Category: Search

Social search continues to be important for your brand’s social media presence and here are a few tips to make it work:

1. Define your keywords: When it comes to searching for your brand, which keywords would you like to be associated with? Innovation? Bathroom appliances? Design? Plumbing Melbourne? It could be anything as long as you define it first.

2. Twitter Bio: It is REALLY hard to write search relevant content while keeping it enagaging and interesting for the readers but it is worth to try. To make things even more interesting, Twitter makes you do it in 160 characters. But think of your Twitter profile as the meta description of your page and you will understand how important this is.

3. Tweets: Use your keywords early in your tweet to make it more likely to rank in searches.

4. Regularity: Tweet often and regular and also remember that the more followers you have, the better the search results.

5. Twitter directories: These directories are great to find more followers and to build links to your Twitter profile.

6. Facebook status updates: Similar to your Twitter bio, it is VERY hard to write engaging and user centric content with search in mind but it is worth you try anyway. Find a way to link your updates back to your brand’ keywords without being too pushy and use links. Use links often. Also, use anchor text.

7. Facebook photo captions: Your keyword and linking strategy should be extended to Facebook photos. Write relevant descriptions and captions and again it is hard to find a good compromise between writing for search and for the user but be creative. It is worth putting in a lot of effort here as this can significantly boost your search rankings.

8. Facebook About tab: While you cannot place a link or anchor text in the “About” section, it is one of the most important places to list your website address.

9. YouTube keywords: Make sure you include your keywords in your video title, description and keyword section. Repeat the same words in all three for best search results. Next to the title, the description is the second most important thing when it comes to search rankings so put some extra effort into the description.

10. YouTube replies: All search engines like pages which have a lot of links built into them. One way to do this on YouTube is to leave a video reply to related videos.

There is a lot of chatter across the inter-web about “social search”. No, It’s not a bunch of friends in a room comparing search results. But, while we’re not sitting “together” in a room searching for things, what our friends search for collectively will have a direct impact on the result.

The intention of Social Search is to return results from your friends (friends = social networks) based on their recommendations, likes and general feelings they have toward the objects you look for online. Here is an extract from the patent taken out by Facebook;

“The invention provides still another technique to improve the relevance of search results. According to an embodiment of the invention, search results, including sponsored links and algorithmic search results, are generated in response to a query, and are ranked based on the frequency of clicks on the search results by members of social network who are within a predetermined degree of separation from the member who submitted the query. The predetermined degree of separation is equal to one if the click activities of only the friends of the member who submitted the query are to be examined. “

What’s the point? I’ll let Christian Oestlien, from Google explain “Recommendations play a vital role in our decision-making process,” he told the Wall Street Journal. “You look at the advice of people you know and trust.”

What are the implications?

This will mean instead of asking your friends what they think, you will just ask your search engine. But more than that, you will be able to gauge if an acquaintance has shown any interest in the same thing you’re looking for, without even asking them. I guess the question begs, “Do I really want to know the opinion of my social network? Do I really want to know the car I just purchased is being labeled by my friends as ‘ugly’? What if I’m on the verge of purchasing something that I really had my heart set on and I read that my friend says it’s terrible?

Social Search will also have an impact on the way we search for brands. I know if I read a bad review from an anonymous consumer, it affects my opinion of a brand. But if poor review is from a friend, I would definitely consider seeking an alternative brand to deal with. Many brands will be fine; however, those that don’t recognise that customer service and satisfaction are paramount will be negatively affected.

But, if ignorance is bliss, don’t ask the social search engine.

And will it replace email?

from Epipheo Studios.

We are into day 2 of Darren ‘problogger‘ Rowse’s guide to 31 Days to Build a Better Blog (31DBBB).

Day 1 suggests you develop your blog’s BBQ-moment to crystallise what your blog is about. We settled on ”The FRANkVizeum blog helps marketers understand and exploit the ever-changing marketing communications landscape, with particular focus on brand strategy, media innovation and social business strategy with a twist of frivolous topicality.”

Day 2 suggests you post a comment which includes a list…lists are scannable, succinct, neat, persuasive and viral with many more attributes. I have no intention of replicating Darren’s 90 page work book and suggest the $20 to download it is money well spent.

So here’s my, albeit short, list. My list is one of ‘could try harder.’

1. Prahran Aquatic Centre : for the last 6 years i’ve been a regular swimmer at this excellent 50M pool and really miss the around-the-corner convenience when its not open during the day which is generally mid May to early October. They have my email, mob and address by virtue of me being a season card holder. So i’m checking the opening date for this year and find to my utter suprise its been open since 10th August. Stonnington council please….would it have hurt to tell your biggest fans?

2. Greville Records : awesome music destination in Greville Street. I’m a big fan of supporting local, independent retailers but there come a point when it can become too hard. Ordering music through them is my want rather than heading down to Virgin or itunes. But their inability to provide a reliable service is frustrating especially when you want them to still be around in 5 years. Get organised guys we love you.

3. Across the road is Greville St Bookstore, similar situation. An institution, a destination and a part of the Greville St thing but there is a fine balance between hippy/green/bibliophiles and efficient follow up/customer service. Buy some software lovely ladies.

Ok my list of three is on the gripey side BUT you can never underestimate the value of a loyal, passionate and regular customer. Never take anyone’s custom for granted.

Thought of the day post.

Is it easier to remember him as “Geoffrey Normandy” or “The Guy with the Beard“?

If your customer had to find a way to describe your brand / product / business, what would that be?  And are you addressing them in your consumer touch points?

Does anyone remember what it was like to search back in 2001?

Check out http://www.google.com/search2001.html

In 2001, “Myspace” was “making home improvements better”, “Facebook” was not as we know it today, and what’s “YouTube”?

Also interesting how the leading sites have evolved over the years.

In the lead up to the Beijing Olympics Opening Night tonight, Hitwise showed us an interesting Weekly Market share of visits by country.  Australia and New Zealand has picked up considerable interest in the last two week leading to the Olympics.

http://en.beijing2008.cn/

No doubt each of the UK and US market will have their own local Olympics news sites from major media networks such as NBC, ESPN, etc.  The style, local heroes focus, and tonality will still drive a majority of local visitors to local sites.  In reflection of Yahoo7′s brand flat or little growth in audience numbers, they will be relying on the Olympics and current brand campaign to deliver the audience numbers.

Google Trends (http://www.google.com/trends?q=olympics&ctab=0&geo=all&date=mtd&sort=0) also shows Australia and New Zealand is also interestingly driving the top 1 and 2 spot in searching the keyword “Olympics” in the last 30 days.

It’s time for Australia to get excited!

Hot on the heels since the launch of Cuil, there is a new search engine in the market called Viewzi.

When different users search for certain keywords, they may be after the same information for different reasons.  They could be images, news, history, videos, etc.

Viewzi aggregates different search engine (google, yahoo, youtube, etc) and visually displays it based on what you’re after.  Eg. a timeline of news events, celebrity images, site screenshots, down to your simple text results.

Will this be a Google beater?  I doubt so… it’s more complex and Google is still the best in giving me what I want – FAST.  But I don’t really care who is better… it’s just another great tool to help improve my searching experience online.  I can already see how this will benefit me when I need greater depth in my search where Google does not offer.

Ever wondered where FRANk was located?  Find us here!

http://maps.google.com.au/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=1+grattan+street,+prahran&sll=-37.814531,144.954085&sspn=0.010612,0.021672&layer=c&ie=UTF8&ll=-37.84524,144.991164&spn=0.010607,0.021672&z=16&cbll=-37.848878,144.991133&panoid=kd9lLbYhqgawV-btSRWODg&cbp=1,312.3458099258366,,0,-19.163987138263668

We’re on Level 2 (with the balcony) of the grey building.

See what this guy has to say:

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is talking about the future of advertising with the Washington post.

(You’ll need to wait until the ad is over and click on the third video named: future of advertising).

What do you think will happen?

Via MediaFuturist

In 2008, we’ve been expecting the long tail of social networks beginning to appear. To give you an idea, check out this link to see the companies that are offering whitelabel social sites. 40+ social sites plus linkedin, facebook, bebo, myspace, etc… There are social networks and community sites beyond MySpace/FB for Youth, even for Mums, Dads, GrandPas, GrandMas, and freakily the Departed..

Youth
I’m primarily seeking communties that are under 18, beyond just MySpace.

Club Penguin, Disney
8-12, Virtual World

Stardolls
Young Girls 10-17, Social Network, virtual dolls

Barbie Girls
6-16, Virtual World

WeeWorld
Youth, Avatar based Social network

Zookazoo
6-10 year olds, Virtual World

Club Penguin, Disney
8-12, Social network, virtual dolls

Gaia
Teens, Virtual World

Habbo Hotel
European Youth, Virtual World

Cyworld
South Korean youth, (and now global), virtual/social network

Neopets
Youth, Virtual Pets

Pixie Hollow, Disney
Young Girls, Virtual Pet

Teen Second Life
Teen, Virtual World

Webkinz
Youth, Virtual World

Piczo
Teens, Social Network

Shining Stars, by Russ
Youth, ‘name a star’

Puzzle Pirates
Youth, Gaming, Virtual World

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50+
Now of course, boomers and retired are also going to be on lifestyle social networks like Facebook and LinkedIn, but I’m seeking examples that are focused in on reaching these folks.

Eons
50+, Social NetworkBOOMj
50+, Social Network

Tee Bee Dee
Boomers, Social Network

There’s a larger list of Boomer sites, many I’ve not heard from.

---

Departed
Someone suggests this in the comments in Friendfeed, makes sense.
Legacy
Respectance
Tributes.com
SweetMemoriesSite
ChristianMemorials
PreciousMemoriesAndMore*Thanks to Jeremy for putting this list together.

The incremental increase niche social sites are a natural progression of the marketing environment… carving your own market.

So currently who owns your network? Who essential owns your friends? I wouldn’t be surprised that part of the T&Cs while registering into MySpace/Facebook forfeits your ownership (thou I haven’t actually read it… who does?!).

This brings rise to Data Portability of your social network. One point where all sites like Facebook and Footbo.com can pull my social network from. All my friends stored in a single point so I can fluidly move across different social networks based on my interests. This is an iniative Google has taken on with OpenSocial. Now Google owns my email, my searches, my maps, my computer, my addresses, and my friends.

Is this the time we start evolving our ways in measuring acquisition accountability? Since 2007 we already understood the halo effect of various digital media placements have in effect before a customer visits the landing page. Although we knew this, we’re still attributing sales to “Last Click” ad. For example a customer’s path to buying insurance could be:

1st May – Saw an ad on NineMSN Entertainment

3rd May – Saw an ad on Yahoo Mail

3rd May – Saw an ad on Adconion network

4th May – Google Search and clicked on a paid link to visit the site

8th May – Saw an ad on DGM network

9th May – Google Search and clicked on a paid link

9th May – Bought insurance on the site

From the 1st of May to the 9th of May, who do you account the sales to? A research has accounted “Last Click” sources from display are 63%, Search 25%, and Affiliates 12%. Startling figures but we still rely heavily on SEM. Don’t get me wrong, SEM does send qualified leads to your site (a low hanging fruit option) but when partnered with other media (ie display banners), Search can get more credit than it really deserves. Is “Last Click Only” a dying acquisition metric? Do affiliates need to evolve to offer more? For agencies, we also need our ad serving partners to also provide advancements in “path to action” from number of ads displayed before a response is created to optimise frequency AND to monitor campaigns holisticly across various channels… display, affiliates, sem, etc.

I’m thinking a sharing based model where networks share $$$ from an acquisition rate. The closer to the funnel the more they’ll get. Eg. Last Click = 30%, Last viewed 20%, Second last viewed 10%, and so on. Realisticly… I don’t think that will ever happen.

Now… what happens if someone saw an outdoor billboard amongst all those digital ads… if only we could ever track that!

More porridge anyone?

“Google Maps has just added even more information for your geographical perusal, including the option to place links to Wikipedia articles and geotagged photos from Panoramio on top of your maps. It’s a cool way to see shots of areas taken with a more artful eye than the Street View vans as well as check out info written by strangers and verified by nobody of authority. It’s also added real estate listings, which you can turn on under the “search options” link. The future is now!”

Source: Gizmodo

“Yahoo and Google, the world’s two biggest search engines, have announced a two week experiment that will see them share advertising space.

 

During the pilot, Google will be able to place ads alongside 3% of search results on Yahoo’s website.”

I haven’t had time to delve into how this will work but the word seems to be it is Yahoo’s clever ploy to frustrate Microsoft’s takeover bid.  A consolidation between Google and Yahoo would take over 90% of the search market globally… making it less competitive.

Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer on Saturday gave Yahoo three weeks to agree to the company’s offer or risk having the offer lowered.

the goal?

“the establishment of a permanent human settlement on Mars”

Why aren’t all brands this cool???

Richard Branson goes on to say:

“In the years to come, we’ll be sending up a series of spaceships carrying (along with the supplies and tools needed to build the new colony) what eventually will be hundreds of Mars colonists, or Virgle Pioneers — myself among them.”

It’s great when brands partner “fellow” brands that share the same synergistic entrepreneurial energy to create something bigger and more meaningful then their everyday business. Injecting innovation and a great story into their brand to make ME as a user feel better using their services and, in a minuscule way, supporting a mission to Mars!

Check out Mr. Branson’s post in Google’s blog:

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/04/announcing-project-virgle.html

http://www.youtube.com/projectvirgle

Do a search on “Jumper Movie” and this pops up….

Type in your postcode… and Get Showtimes. It’ll bring you a list of all movie times in your area with different cinemas.

Again, Google has delivered a great user experience.

The latest 2007 survey report from the European Interactive Advertising Association (EIAA) reports “Forty per cent of all European online shoppers have changed their mind about which brand to buy after researching choices on the web.”

Other data emerging from the report:

- Over half of online shoppers (59%) say websites of well known brands are an important source of information when researching or considering a product or service.
- Search engines are considered more useful (76%) than personal recommendations (72%).

- 61% find price comparison websites a useful source of information, while 57% look to customer website reviews to help them choose.

- European consumers are most likely to change their mind as a result of online research when it comes to buying electrical goods – 59% changed their minds on brand – while 43% changed their mind when it came to booking holidays and travel.

What is surprising is Search Engines are now considered more powerful that personal recommendations. Google more powerful than Word of Mouth? It really puts into perspective the importance of digital PR management of what people are saying about your brand. Through the transparencies and scale of the web, there are now 1000s of users reviewing and blogging about their experiences with your brand and products. How do clients manage this process? Experience design has and now even more important.