How Social Networking Empowered the Consumer

Asking your friends. It’s one of the primary methods many of us use in determining the product or service choices we make. But have you ever considered how social networking has boosted that reliance and given us a path to even more opinions?

I’m going to spend the next few minutes suggesting to you that social networking has been a key determant of that boost, concluding that social validation, particularly in how we market to consumers, is more important than ever.

Consider for a moment, if you will, the last time you asked an opinion of a friend or peer which helped you make a decision. It doesn’t need to be a big decision; anything from where to eat to “does my bum look big in this”!

Now consider why you asked them. What kind of words do you think of?

Trust? Reliability? Impartiality?

We live in a society which is far less tolerant of brands and their messages than we may have been in the past. As some experts suggest, there are even people who are directly opposed to branding.

Instead, we seek honest opinion and impartiality to guide us – at least in part.

So, how does social networking come into this? I believe it gives us a mode through which to extend our circles and thus glean more insight and more opinion from far more people than we know in person.

In practical terms, this works in numerous ways:

- Friend recommendations

Getting in contact with our friends is now easier than ever thanks to things like Facebook and BBM, so asking for opinions is also easier.

Far beyond that though, we can share our recommendations through our status updates, through our location check ins and through anything we share with our friends and followers.

- Expert recommendations

We can also gain the opinions of those beyond our own social circles through the likes of websites, Twitter and blogging. Imagine the value to you if you are looking for, let’s say, a good reference book on piloting – if you see a well known, respected and experienced pilot recommends a certain book, you will be far more likely to choose that book. If you are interested in technology, you may go to a source like .Net to find the best resources.

- Reviews

We can see reviews in use on sites such as eBay and Amazon – and these are examples of social networking too. It’s that real, honest opinion from someone who’s used the product that gives us the confidence that leads to conversion.

- SEO

I won’t go into the complexities, but Google have recently made changes to their algorithms which put far more emphasis on the relative validity of resources and websites that show up in search results. These are based on the number of links websites have to them from other reputable sources and how they’re rated by users. Google even incorporates your social networks into your search results, providing you with bespoke results dependant on what your friends have liked too.

Of course, there are other ways we can learn through the internet and social networking but it all comes down to one thing: the importance of social validation.

What’s really interesting is how we as businesses can harness that importance and make it work in our favour. Understanding the importance of social validation is key but inherently, it’s got to be about continuing to provide a service people will want to recommend and giving them to facilities or incentives to do that.

Why are you following me?

Managing our online profile is more important than ever

In an interesting, yet bizarre, turn of events, my online profiles are today experiencing a spike in traffic…

And the reason for this spike? One person mentioned they had Googled me and found it interesting.

One person looked, so many more people in my network wanted to look; they trusted their friend’s recommendation that something was interesting and sought more information because they thought it would interest them too.

It’s a very basic yet very prevalent part of online marketing and is indeed relevant for both brand positioning and our own personal profiling.

As a brand or an individual, we want to know that the information people come across about us is positive and helping to develop our brand personality. We want to ensure that information related to us is relevant, worthwhile and of value to our audience. We want people to want to share it.

So how can we achieve this?

There’s really no hard answer as any answer is entirely brand, audience and context specific. But in essence, it comes down to managing our online presence.

So whilst others fret over the new privacy settings of their favourite networks, stop and think; do I want to hide my information, or do I want to better manage my profile by checking the way I handle myself (or my brand) online and ensure, when people do search for us, they get the impression we want them to?

You never know who’s Googling you and who they’re sharing that information with, so make sure you give them something worth sharing.

How to Boost Your Job Search with Social Media

Getting a job these days can be difficult. As the percentage if young people out of work continues to rise, we need to look beyond conventional methods. So can our online profile aid our job search?

I believe it can. And here’s how:

Boosting the CV with LinkedIn

A CV is a great thing. It’s a summary off our experience and a great way to showcase what we can do.

But that’s all it is. A brief showcase of our most recent experience presented in a very static way.

The benefit that LinkedIn has for the job seeker, and the employer, is that it is dynamic. Our LinkedIn profiles grow and develop as we do, so long as we use them well, and allow us to show our potential employers our skills, interests and recommendations as well as our previous employment.

So, how do we get the most out of LinkedIn?

Profiles

The first thing is a full and complete profile. Unlike Facebook, this is a place to capture your business self and showcase your talents. Be sure to include all relevant employment and give full descriptions of tasks, projects and responsibilities.

Recommendations

Recommendations on LinkedIn are references for your work, associated to your job. They’re a great way of showing not only how your CV referees rate you but also what your colleagues and clients thought of you in that position. They give a lot more insight than your CV could.

Don’t be afraid to ask for recommendations – they’re a great record of your value and are more easily available to potential employers than references.

The best way to get a recommendation (aside from doing well in your job) is to recommend other people. Try to get recommendations from fromof the relevant people you work with – whether you’re planning to leave or not.

Allowing potential employers to see what people think of you can really help you stand out.

Groups and Interaction

Just as you “like” Pages on Facebook, you can join groups on LinkedIn.

These groups help you in two main ways, the first being to provide you with a forum to discuss matters relevant to you and the second being to enable you to showcase your expertise and network with like minded professionals.

You should join and interact in groups which are relevant to the line of work you are in or looking to move into. Showing you are aware of current isses and generally interested in the industry will help you stand out from other candidates and also give you something to talk about in your interview.

The Benefits of Blogging

Just as interacting in groups on LinkedIn will show your interests, blogging too provides a medium through which to show your expertise, share your thoughts and communicate your personality and passion.

And your blog doesn’t need to take a lot of time; don’t feel you need to labour over it to constantly provide the most in depth analysis and revolutionary thought. Instead, see it as a way of improving your own understanding of topics whilst showing that you genuinely are interested in whatever topic (relevant to your line of work) you cover.

You can then add the URL of your blog to your CV, giving your application an extra dimension that others might not have.

Blogs give you great exposure too. You never know; your blog may br spotted by people in the industry you seek to progress in before you even send your CV which would put you in a great position before the application process even starts!

Follow and comment on the blogs of others

Following other people’s blogs and commenting on them is another way to get benefit from blogs. Try to identify the influential people in your sector and listen to what they have to say. Learn from them and provide your insight in return. Being aware of current issues and understanding them from an insiders point of view will really help you stand out.

The importance of the internet

Blogging is also a great way of showing you understand the importance of the internet in today’s business world.

No matter the sector, businesses everywhere are using or seeing the need to use the likes of social media to engage their audience and achieve their goals. By demonstrating your online prowess, you’ll be identified as someone who knows what they’re doing and who can help the company progress in the online sphere.

Networking through Twitter

Twitter is a micro blogging platform where users share updates and links and conduct conversations in 140 character messages (see my guide to Twitter for beginners to learn more).

Through Twitter, you can follow influential and interesting people in your sector. This will provide you opportunities to see what they think about things and follow the links they share.

Interacting with those people in an intelligent manner will also get you noticed and help you increase your knowledge. Retweet the tweets you find interesting and reply from time to time; that way, the person you’re following gets to learn more about you too.

Your Twitter feed can also link to your blog so every time you upload a new post, your followers will be aware, once again increasing your exposure in your industry and building up your networks.

It’s not all about business cards these days you know!

Manage your personal networks

Using social media in a job search also means managing the networks you wouldn’t class as business.

For example, if you’re anything like me your Facebook profile is full of photos of you and your friends and you wall is covered with interactions with those friends that may not portray you as the professional you want to be seen as.

Having those kinds of profiles, whether on Facebook, Google Plus or anywhere else is fine. Just be aware that any potential employer can find those pages, so spend a bit of time checking your privacy settings and seeing what other people can see. It takes a bit of time but it’s well worth the effort to ensure the perception potential employers have of you is shaped only by the things you want it to be.

Help! My BBM is down! (and other world changing events…)

Have we lost the plot? Has the world gone entirely insane?

Yesterday, I listened to the news in horror as the story of a young boy killed in a hit and run was bumped back in the headline order to make way for the BIG story of the day: Blackberry users couldn’t get on the internet.

I guess it might be me… As a Samsung user I’ve never been faced with the monumental tragedy of not being able to update my Facebook status. I mean, god forbid a moment should ever arise where I can’t share a link to my favourite cat-playing-the-piano video as soon as it comes to my attention. May there never be a day where I cannot tell the world my deepest, most inner thoughts in 140 characters.

In an interview on Radio 1, one devastated RIM customer shared his emotional turmoil; he was unable to BBM his 8 month pregnant wife. What was he supposed to do?

Here’s a thought (and bear with me on this one). What if you CALLED your wife? You know, like the old days. What if you saved your status update for later? What if you checked your emails on a computer rather than a phone? What if we got some perspective, learned to live without phones for the day and allowed the death of that little boy the coverage it deserves?

Because some things are more important than BBM.

The Power of Social Media

It’s difficult, when working in social media, not to take notice of recent events in the UK. It’s an unfortunate thing that the inherent (and positive) power of social media is questionned and doubted due to the actions of a minority. But social media has power way beyond the influences we’ve seen suggested in the media over the past few days.

Many news sources are suggesting that the riots in London and across the UK are being organised via social media – under particular scrutiny are Twitter and Blackberry’s BBM. According to some news, rioters are announcing meeting places and coordinating their actions using social media – and for that reason, some are even suggesting stricter regulations around the use of BBM and even shutting it down entirely until the riots have subsided. You can see more coverage about this on the BBC News site.

All of this raises difficult questions about social media and how we use it in society. Can we really impose restrictions on social media? Or are we putting our freedom of speech and our own liberties at risk if we do?

But more importantly, can we really tarnish social media with the brush of negativity? Since the rioting began, we’ve seen a whole range of social media led initiatives which aim to bring positivity in a difficult time – proving that social media can be an instigator of good and that social media users are not afraid to stand up for what is right.

As an example, you may have been following @riotcleanup and the accompanying hashtag #riotcleanup. Through this Twitter account, people have been arranging clean up operations around the country to get the places affected by the riots back to normal. Today, the account has over 86,000 followers and is still trending worldwide. And it’s not just an online initiative – people really are participating, turning up to locations affected with brooms and bin bags, ready to help in any way they can. Take a look at the riotcleanup at www.twitter.com/riotcleanup.

There’s also the growing initiative ‘Operation Cup of Tea’, a Facebook event come hashtag which encourages followers to stay at home and enjoy a cup of tea, posting photos of themselves with their hot drinks and showing that they are not rioting. A very British response! You can follow Operation Cup of Tea on Facebook or use the hashtag #operationcupoftea on Twitter.

There are many lessons we need to learn from the events currently taking place in our country. One that we’d like to bring to light is that social media is powerful and the people using it will stand up for what they believe. As long as we have the positivity and camaraderie we see through initiatives such as riotcleanup and Operation Cup of Tea, there’s hope for our country.

Social media brings people together via #riotcleanup

How to Get an Invitation to Google+

Google have announced the launch of what many people are calling the ‘rival to Facebook’ this morning.

Google+ pitches itself as a new way of organising social networks, utilising a new concept called ‘Circles’ which allows you to group your friends and selectively share content with them.

The new service also include Hangout, a live video stream that you and your friends can drop in and out of, Huddle, which allows you to message groups of people and drop in and out of conversations and Spark, which connects you with like minded people. It also incorporates map data so you can view updates according to people near you and, according to Google, find out when your friends are nearby, making it easier to connect with them offline. The whole service seems to be offering a more customisable experience for the user.

Google Plus is still in beta but rolling out soon

To obtain the new service, you’ll need an invitation from Google while they continue in their beta phase, with the full service being rolled out to everyone in the future. To request your invitation, simply follow this link:

• Google+ Invitation Request

As something of a social media geek, I’m very excited about this and have already registered with the service to find out more. That said, as with everything social media, it will be important to find a value in Google+; keep following my blogs for more.

Historically, Facebook has been the social network of choice because that’s where our friends are. But with more and more people suffering, according to many reports, Facebook Fatigue, can Zuckerberg’s team make the necessary amends to retain their 500 million users? Or have Google, having failed miserably in the past with Wave and Buzz, finally managed to come up with a solution to beat the social media giant?

To find out more about the new service, take a look at this useful video from Google:

Will Twitter Start Charging for Username Ownership?

Will the @towerbridge issue cause changes to Twitter?

Back in 2009, Biz Stone suggested to Tech Crunch that his social network Twitter would start charging companies to keep accounts on the site. The reaction to this was one of acceptance – it seemed the only logical way for the notoriously un-business-like Twitter to form a feasible business plan.

However, two years on and rather than charging for corporate accounts, Twitter has remained largely a free service with the most notable addition being the ‘Promoted Tweets’ feature which allows companies to pay to feature in people’s home feeds. So will this morning’s news change things?

Twitter reassigns Tower Bridge account

In what will possibly become one of the social network’s pivotal moments, Twitter has reassigned the account @towerbridge from its original owner Tom Armitage to exhibition company Tower Bridge Exhibitions and Events.

Talking about the reassignment, Tower Bridge Exhibitions and Events told .Net Magazine they requested it “because that’s what we are and that’s what we thought people would search for” – despite the fact that original @towerbridge owner Tom Armitage “didn’t pretend to pass itself off as a trademark, or a registered company, or as anything related to the exhibition that runs within the edifice. If it passed itself of as anything, it was the structure itself” (as cited on .Net Magazine ).

The Monetization of Twitter Usernames?

So how can Twitter users be sure that their Twitter accounts won’t just be ‘reassigned’ to companies who claim they use their trademark? How can they protect their feeds from simply being erased, losing all of their followers and all of the work they had done to grow their account?

The simply answer seems to be: they can’t. For the time being at least, all of our Twitter accounts are quite open to being contended by anyone who feels they have a claim to them.

It seems feasible then to suggest that the social network might start charging companies for their corporate account username – perhaps as a yearly fee. That way, they could protect their name and therefore the work they’ve done on their accounts. But would companies do that? Or is it better to simply set our usernames at something unique to us from the start?

What do you think? How could Twitter have handled this issue better? Who was at fault? Would you pay for a Twitter account? Looking forward to your thoughts in the comments below.

How to Add Google +1 to Your Website and What To Do Once It’s There

Google have announced the relaunch of their social share service “+1″.

The move comes as no surprise, with Google working constantly to improve their social offering and give better search results based on social validation. It will come as no surprise then that developers all over the world are already adding the button to their website, keen to get on board and ensure their sites can easily be ‘liked’ to improve their search rankings. For details on how to add the button to your website, visit Google’s own help page or take a look at the video below to see how Google suggest +1 can help you:

What is Google +1?

Google +1 is a social validation tool which enables users to ‘like’ or mark a webpage as useful or valuable to them. The more people +1 the site, the more prominence it gains on search engine results pages (SERPs). Think of it as user led SEO link building.

How should I use Google +1?

People are not going to +1 any old piece of content – quality content is key here because you’re asking your users to put their hands up and, in front of their own social networks, say “I recommend this page”. And earning that recommendation won’t be easy.

As with all things in marketing, it’s really important to consider who your audience is and what will provide value to them. Tailoring your content around this and taking that content to your audience in the places they are most active online will give you a far better chance of being recommended.

Read more about the importance of social validation in my recent Figaro Digital feature.

The Importance of Social Validation [Feature]

Figaro Digital Magazine is online and offline

This month, Figaro Digital magazine features an article (and a rather unflattering photo) by me on the importance of social validation. Take a look on Figaro’s website.

Twitter Acquires Tweetdeck for a “Better User Experience”

Will Twitter improve Tweetdeck?

It has been officially confirmed by both parties that Twitter has indeed bought out Twitter client Tweetdeck in a somewhat controversial move from the micro blogging site.

Over the days that preceded the take-over, many bloggers and tech sites pondered the potential implication of such a takeover, with some suggesting that Twitter’s aim was to take over Tweetdeck with the sole purpose of ceasing its existence, whilst others suggest the takeover is born more of a need to bring consistency to the Twitter experience.

In a statement, Twitter’s Ryan Sarvar explained “With more people joining Twitter and accessing the service in multiple ways, a consistent user experience is more crucial than ever”; citing the importance of consistent experience as the primary purpose for the purchase.

The move makes sense in many ways; Tweetdeck has long been known as the Twitter client of choice for many of the so-called “power users” and the functionality of twitter.com remains uninspiring for the heavy Twitter user. What will be interesting to see will be the way Twitter chooses to handle Tweetdecks current multi-network functionality, whereby users can manage various social networks from the one platform; it remains to be seen whether Twitter will retain this functionality or remove it for the sake of downplaying the competition. That said, the multi-network approach may well be the reason for Tweetdeck’s popularity.

I’m a big fan of Hootsuite, but I’ll be keeping an eye on Tweetdeck to see if it can be improved. What do you think of it? I’d love to know in the comments below.