Links worth a click #17

Some informed viewing for you this week.

First up, Coca Cola’s approach to social media in video form. Sure it’s big budget, but there are smart lessons in here. Love how they’ve used the word liquid which is a creative way of linking their strategy to their products. How could you do something similar?

Second, a video showing how Google search continues to evolve to the personal needs of the user.

Finally, the latest user data from Linkedin (for January 2012) shows how the platform continues to add users around the world. Some interesting intelligence for presentations.

 

Links worth a click #16

Some informed reading to kickstart your week. Better late than never!

First up, a beginners guide to setting goals in Google Analytics.

If you’re in the client service game, getting to know your client is critical to long term business success. Here are ten useful tips.

Are you working with your social media super influencers?

If like me you’re writing a blog, here are some tips  on building a blog that might be bought for big money in the future. 

Is Google+ credible competition for Facebook? The numbers speak for themselves.

Finally, 17 great examples of content visualisation in action (that’s infographics to the layman).

Links worth a click #14

In the week where Richard Branson got his hands on Northern Rock, and Tesco and Asda fought in the digital space (Tesco with new AR and Asda with a transactional and price comparison iPhone app), here are some of the other interesting digital marketing related things that caught me eye.

Love this from the Twitter blog. They tracked who was talking about 11.11.11 on 11 November 2011. It’s an interesting animation showing the reach of Twitter, the power of hashtags and trends and how they can go global – all in thirty seconds of animation.

If you are considering, or are already running your own Linkedin groups, you might like to know that there is now an analytics dashboard for group managers, released this week. Offers some great demographics of your members.

Another day another infographic. This one provides some quotable statistics on who is using Facebook and Twitter. Gender, age, income, location and frequency, there will be a stat in here for everyone.

It’s getting increasingly difficult to find objective search results from Google now we’re all logged in. A new tool, hidden away in the search menu called Verbatim might just be able to help you find what you want rather than what Google or your friends think you want.

Links worth a click #13

In the week where the Greeks held the Euro to ransom, Google rolled out new Gmail  and Groupon raised $700 from its IPO, here are some of the other interesting digital marketing related things that caught me eye.

First up, Google – or rather your Facebook comments, with news that some comments will be indexed by the search giant.  Do you see this sort of development as Alarming or great for your visibility?

Next, an infographic on the differences between outbound and inbound marketing. Infographics can be brilliant in distilling down complex arguments, processes and statistics and is used well in this example looking at why blogs, videos and white papers are going to give you more credibility than cold calling ever will.

If you use email marketing as part of your communications mix, you might to think again after reading this piece about how decisions are made within 3, 5 and 7 seconds.

And finally, if you’re a creative type looking to do something different with your website or blog, consider using your smart phone as a catch all content-generation device. This blog post from Social Media Examiner shows the way with five tips to create audio and video content on your iPhone.

Links worth a click #10

I’m returning after an unplanned period of blog leave with some links I thought were worthy of sharing from this week’s wires. Interesting that two Amazon related stories made the cut – interesting because I don’t think Amazon make the news all that often.

First off, and following the success off their entry into the ebook market with Kindle, word that Amazon are planning a tablet priced at $250. Awesome if true, just hoping they don’t do a Samsung and mirror the iPad too much.

Google celebrated it’s arrival into adolescence this week, reaching its 13th birthday. Brand Republic pulled some of their best video ads together in a great post, most you probably won’t have seen in the UK before.

In these recession times, an increasing number of businesses are looking to the Internet to develop revenue streams. As are the self employed, employed and unemployed. Consider some of this advice from Mashable on how to use your social media skills to earn extra money.

As a blogger here and at SmartInsights, it is always nice to be able to promote a stablemate’s work. So check out these five ideas for crowdsourcing and user generated content by Danyl.

And back to Amazon. Marketing Magazine reported that their embryonic ‘click and collect’ service might be hitting the UK soon.

Google Power

Assuming you have an array of profiles online, when did you last Google yourself?

You really should. It’s fascinating to see the changes in content. A few months ago you may have expected your Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter accounts to dominate. But in a short space of time, Google has taken this over dramatically with it#’s +1 and Circles roll out. Sites like Quora and Slideshare are fast improving, whilst WordPress and Twitter are holding their own.

The interesting change in terms of Twitter as you scroll through the first few pages is that specific tweets rather than just a profile are being collected too. Interesting because it is making you more searchable by what you are posting rather than just having a profile.

So personally, and professionally, it makes the notion of thinking before you hit ‘send’, ‘post’ ‘submit’ all the more important now, don’t you think? Footballer Joey7Barton might want to take note.

NB: No Foursquare or Empire Avenue in sight. Personally, I think that speaks volumes.

Links worth a click #7

Some digital titbits to start your week with.

GOOGLE: Want to know more about the almighty battle going on between Google and Facebook right now and need an explanation of the key battlefields? Check out this must read piece on Google’s strategy to dominate on six fronts including search, mobile, browsing, local, social and technology.

B2B SOCIAL MEDIA: Interesting piece on locating and engaging with your connections online 5 Ways to Find Your B2B Company’s Online Fans

FOCUS ON BLOGGING: Three posts dedicated to the channel of blogging. First an interesting piece on 21 common blogging mistakes and how to fix them. Next some great advice on using a blog as a viral online publishing hub, and finally a useful piece on the biggest benefits of a company blog.

Image: Ark Wildlife

Links worth a click #6

Links worth a click from the last week or so. Mostly picked to inform and educate but some may also serve the purpose of entertaining and engaging target audiences.

SEO & CONTENT: 7 New Ways to Improve Your Google Rankings . The key learnings naturally lie in creating relevant, useful content, lots of incoming links, seeding and sharing.

SOCIAL: Competition for attention online is hotting up as we learned this week that Google to launch own Facebook style social network. Apparently it will be less intrusive and more user friendly but will people really switch from existing platforms? Time will tell.

ONLINE PR: Twitter launches Twitter for Newsrooms a new resource for journalists, and presumably PRs too.

BLOGGING: Here is a cool infographic detailing the different blogging platforms 

WEB VIDEO / ANIMATION: Interesting piece on the rise of animation on the web, with some good examples. Arguably more creative and not as expensive as video – an option for clients?

TWO RANDOM LINKS:

As Twitter hits 200m tweets a day meet the people who scored Twitter’s shortest usernames by signing up first.

The First World Problem (a rap by a slightly annoying American kid, but funny and puts a few things into perspective).

Links worth a click #4

Here’s my pick of the best click worthy content from the last week.

First from Hubspot, a piece positioned as a startup’s social media starter list but actually useful to companies at various sizes and points on their development trajectory.

Next  if you’re moving your PR online and targeting influential bloggers and writers online, heed the warnings in this piece offering 6 Ways to Guarantee Your PR Pitch to B2B Bloggers Will Be Deleted.

Interesting stats released by com.score and reported on by Mashable this week suggested that social networking accounts for 1 of every 6 minutes spent online. I’m just surprised that 1/ people still use MySpace and 2/ people think it is even fair comparing it with Facebook.

Lots of companies are entering the social media space. Most are cautious, some write guidelines and implement policies to steer safely through. It’s ultimately becomes a case of how brave or conservative, and how empowered you want your staff to be. Here is an interesting Econsultancy read looking at whether all your staff need be engaging in social media?

Did you twang the Les Paul guitar strings on Google’s recent doodle? If you did you contributed to $268m in lost productivity, claims Search Engine Journal.

A random, and finally and just for sheer ‘awesome-ness’ here is a behind the scenes featurette from the new Transformers 3 movie, focusing on the birdman footage shot above Chicago.

Q: What have you been reading? Share your links in the comments.

Links worth a click #1

Links worth a click we 27 May, 2011.

It was an interesting week in digital. Here is my pick of the top stories.

GOOGLE WALLET heralded a new age of cashless transaction. Here is the Guardian’s take on it  and something from Google on how it works.

Staying with GOOGLE but going retro, here is a great guide from Mashable on getting started with Google Analytics.

For CONTENT MARKETERS trying to make some money, Seth Godin’s excellent new publishing initiative Project Domino put out a blog post which discussed the paradox of the paid PDF ebook.

FACEBOOK specific retail pages, or F-commerce, are on the rise. Here is an interesting Econsultancy review of the new Lyle & Scott Facebook
clothing store.

Brand Republic reported this week that brands have been ‘liked’ by 150m Facebook users per day.

There was a big TWITTER development this week which meant that for the first time people can see what you see. It’s going to show up all those guilty pleasures you follow and some you might not want people to know about!

Finally, Lamborghini are considering a new ‘everyday model’ so you should start saving now!

Image: Gearlive.com