2011 January | Social Media Explorer

Bazaarvoice Studying Favorite Blog Resources For Marketers

by Jason Falls · January 11, 2011

My friend Ian Greenleigh, the social media manager for Bazaarvoice, told me recently of a survey he is doing to give us more information on what blogs marketers turn to for business intelligence and decision support. He said that while the AdAge Power 150 is great and other ratings and lists of top blogs are helpful, the marketplace doesn’t really have a more than superficial look at where chief marketing officers, brand managers and marketing decision-makers turn to on the web for advice and thought leadership.

Of course I told him they all just come here. Heh.

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Influencer Identification Just Got A Kick In The Pants

by Jason Falls · January 10, 2011

Just a few short years (almost months) ago, you could count on one hand the number of companies with tools specifically built to determine influencers. While a few exist now, the not-yet-crowded marketplace just got a welcome kick in the pants with a tool that has planted a flag and said, “We’re better.”

mPact, a new influencer identification and data product from marketing software service company mBlast, launched today. The company has puffed out its chest on its website for a month now saying, “January 10, 2011 Will Forever Impact Your Marketing.” The company’s press release even says mBlast has, “revolutionized influencer discover, mapping and management.”

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The Landscape: SME’s List Of Influencer Identification Tools

by Jason Falls · January 10, 2011

After working on some influencer identification product reviews and stories recently, I decided it might be useful to compile a list of influencer discovery tools for your use. If I’m missing any software platforms or services in this list, please drop a comment or send me an email and I will update as needed. Consider this an ever-growing resource and bookmark it or share with your networks. I promise to update it and annotate it as needed. This list is not (yet) comprehensive. Please help me build it.

Influencer Identifcation Tools

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Will Facebook Reign Supreme In 2011? History Says Maybe Not.

by Jason Falls · January 8, 2011

Editor’s Note: The following is a guest post written by Melissa Barker, who specializes in online and social media marketing for Siber Systems.

The infamous leak of 100 million Facebook user pages in July of 2010 caused a scare among users and created what may turn out to be a golden opportunity for potential Facebook competitors. A security researcher by the name of Ron Bowes created a script that downloaded the information that users chose to make publicly available from the Facebook User Directory. Hence, this alleged leak was actually nothing more than the collection and publication of user information already made public by 100 million Facebook users.

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My Social Media 2011 TO BE List – What’s Yours?

by Angela Maiers · January 7, 2011

Right now, you are probably walking around with some sort of list detailing the things you need to do, tasks you need to complete, and strategies you need to implement for the coming year.

To-Do lists are great for keeping us organized and helping us get through our busy days, but do they really help us accomplish creating the image, person, and character needed to run our business or live our lives more successfully?

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Integrate Social Media … In Real Life

by Andrew Hanelly · January 6, 2011

There’s often a gap between the idea of social media (what can happen in your head) and the practice of social media (what happens in real life).

Maybe your “social media engagement strategy” seemed more solid in the PowerPoint presentation. The “monitoring station” seemed to work better during discussion meetings. And the enthusiasm has vanished from the honeymoon that followed your organization’s marriage to social media.

In other words, the ideas all sounded good, but getting the organization to change overnight was more difficult than it seemed it would be. No one actually wanted to digest a pie in the sky social media initiative so we just sort of took a bite, smiled, then spat it out when no one was looking.

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