The next big thing in Social Media…. is not coming any time soon.  Why is that?  Well, there is no doubt that social media is (still) all a buzz, and people are always looking to jump on that “Next Big Thing” but is the next big thing that much of a game changer?  In my opinion… not really.

Why is it that some social media campaigns truly rocked the social space, had great attrition rates, and really got their name out there, while others kind of just fizzle a bit then get swept under the carpet?  In a word, great out-of-the-box thinking.  I remember when I was taking a mass media broadcasting class in college, my professor said something like, “The internet was the great equalizer.  It gave everyone the same opportunity and the same access to the same technology and information.”  That’s when I really started to think about how the tools weren’t as important as how the person is using them.

The “next big thing” isn’t really going to change the game (much) as most things that are invented, have probably already been invented.  All social media has really been, was a refining of existing microblogging platforms, only done better to achieve things in different ways and levels.  Facebook didn’t sprout out of of nowhere as a “one-of-a-kind” idea, but instead it was a tweaked version of a bunch of other pre-existing ideas (and failed social networks), just refined and put together in a different way.  So the next big thing in social media is really going to be HOW you USE it. Strategy, trial and error, #failing, tracking,  analyzing, rebuilding, and then repeating the process all over again should be the” next big thing” in your social media toolkit/plans.  Remember, you define what your successes are with your objectives, and it’s  your job to really define whether your existing strategy delivers on those objectives.  Do you want more fans, followers, @mentions, sell product, gain leads? Establishing your objectives is more important than just being in the space.  It’s using these tools the right way to really get you off the ground.  Don’t expect a magical platform to drop out of the sky (Google Me) and automatically think by being in it, you’re going to sell 50% more products or gain a higher conversion rate.

For example, the Old Spice campaign that went viral a while back, really was a genius idea that got the Old Spice name out there, so in that sense, it was an epic win.  But how much product did it actually sell? Not much. So when trying to build your brand reputation, keep your objectives in mind when utilizing all of the tools at your disposal. Creatively using the tools you already have, in an effective way to reach your objectives, now THAT is the next big thing in social media.  At least, for you and your brand anyway.

You may have noticed how Facebook made massive waves when they revealed the new Facebook profile layout in December, and in their continuing efforts to shock and awe everyone, they bridged the gap between consumers and brands by making fan pages look a lot more like personal profiles.  Not only does this add a sense of familiarity and ease of use for Facebook users, but the new page upgrade also comes with a few new bells and whistles.  Here are a few ways you can leverage these new technologies to help you get the most out of your page.

Using the Wall Comment Filters

For starters, you may have noticed that pages now have a “Everyone” option, which shows a combination of your brand’s posts as well as those of your fans’ post on your wall, so what’s so new about that, right? Well, now Facebook has a new filtering system built in that prioritizes posts by users in the same language or country, posts that received a lot of “Likes” and takes them to the very top of the page.  This brings the most relevant and interesting content to the top of the page, regardless of when it was posted.  This way, interesting topics aren’t lost in the abyss that can be a busy Facebook wall.

So how can you leverage this? Well, you can provide this interesting content to your fans by selecting the “Everyone” option as the default setting, and watch which articles seem to be getting the most traction and use that information to post your next responses or guide future editorial calendars. Keep in mind that you can always see the “traditional” reverse chronological comments by selecting it in the admin view, which makes it easy to moderate comments coming in.

Another way you can utilize the filter, is if you have some great promotion that you really want to link outbound links to your promotional website, contests, ads, etc… you can set the default setting to “Your Brand only” as the default, so when users land on your fan page, they see all of your posts and links.  Users can always manually change their filter by clicking on “Everyone.”  So what can you do if you’re caught in the middle of a PR nightmare? There is also an option to deselect the Posting Ability for fans.  This would prevent your fans from posting updates, links, photos, etc… on your wall.  Now, although this may give you temporary relief of your page being taken over by negative comments and nay sayers, most people may not be too keen on being denied this “right” to post on Facebook, so you may end up angering a lot of people.  They will still find other venues to post their anger, and will probably criticize your brand for turning your backs on them. Tread carefully when utilizing this option.

But it’s not all scary fire and brimstone, you can help control your fan’s conversations (and not silencing them completely) by leveraging the new “profanity” filters under your moderation options.  Simply head over to the “Edit Page” tab under “Manage Permissions” and set your rules.  You can include different phrases, profanity, or negative keywords you want to keep off of your wall, and set how strict you would like the profanity blocklist.  This can be a good tool to help shape and control sentiment on the wall, but again, tread carefully when dealing with potential censorship online.  Having said that, most pages should have this setting to at least “medium,” and always have a social media or customer service team reading and moderating all comments.

What happens to the comments that are flagged by your filters? Users that post comments that violate your search terms are sent to the “Hidden Posts” tab under the Admin view.  Here, admins can moderate the comments by deleting or allowing the comments to be posted on the wall.

Using the New Photo Thumbstrip for Promos

Another way to utilize Facebook’s new page layout, is leveraging the photo thumbnail strip at the top of the page and use them as callouts with outbound links.  The new photo viewing system allows these little thumbnails to serve as ad banners.  When a user clicks on an image, a pop up window shows a larger version of your ad.  Here, you can include outgoing links into the caption.  Keep in mind, the 5 thumbnail modules are of the five most recent photos uploaded to the page, and those five thumbnails are randomized every time a person lands on the page.  If you upload four new pictures, be sure that the fifth is one of your “ad boxes.”

As you can see, this can be a great way to promote a scavenger hunt via QR code, a contest, an external websites, or other promotions all from your Facebook wall.

As Facebook continues to change and grow, there are more and more creative ways to leverage existing tools in order to achieve brand goals and optimize your social media objectives.  What other creative ways have you seen pages use the new layout?

A lot of my friends ask me what I do for a living, and I’m at a loss for words when it’s time to explain because it’s so damn crazy sometimes, but this chart that the good folks at Socialcast made pretty much sums it up! Sounds enticing? Despite the hair loss and lack of sleep, it’s one of the best things I’ve ever done. (Aww queue sentimental violin music)

But don’t think it’s all fun and games. One of the biggest challenges in trying to move your social media assets forward is having a thorough understanding of the space as a whole, understanding user behaviors within social media, knowing what tools to use, when to use them, and how to leverage them to get your desired results. Never think that social media is a “one size fits all” formula. They key thing I would recommend, and where true innovation comes from is doing your due diligence EVERY day, seeing what others did well, and make it BETTER for yourself and/or your brand. So enjoy the chart, let me know what you think. it’s pretty funny, especially because it’s fairly true!

Today was a very interesting day.  For starters, I was reminded on how important your tone and voice is to your brand.  Basically, what’s the best way to relate to your readers (or consumers) in a style that suits YOU.  “Stop worrying about sounding “writerly” and start letting his natural tone come through” envelops it best.   Without the right tone, your content won’t really go anywhere.  Your voice and tone is what makes you personable, approachable, or even have the (intentional) opposite effect. That’s why I thought it would be beneficial to scour the internet and get you some pretty cool reading material to help you develop your own voice.

Blogging for business?  Check this link out about online tone (really awesome because it breaks it down by environment.  Visual person? You can check out a mindmap of the article here.

This one helps and even mentions how to find your tone by your niche group

Dave Taylor has some great advice that a lot of people probably already know, but grammar and punctuation (amongst other things) play a BIG role on how serious people will take you, and he has some good tips on finding your voice.

You can look all over the web to find tips and tricks, but at the end of the day, the best results usually come from a voice that is approachable, genuine, and above all else, yours.  Speak the language that your readers use.  It forms a connection with your readers, it resonates, and they react.  Also, always ALWAYS have a call to action.  It brings people into your environment and gives them a sense of community.

One of the biggest hurdles when marketing your brand on Facebook, is getting fans to “Like” your page. This is especially hard if your budget doesn’t allow for using Facebook’s “Reach Block” ads which can cost up to a couple $100K, but there’s always the social ads route. However, one quick and easy route is to greet your new non-fan visitors with a reveal tab. “What’s a reveal tab?” you ask? A reveal tab is a tab on your page that displays certain content to new visitors, and once they “Like” your page and become fans, they are shown different content in the same tab. Genius right?! Well only if you utilize it right such as for promotions, coupons, freebies, contests, etc… The key to its success is a strong call to action. Also know as the CTA in the biz. *insert monocle here*

So how do you make one? Easy! Continue Reading…

If you consider yourself fairly social online, then you probably know how much of a hassle it can be trying to keep up with all of your chatting, Facebooking (yes that’s a word… for today), and Tweeting then you know it can be a hassle having to switch back and forth between all of these to stay in contact with all of your friends and family.  Not only that, but the hassle of sharing a link of something you think is great with your network, having to copy/paste between multiple windows, it can get pretty hectic.  If only there was an easier and seamless way to do this with the little precious time you have online.  Well now there is.  The social web browser called RockMelt.

So what does RockMelt do that a few plugins for Google Chrome or Firefox can’t do?  Well, apart from the general population not knowing how to do utilize plugins for their browsers, and Internet Explorer being one of the largest market share holders in web browsers which does not even support plugins, RockMelt comes ready to use “socially” out of the box.  The other thing is, as I mentioned before, it has a seamless integration with your profiles.  Everything about it seems intuitive and sleek.  Here are a few features we were able to catch.
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There is some huge news (speculation) over Facebook right now.  We all know that geo-location is the talk of the town when it comes to social media.  The only question is, “How do you get conversations and pass-along for your brand from it?”  Well, Facebook jumped into the geo-location game when they rolled out with Facebook Places, and now there are talks that they’re going to take it to the next level.  They’re calling this next level “Facebook Deals.”

It’s no secret that a good way to build a fan base quickly is to offer online promotions, contests, and deals.  So it is no surprise that Facebook will take social networking, and combine it with geo-location promotions to create these “Facebook Deals.”  This allows brands with physical locations to offer deals, very much like Foursquare, except that the Facebook Places check-in shows up in your network’s news feed, thus expanding the brand’s reach.
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