucinda Barlow from Google AUS/NZ, Seamus Byrne from CNET, and Steve [...]
An argument for organic Facebook growth
Organically growing a Facebook community can be a hard slog, unless your brand is iconic or has a cult-like status (Coca-Cola), or unless it’s just really awesome and lots of people want to find it and like it (Bubble O’Bill). Many brands feel like they must have thousands (even millions) of likes / fans to prove they are more popular than their competitors, or to generally keep up appearances. This [...]
Social media growth in Australia 2011
We came across this little gem from Social Media News that shows the growth of each major social network in Australia over 2011 (click to enlarge). In fact, Social Media News is also a great resource for monthly Australian social media statistics. Check them out. Here are some key stats: Facebook growth and engagement continues to rise. Many are speculating Facebook will reach a whopping 1 billion users globally in [...]
Why do people share content online?
Did this image appear in your Facebook newsfeed on the weekend? Timothy Straub, a regular guy from Wisconsin, US, shared this on Facebook and thanks to his small network of friends and family (and his open privacy settings) the photo is making its way around the world. It has already been shared over 18,400+ times and counting. Timothy is now getting friend requests from randoms and as a consequence, has posted this message on his wall: “Due [...]
Social media for journalists – resources and guides
The first Australian newspaper to employ a social media editor is the Herald Sun, and her name is Isabelle Oderberg, in case you didn’t know! It’s her job to improve the newspaper’s use of social media and to help journalists boost their own social media profiles, as reported in the Australian today. Also mentioned was the introduction of social media policies by the Herald and Weekly Times and Fairfax Media. [...]
Social media map
It’s not easy navigating through the social media landscape. It’s a big, busy place, much like the Tokyo subway. To help with general way-finding, the awesome folks at Overdrive Interactive in the States have just released this little gem. It’s a succinct, high-level look at the main social media tools and websites and where they all fit. The map will help you to explain the landscape to clients, colleagues – [...]
Creating content that’s worth sharing
To some people this is just an ad, but to me it’s more – it’s a great piece of content. So compelling is this piece of content that I legitimately considered the offer. I found myself saying, “This would actually kill two birds with one stone and you know what, a bit of hard work never hurt anyone.” Then, when it got to the free coffee and stay in bed [...]
YouTube statistics 2011
One thing that the explosion of social media has given us is a remarkable array of mind-bending statistics, such as… “More content is uploaded to YouTube in a 60 day period than the 3 major US TV networks created in 60 years” or what about “If Facebook were a country it would be the 3rd largest country in the world.” What I’ve found in my time scouring the internet for social [...]
Sydney Social Media Day – it’s a day for islands
It’s tough being an island - all alone and conspicuous. There are many social media islands out there in companies. These people have been tasked with “getting some social media going”; they’re doing what no employee has done before; and what’s more, it doesn’t even look like real work. If you feel like a social media island at your work the good news is that tomorrow is your day because Sydney (and the world) is having a [...]
Breakfast with Facebook’s Paul Borrud
“We’re in the business of advertising” Somewhere along the way I forgot this fact about Facebook but Paul Borrud, Facebook’s Australasia boss man, reminded me last week at a breakfast conference. And it’s a lucrative business, one that will make Facebook $605 million this year according to a report by eMarketer, as described by Brian Solis. During Paul’s one hour presentation he covered off some current user stats and reiterated their mission (…give people [...]
Changes to Facebook – a brand perspective
Facebook is loving change right now. Every time I log on they’ve gone and tweaked something. These changes are due to the release of a new version of F8, their development platform. The changes will affect how people and brands operate on the platform but some changes will have far reaching implications that will re-define the web, but more on that later. For now, I’m writing this post from a brand perspective and first, let’s get [...]
The big fat blogosphere…start here
If there’s one good habit to develop early in 2010, it’s the habit of exploring and engaging with the blogosphere – but where to start? That’s the question. Lucky for us, people (with a penchant for laborious tasks) like to rank bloggers on lists, which is great if you’d like a short cut to the cream of the crop. For example, Australia has some cracking bloggers who can be found [...]
Hammer time @ the Social Media Club
When I think MC Hammer I think three things: 1/ Hammer pants; 2/ Hammer time; and 3/ You Can’t Touch This I don’t think social media entrepreneur. At least I didn’t until last night when we social media ruffians packed into a UTS lecture hall to hear the Hammer break it down at the Social Media Club in Sydney. I’ll out myself now as a fan of the guy. Loved [...]
New knowledge for PR professionals: how much do you know?
“I’m supposed to be on top of what’s new in tech, but there’s just too much, too fast; it’s like drinking from a fire hose” I like this quote a lot. American tech columnist, David Pogue, said this and it’s sometimes how I feel trying to keep up with social media. Today’s PR professional needs to be on top of many new things to keep up with the rapid technological and social changes we’re [...]
Making money from viral videos: behind Beached Whale
I attended a New Media Conference last week. By far the most entertaining speaker was Dan Ilic. His talk was more stand up comedy routine than conference presentation which at 9.30am on a Friday, was fine with me. From his viewpoint the best virals are strong on character, content and narrative; they make an emotional connection and stay true to the idea. Controversity, celebrity and comedy are obvious winners and his guide for time was between 45 seconds to 3 [...]
Social media and the evolution of the PR industry
“Change is the only constant” The last ‘big change’ change I can remember in the PR industry involved switching from faxing to emailing press releases and wow, didn’t that shake things up! In case you didn’t realise, PR is undergoing some pretty big changes and we have social media to thank for these exciting times. The evolution of technology and the creation of social tools on the web has opened up a brand new world [...]
