Today someone might use Google to search for a solution your company provides and see your website content well positioned within the results. They’ll click on the link and land on a landing page to learn more about how your company addresses their particular problem. But next year they might just search Facebook instead, and they’ll see that a friend of a friend had a similar need for that solution and went with Company X. This will be more valuable because they can connect directly with this friend via their friend’s connection and discover more about their personal experience with the company. They might also see a post on Company X’s Facebook page within the results discussing this particular solution, further solidifying Company X as a solutions provider candidate.

Facebook’s new search functionality begins to deliver on this scenario by leveraging their like button that they launched in April (like the one on the bottom of this post). The advent of the like button was seen as a sign that Facebook was about to open the floodgates in their war with Google. This new search functionality is the floodgates opening. Here’s how this functionality works, as described by Facebook (via Allfacebook):

“We launched the ability to see articles shared by your direct friends in the search typeahead. For instance, if your friend is on a news site and clicks ‘Like’ under one of the articles (which will then go into News Feed), when you go to search for that article on Facebook, it will [appear] in the dropdown.” Most significant is that the content displayed “is only available for articles shared by your direct friends (not globally to all users on Facebook).” Additionally, “[results are] not [shown] to you based solely on number of ‘Likes’ for the article.”

Google, not to be outdone, held a press event today about their latest effort in the search game, Google Instant. While this new functionality is important (and is actually similar to Facebook’s new search since it also instantly returns results as you type), it’s just an interface update. This announcement today certainly wasn’t an effective block of Facebook’s social search punch [nor was it necessarily meant to be]. While Google has moved forward in integrating social into search, today’s event amounts to them taking Facebook’s punch.

Google still faces a serious challenge in staving off Facebook’s social salvo: Facebook is a closed ecosystem, impenetrable to Google (except as Facebook allows), they are effectively their own “web” (also see The Great Wall of Facebook). The closed ecosystem of Facebook, combined with their massive success, is one of the reasons why Wired recently (and controversially) declared “The Web is Dead.” Clearly Facebook has changed the way the world uses the Internet and now they are rolling out a new way for us to search.

As Facebook rolls out this new search solution they will drive even more traffic to sites. Brand’s can ride this wave by embracing social search, participating in the open graph and enabling themselves to be visible in Facebook’s new social search engine. Need help doing that? Give us a call- we’d love to review your social efforts to date and a discuss how you can ride this emerging social-search wave.

By Benjamin Ruofff
Copywriting and Social Media Marketing Intern

The other night 28 year old Amarndo Galarraga threw the 21st perfect game in the history of Major League Baseball. Well, almost. In what appeared to be the final out of the game and the conclusion of one of the rarest phenomena in sports, umpire Jim Joyce declared the runner, Jason Donald, safe.

If you haven’t seen or heard about the incident, the runner was out by a baseball mile. But what does that mean for everyone? For baseball fans it means missing out on glory, perfection and the ultimate post game for celebration.  Our takeaway for marketers and brands is that playing a perfect social media marketing game should never be a last minute judgment call, or worse yet not showing up to play at all.

With social technologies being produced at an alarming speed, it is a shock that there are still people out there refusing to accept what is certainly the future. Whether it is baseball missing the instant replay cue from both the NFL and NBA or the thousands of businesses unwilling to unlock the potential of using social networking sites, the unwillingness to move forward and accept these changes may be career ending.

Jim Joyce, the umpire solely responsible for putting an end to Galarraga’s quest for perfection, will go down in history as the umpire who blew that call. It has happened before with different umpires and refs, but it all could have been avoided. In trying to remain true to themselves as America’s past time, baseball has become stuck in the past. A simple rule change allowing a manager to challenge a questionable call during the course of the game would have allowed Joyce to review his mistake, which he later recognized.

Unfortunately in business, there is no replay to call upon when a company is called out, but there are ways to make sure you aren’t missing all the signs to garner perfection. Don’t miss the opportunity to gain perfection. Keep reading this blog or contact MicroArts today to learn more about unlocking the potential of social media marketing for your company today!

This month we had an interesting date on the calendar – 4/16. With 16 being the square of 4, a certain “bright-eyed” marketer realized that 4/16 could be Foursquare Day. His idea was to make 4/16 a day to celebrate and promote Foursquare- the mobile location sharing application that’s sweeping the globe. Foursquare is a mobile application that lets you know where your friends are and let your friends know where you are too. Users earn points and “badges” for using the service, making it into a game. Businesses benefit from being promoted through Foursquare location sharing and from the data Foursquare provides on service usage. The story of Foursquare’s involvement in Foursquare Day illustrates 3 important takeaways for businesses.

1. Listen: Foursquare Day wasn’t created by Foursquare, but was actually the idea of a fan who posted the concept to Foursquare’s support forums. Another fan replied a week later with another great idea – that Foursquare create a special Foursquare Day badge. That idea became the rallying point for fans to start lobbying Foursquare to officially endorse the day. Two weeks later a fan’s Tweet to Foursquare’s Twitter account resulted in Foursquare choosing to engage the community and recognize the day. By listening to what people were saying and monitoring conversations, Foursquare was able to discover a new opportunity.

2. Engage: After that fan’s tweet was posted, Foursquare engaged their fans with another Tweet, officially recognizing Foursquare Day. This single tweet ignited a firestorm around Foursquare Day and as a result, a firestorm around Foursquare. In the three weeks that followed leading up to Foursquare Day, major news organizations from CNN to The Christian Science Monitor ran stories about Foursquare Day. Foursquare continued to stoke the fire of this opportunity leading up to Foursquare Day through further communication. By engaging, Foursquare was able to help realize the full value of an opportunity that was discovered by simply listening.

3. Measure: Throughout the whole process, Foursquare and the Foursquare Day team leveraged systems that enabled them to record changes in important analytics and metrics over time. The Foursquare Day website tracked the number of participating cities and businesses. Foursquare tracked the number of people signing up for the service as Foursquare Day approached. By measuring changes in metrics over time as they engaged, Foursquare was able to discover whether or not their communications produced measurable results.

Ultimately 290 cities in 35 different countries participated and 20,000 people signed up for Foursquare in the days leading up to Foursquare day. Press coverage literally spanned the globe. Just after Foursquare Day registered users reached the one million users mark. Imagine what listening, engaging and measuring can do for you! We’d love to talk with you about it and help you power the growth of your business. Drop us a line, we’re listening.

PS: We’re very proud to say that Portsmouth, NH was the #1 city for businesses participation on Foursquare Day. Check us out on the news:

In the past, I have shared insight about why a brand, organization or company would want to engage in the blogosphere. I have even shared a guide including 7 simple steps for enhancing online awareness with blogger engagement. I hope you have found these posts helpful and effective at delivering the real value of engaging the blogosphere for real results.

Within this post, I would like to share an additional insight and way of thinking about blogger engagement as a whole. Much like social media marketing, blogger engagement is the enablement of word-of-mouth on the Internet around a product, service or brand related experience. In the case of social media marketing, influence can travel in any direction and can start at an individual, group or massive scale.

However, in the case of blogger engagement, influence begins by targeting individual bloggers whose expertise, personality and perspective have built a readership in which your value proposition is directly relevant. It is from these individual bloggers that influence flows directly to an opportune readership. The result? Empowered individuals who actively want to learn more about you.

I invite you to learn more about blogger engagement and the tremendous opportunity it offers by subscribing to our blog feed to automatically get our latest insights into Internet public relations. Got a specific question? Please connect with us on Facebook and check out our Facebook Application for Internet Marketing Q&A; .

The definition of many minds explains Social Media Marketing as “a term that describes use of social networks, online communities, blogs, wikis or any other online collaborative media for marketing, sales, public relations and customer service.” But really, social media marketing is much more.

Social media marketing is a rapidly evolving and self-sustaining entity. Let’s look at the Wikipedia version a step further.

“…a term that describes use of social networks, online communities, blogs, wikis or any other online collaborative media for marketing, sales, public relations and customer service.”

One very interesting point–this definition implies that social media marketing exists only when the objective is for marketing, sales, public relations and customer service. Or does it? Think about this: social media marketing exists with or without the presence of marketers.

The reality is that social media marketing takes place all of the time–whether you have a marketing strategy, goal or objective in mind. In fact, chances are you talked to someone today who is a social media marketer; maybe you even are one yourself and haven’t realized it. A mom who blogs. A teen who “like” or “dislikes.” A curmudgeon who publically announces he’ll never tweet for a burrito. See where I’m going with this? Anybody and everybody can be a social marketer-knowingly or obliviously.

Hopefully, the following definition brings it on home! Social media marketing is the enablement of word-of-mouth on the Internet around a product, service or purchase related experience.

This fresh perspective gets me excited, curious and truly pumped to do my job as practice director of social media marketing. I invite you to learn more about social media marketing in the days to come by subscribing to our blog feed. Got a specific question? Please connect with us on Facebook and send a question to us through our Facebook Application for Internet Marketing Q&A; .

It’s time to get social media marketing driving ROI on your company’s behalf. Let’s set up a meeting to discuss the opportunity in details.

The Super Bowl has always been a big deal for my family. I’m sure that I’m not alone on that either. In fact, it is the only football game throughout the entire season that my mom will watch. Not only does she watch it, but the meal she cooks is based on the teams that are playing. As the Saints get closer to their big game Sunday, my mother is most likely digging through some old recipes, looking for her favorite jambalaya.

Clearly for many, the Super Bowl’s attraction lies in the new commercials aired during the game. This year though, with social media starting to hit its stride, will we see interest in watching the game wane? For example, Pepsi, one of the more notable companies that traditionally sprung big time for a Super Bowl ad campaign, has decidedly forfeited any airtime slots (costing between $2.5–3.0 million per ad). Instead, Pepsi has taken a liking to a social media campaign, “Pepsi Refresh,” in which they will give away $20 million in grants.

Nicole Bradley, a spokeswoman for Pepsi, explained why Pepsi wouldn’t be participating, “In 2010, each of our beverage brands has a strategy and marketing platform that will be less about a singular event and more about a movement.” The idea is to be bigger than the Super Bowl, while allowing consumers to still appreciate Pepsi.

While Pepsi may stand alone among the giants in replacing Super Bowl airtime with a social media event, for now, many companies seem to be tying the two together. Look for commercials this year to be far more interactive, with more calls to action that direct audiences to Facebook and Twitter. With all the ability to connect television campaigns and social networks, many companies will try to make their 30-second spot go viral, as well.

Vice president of global sales for Facebook, Mike Murphy, seems to be on the same page as Pepsi. He said, “Instead of getting 30 seconds to connect with their customers, they’re getting 30 days.” This seems to be what Pepsi understands as their new campaign does not involve Super Bowl airtime.

Is this just the beginning of big companies choosing to go with a social media campaign opposed to the Super Bowl commercials? Will Pepsi be a trendsetter or find themselves buying up valuable airtime next year? If this is the wave of the future, will casual fans who watch for the ads still look forward to the big game like they do now?

MicroArts Creative Agency is leveraging social media as part of overall branding campaigns like never before. It’s working for companies like World’s Best Cat Litter–products trying to break into and make a bigger impact in already noisy markets. We’re keen to see how the giants do it. Being big doesn’t necessarily translate to being nimble or even right. But it does mean we’ll begin to see some real dollars tossed into the arena.

We would love to hear your thoughts.

While new users are spending their time searching Facebook to broaden the number of friends they have, a push has been made to help them. It is not necessarily the technology that is new, but the location of it. On January 13, Facebook relocated their “friend finder” to their home page and reintroduced existing technology that can gather large quantities of friends in a short period of time.

To many users, this seems very new, as it sort of hid in the shadows for a while. The way it works is by showing people you may know, usually friends of your friends. More importantly it uses your contacts from various e-mail and messaging services to seek out those on Facebook you know, but may not be connected with yet.

Now this may not seem applicable to casual Facebook users who mainly use the site as a way to keep in touch with old friends, but to those who use Facebook for socially networking themselves or their business this is a great way to expand. Now that most businesses are creating Facebook pages, usually one in search of fans rather than friends, they are now being reminded that they can utilize their e-mail contact list to generate a larger following on Facebook which in turn keeps a lot more people connected and updated with them.

Regardless of how you use it, the people at Facebook are really making a push to encourage growth among all accounts, personal or business orientated. This only seems to make Facebook a more reliable source in a world that is being transformed by social network technology. Of course there are some lingering questions about the “friend finder”, but the most important ones are about the future. What is next for Facebook? Are they still working on figuring out an even easier way to connect to people you may already know? One thing that is most certainly for sure, Facebook is not done figuring out new ways to stimulate their seemingly endless growth potential.

Have you extended your brand to the world of social media? Contact MicroArts to learn where to begin!

It’s been quite a ride, with predictions, projections and plenty of posts, now 2009 has closed and 2010 is upon us. The flying cars aren’t quite here yet, but iPhones sure are. When you hold one in the palm of your hand it really does feel like you’re living in the future. That’s because iPhones, and mobile devices like them, are the future: They are taking over telecommunications and as a result are transforming marketing. Social networking is now mainstream and it’s likely that we have the iPhone to thank for it.

Mobiles were born to communicate. In contrast, with computer desktops communication was an afterthought. Communications tools like terminal programs for modems, email clients and web browsers were added as a standard feature in desktop operating systems (OS) only recently in their history. This reflects the inherent challenge of today’s desktop OS and explains why Google’s recently announced Chrome OS is basically just a web browser. Google has rethought the desktop because today’s desktop OS doesn’t provide the best communications experience – it just gets in the way, instead of enhancing the experience.

On the other hand, with mobiles, the addition of applications was the afterthought. Apps as part of the mobile OS wasn’t a very compelling experience until the iPhone came along. The app store model created a new paradigm and as a result mobiles can now easily adapt as new forms of communication arrive. This has set mobiles on a course to take over all forms of telecommunication- not just the telephone (which happened in 2005 in the US versus landlines), but also email, the web and social networking.

Signs of this takeover include the fact that the iPhone is now the most popular handset in the United States. That’s right, not the most popular smartphone — the most popular handset, period. Then consider the fact that Facebook is the most popular application for the iPhone and you start to see the connection between mobiles and social networking. How deep is that connection? Well, let’s compare total iPhones sold over time versus Facebook unique visits, paying special attention to Q3 2008 when the Facebook app (and App Store) were released for the iPhone:

The graph indicates a correlation starting with the Q3 2008 release of the App Store and the Facebook app for the iPhone. This correlation could be due to the rise of the Facebook app capable iPhone leading to the rise of Facebook and/or vice versa. It’s important to note that prior to Q3 2008 you could use Facebook on the iPhone through the web. However the iPhone Facebook web experience was not the same as the rich and meaningful Facebook experience that the app provides. In fact, the Facebook app is so good that some call it the most useful app for the iPhone.

This synergistically driven growth created by the iPhone and the Facebook app could be responsible for the fact that now, in 2010, social networking is mainstream. As a result, it’s now possible to make contact directly, on a one-to-one basis, through social networks and social media, through a conversation with our customers, leads and prospects, directly to their desktops and mobiles. Efficient one-to-one marketing is now a reality. The promised higher ROI over traditional one-to-many marketing is finally being realized (complete with studies showing that socially engaged brands have better financial performance).

Big brands get this — the most recent example being Pepsi announcing that it would skip super bowl ads and invest $20 million into social media marketing instead. It’s time for the rest of the marketing world to make the shift as well and complete the transformation. Investing in large ad campaigns and PR blitzes isn’t effective enough on it’s own to maximize ROI. One-to-many marketing ROI is eclipsed by the one-to-one. To paraphrase HubSpot CEO Brain Halligan: it’s the thickness of your brain that matters, not the thickness of your wallet. To market effectively in the new one-to-one market one must invest in the creative. Create content, create conversations. Use your mind and win!

MicroArts Creative Agency is ready to connect with you to launch the next generation of one-to-one marketing for your brand, contact us today!

Tweet – Engage the Blogosphere for Big Brand Awareness – Learn the Three Simple Principles for Success

Blogosphere engagement is the process of connecting, participating and interacting with blogs and bloggers that are relevant to your value proposition. In simple terms, blogosphere engagement is the act of getting influential bloggers to talk about your brand.

But why engage the blogosphere you ask? Did you know that 90% of consumers trust recommendations from people they know and 70% of them trust consumer opinions that are posted online, as found by the Nielsen Company in their latest Global Online Consumer Survey? That’s right, nearly 3/4th of consumers online trust the opinions posted online by other consumers which is higher than all other traditional formats like editorial content, TV, newspapers, magazines and radio. Still not convinced? Here are some compelling facts supporting the value of blogger engagement:

1. Brand mentions on the Internet are the best way to get users to visit your site to learn more about your brand. In a recent study by ARAnet, it was shown that the most likely source for Internet users to read and take further action was seeing your brand in an article format.
2. Ninety-five percent of the top 100 US newspapers have reporter blogs¹
3. Four in five bloggers post brand or product reviews, with 37% of them posting them frequently¹
4. There were 94.1 million US blog readers in 2007²
5. 184 million people world wide have started a blog³
6. Seventy-seven percent of active Internet users read blogs³

Now that we’ve established the immense potential value of engaging the blogosphere, we would like to share three simple principles for success.

1. Respect – you might think this is simple and straightforward but in blog outreach respect can take shape in many forms. Here are a couple manifestations of respect in the world of blogger engagement:
   • Treat every blogger equally
   • Treat each blogger as the expert
   • Take at least 10-15 minutes to read their bio and a few posts
   • Don’t talk above them
   • Encourage transparency
   • Expose yourself, don’t hide your real personality in the shade
2. Delivery – bloggers are connected. Sometimes stuffing an email down their throat isn’t the best way of going about things. Try to figure out the optimal communication medium for connecting with them whether it be commenting on a relevant post, Twitter, Facebook or even picking up the phone (that’s right … phones still exist .
3. Transferable Value – notice how the word “incentive” or “pay-off” isn’t used here? Bloggers aren’t a gumball machine you drop a quarter into. Instead, offer them something that is of relevant value. You should be talking to them because they are of relevance. Therefore, the product , service or development you are sharing should be of interest. Why not send them a package in the mail with your product and a thank you letter, or invite them to your private beta, or Tweet about them to your followers. Be creative here.

Serious about doing some blogger engagement for your brand? We would love to go a step further and work on a customized blogger engagement program for you. Feel free to give us a call or better yet connect right here by leaving us a comment!

And as a result, brand transparency is the next trend.

This article inspired me to write this blog post. Titled “8 marketing messages we know are all lies”, it is essentially a story about common marketing spins, slants and cooked performance statistics in brand communications. As I read this article, I realize this mindset is soon-to-be-dated thinking. This thinking was perhaps accurate before the onslaught of social media. Today, brand managers and brand advocates must realize social media is the new truth serum for their brand’s behavior.

Brand Transparency
Brands now live in an on-going conversation about themselves whether or not they join in or not, and the truth WILL BE set free. As a result, the trend WILL BE what I’m calling “brand transparency”. Brand transparency is the pinnacle of truth in marketing behaviors. These behaviors go well beyond inaccurate marketing communications. Brand transparency is when a brand welcomes the world in to understand exactly how their product is manufactured.

Truth in the Serum
For example, brands like Kleen Kanteen® and Sigg® marketed BPA-Free water bottles. Revenues spiked as the Nalgene® “BPA plastic bottle” business jumped off the cliff.

Nicely done. Or so everyone thought …

As it turns out, the Sigg brand had not been completely transparent with its BPA content.

The result? Patagonia terminated their Sigg partnership.

In reality, the amounts of BPA in their water bottles would never cause any human harm. They had fixed the problem [after millions of dollars sold], but weren’t forthcoming with both consumers and partners [including Patagonia]. If Sigg had engaged in brand transparency, their behavior and communication could have played out in a proactive way (instead of the reactive CYA efforts they were forced to take that fell short), with something like this:

We are very sorry to announce that we missed a trace amount of BPA in our water bottles. It is so incredibly small; our scientists simply did not see it. It is an honest error and we took immediate actions to correct it. Please understand these are such trace amounts they will not hurt you.

Nevertheless, if you like, please do mail your bottle back to us and we’ll send replace it with your choice of our new bottles. If you don’t want the hassle, since the bottle you have is safe to use, please still accept our apology for this oversight. And, we invite you to please download a “50% off” coupon for our new bottles.

We hope this has not caused any stress or inconvenience in your day. Thank you for your loyalty to Sigg branded products.

Sincerely,

[Founder's Name]

This turns a broken brand promise of BPA-Free into an opportunity to communicate what isn’t broken, the brand’s values.

Brand Strategy Trends
Total and utter brand transparency is one of the next major trends in brand strategy. Social media will expose your broken promises. Believe it—and brand transparency is the only answer.

In fact, we are launching a new consumer brand in 2010 that takes brand transparency to the max. We are still in super stealth mode, so I can’t even share the product category we’re aiming to dominate.

Starting with filming the day all the partners met for the first time in Vegas to discuss the brand strategy, brand values and, as a result, the brand’s opportunity, we will tell the story of who, what, where, why we are building the products the way we do.

We are 100% transparent with the World, identifying what is not ideal about the product and ask our customers for fresh ideas on how to improve it. Most importantly, we will carry on these communications, these relationships, in the wide-open forum called Internet social media. If you are an organic, all-natural, green, environmentally friendly, totally-safe-for-humans brand, you best have a brand transparency strategy that is as honest as the way you do business.

The first brands to take on this strategy will be handsomely rewarded in the form of unsurpassed customer loyalty, customer evangelism, blogosphere ubiquity and, ultimately, shareholder value.

Get brand transparency right the first time. Contact MicroArts to learn more about how to infuse your brand with truth.

PS: Truth in marketing may not apply to ski areas just yet. Downpouring rain will still be referred to as “mixed precipitation.” Unless, you are Alta’s weatherman. So many times last year, Alta reported 4″ of fresh snow whereby as I was walked toward the Wildcat lift in boot high powder. They under promise and over deliver! They report only 4″ when they get 8″ – How cool is that? Love Alta.