By Daniel Goldstein

Google had never been very good at the “social” aspect of the Internet Age. After all, users of platforms including Adwords and Webmaster Tools who have questions are unable to get a customer-service person at Google on the phone.  In an emergency one time, I found the number of Google’s office in Boston and gave them a call. The person who picked up told me – at least in a very polite way – that she could only direct me to the website’s FAQ and support pages.  Read more...

By Daniel Goldstein

Online search may have come down to “Like” versus “Follow” versus “+1.” Who will win?

Facebook’s “Like” feature has become well-known since its unveiling in February 2009. Twitter recently announced its “Follow” feature, which lets visitors subscribe to a website’s Twitter (through, it seems, two clicks rather than one). But the most significant release of all may have been Google’s announcement of “+1” early this week:  Read more...

By Josh Cline

In social media, there is no such thing as “off the record.” And General Electric may have discovered this rule — but much too late.

On March 24, the New York Times published an article stating that GE had not paid U.S. federal taxes on the $5.1 billion in profit last year from its domestic operations. In response, the company’s PR account on Twitter started tweeting about the alleged inaccuracies in the story. (Interestingly enough, all of the tweets that day were on other topics even though the NYT story had just broke. The article was not mentioned by GE until their first tweet of the following day.)  Read more...

By Josh Cline

It’s not about Facebook or Twitter. It’s not about the newspaper or radio either. It’s about reaching your audience, wherever they are. When planning a marketing campaign, it’s wrong to say “We want an ad in the paper” or “We want a Facebook page.” Before determining the channel, determine your audience and where your audience is.

One of the first steps of a POST analysis is determining the “People” – your audience, as well as what their usage habits are. The first step is seeing how the audience uses media. If you’re targeting college students, use social networks. If you are reaching out to business travelers, consider ratings and reviews sites. Senior donors? Try a print newsletter or mailing. Single moms, middle aged women? Perhaps a Facebook game. Business person? Maybe an e-mail newsletter.  Read more...

By Josh Cline

One of the first things clients want when they hear “online” or “social media” is “viral.” But, the first thing I tell clients is that “viral is an outcome, not a strategy.” Online marketing – whether it is social media, e-mail, web, apps, or, ideally, an integrated marketing campaign – is a long-term effort filled with community and relationship building: not a campaign to start and stop at whim.

Unfortunately, there are too many out there selling ‘social media snake oil’ and promising to make your content go viral. “Viral” however is the direct outcome of creating quality relationships, having a worthwhile product/service, and being open and authentic – over time.  Read more...

As I mentioned on an earlier post about the demographics of social media use, baby boomers are the fastest growing group on social networks.

But, what does that mean for marketers? Does it mean that they just need to set up a Twitter or Facebook page and they’ve done their job? Alternatively, will a LinkedIn page do?

The answer: it depends.

As in any sort of marketing, demographics and the purpose of communication matter. Twitter is not Facebook. LinkedIn is not MySpace. It’s not even ASmallWorld (and no, I don’t mean the Disney song).  Read more...