INSIGHT blog

VOANews Visits the EyeTraffic Media Offices

1
September
2010

Local CEOs comment on the fast growing online social media environment.

Bookmark and Share


Christine Pepin
Lead Media Coordinator

This month, our very own George Assimakopoulos was featured on VOANews’ latest, “Money in Motion” video segment. In the piece, Phillip Alexiou discusses the online gaming market and the impact of social networks in facilitating its growth. Ahead of email, social gaming is the 2nd most popular online activity in the U.S.; with social networking being #1. As George mentions, “online social games can create a viral activity; a naturally expanding social community.” Dianne Martin of George Washington University and Greg Kihlstrom, CEO of Carousel 30, join George with commentary.

Check out the full video below or at: Money in Motion

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

The U.S. Open Tennis Championship Leverages Social Media for 2010 Tournament

31
August
2010

Participants, attendees, followers and partners all have an impact on this year’s social media tactics. With this new platform, the U.S. Open is sure to engage and excite even more of it’s viewers.

Bookmark and Share


Krista Montes de oca
Media Program Analyst

With the start of a major sports season just around the corner, social media has become an outlet for updates, stats, highlights and more. In the midst of a fantasy football craze, and the beginning of college football upon us, the U.S .Open Tennis Championships can’t be slighted one bit. This major sporting event has started to utilize these new platforms and it will depend on what their attendees are saying, as well as their other followers and viewers as to measure how they have leveraged social media.

Chances are good that those attending the open are knowledgeable about the sport and its participants, and that increases the validity of their social networking updates. Some players in the tournament are active on these sites, and they can be influential in their own way:

Let’s look at the impact of Twitter: A few of the major participants in the open are on Twitter, including Venus and Serena Williams. Serena has over a million and a half followers, so she is bound to create excitement around the Open. Twitter will also be used to update followers with highlights and up-to-the-minute scores, which hopefully will keep the viewers and followers interested in what is going on.

Let’s look at the impact of Facebook: Roger Federer, a well-known name in the world of tennis has a Facebook page where he posts updates about what he’s doing, upcoming matches, and answers questions from fans. This is yet another outlet that fans can use to voice their opinion, have their questions answered, and see where the players are off to next.

Not only is this platform important for the viewers and attendees, but also for the companies that help fund this event. For the sponsors and partners of the Open, and those that advertise, social media has become their main outlet. For one company in particular, social media has become its main source of advertising. AmEx has switched their campaign solely to market using social media, getting rid of their print advertising that they used in 2009.

This is a big step for both the U.S. Open and its supporters, and this is the year to see how social media could affect their viewership, and how they can better leverage this new platform in the future.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

EyeTraffic Interview: Jason Alba

31
August
2010

Brad Rizza speaks with personal branding strategist and author Jason Alba about the relationship between online social networking and offline relationship building for today’s job seekers and career builders.

Bookmark and Share


Brad Rizza
Media Program Analyst

The internet effectively revolutionized the job search with Monster and Yahoo Hot Jobs the pioneering leaders but as Jason Alba tells us in this EyeTraffic Interview, such job search databases may already be passed by new technology. Can one really use social media to get a job?

Jason, your first book, “I’m on LinkedIn—Now What???,” focused on maximizing the benefits of the popular business networking website while your second book, “I’m on Facebook–Now What???: How to Get Personal, Business, and Professional Value from Facebook,” took the concept to the social network giant itself. How has the job search process changed since you finished up college in the late 90’s?

Alba: I’m not sure what the job search was like back then, really. About 18 months before I graduated I started an awesome internship which led to my full time job. Not at that company, but because I was in the right place at the right time and had the internship behind me. In other words, I networked my way into the job.

I think back then it was all about using Monster… just like what many new job seekers think today. Unfortunately, people spend too much time spinning their wheels on what worked a few years ago without realizing what is working today. Social tools can play a significant part in today’s job search, but too many people don’t know how to use them.

Having said that, realize that the technological differences are stark, but the principles around networking and relationships are not. Many jobs are filled because astute job seekers are meeting people and developing relationships – online and offline, and learning about opportunities that never get posted which are usually referred to as the “hidden job market.”

How does/can social media sites like Facebook and LinkedIn converge with offline networking and alternative job search tools such as JibberJobber.com to create an effective job search?

Alba: What they all have in common is networking, which includes finding relevant contacts and developing relationships with them.

You can find contacts in a variety of places – online or offline. Then you want to work towards a professional relationship, which includes helping them understand what you do (think: personal brand) while trying to figure out what value you can bring to them.

Ultimately I recommend you get outside of the technology and have phone calls, meet in person, exchange emails, etc. Being connected on a social platform does not constitute “networking.”

JibberJobber is the glue that ties it all together. Regardless of where you met the person or how you communicate with them, or when you need to follow-up, you’ll need some kind of system to help you track all of the information about the relationship. That’s where JibberJobber fits.

As your job search gets longer and longer, these tools help with a variety of tasks and help keep you on top of the job search.

Having already covered LinkedIn and Facebook in your previous two books, is “I’m On Twitter…Now What???” an eventual next step or could you see yourself covering a number of emerging social platforms? And how does the concept behind “8 Lunches” fit into all this?

Alba: I was planning on writing a Twitter book but I started at about the same time I was working on the second edition of my LinkedIn book and thought I was crazy to start another book that would have to be updated about once a year.

Instead, I decided to do videos, which are easier to keep current – I now offer Twitter for Job Seekers, Blogging for Job Seekers and a number of other videos on my website. I’m passionate about using these tools in career management, which is more long-term than the job search, but the book process was just too much.

I started “Eight Lunches” as a way to share what I’ve learned as an entrepreneur, especially since so many people are seriously looking at starting their own business in this economy. The only reason I decided to make this a book is because it will have a longer shelf-life than my technology books, which can quickly start to feel outdated.

Regarding the emerging social platforms, believe it or not, I’m not an early adopter. I like to go to where the people are – that is, the hiring managers and decision makers. If there is a new platform that is the greatest things since…since the last greatest thing, I tend to stay away until I hear sufficient buzz from users. I’m not easily brought in by shiny features … if no one else is there you don’t have much of a chance of meeting the right people.

Jason Alba is a personal branding strategist and career and job search guru. He has written two books, “I’m on LinkedIn — Now What???” and “I’m on Facebook — Now What???” and is in the process of writing two more. Jason is the creator and CEO of JibberJobber.com and is a leading consultant and speaker on all things social media and personal branding.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

EyeTraffic Interview: Nick ONeill of Social Times Inc.

24
August
2010

Krista speaks with Nick ONeill about the Facebook phenomenon and how it has transformed how businesses do their social marketing, as well as social gaming, and how it’s impacted the Facebook gaming platform.

Bookmark and Share


Krista Montes de Oca
Media Program Analyst

Facebook has taken the world by storm, evolving into its own world of social media. From its inception, it was a tool to keep people connected, share photos and write on each other’s walls. Now, it’s a way for businesses to communicate their message and engage their audience and consumers. I interviewed Nick ONeill, founder of Social Times Inc., about the influence of Facebook on social marketing, and the social gaming phenomenon.

Businesses are learning how to leverage social media to brand their image and interact with their customers. Besides creating a Fan Page, how else can businesses better utilize Facebook?

ONeill: Buying Facebook Ads is pretty much the other primary way. While you can do things like create Facebook groups, custom Facebook applications, develop a more personal profile, create events, and a number of other things, Facebook Pages truly are the center of Facebook marketing right now.

How has the introduction of social gaming affected Facebook, and vice versa?

ONeill: I think it has affected the Platform more than anything else. It also has increased the total amount of time spent on the site. There’s some statistic floating around that 40% of users play games on Facebook. While I’m not sure about the accuracy of that statistic, it emphasizes how large of an industry Facebook games has become. The primary thing games have done is it has accelerated Facebook’s push to turn Facebook Credits into the leading virtual currency.

Both adults and children are using Facebook as a social networking tool—what other differences do you see between these generations, besides those obvious aforementioned ones (age, knowledge of social media in general)?

ONeill: I don’t monitor the youth much to be honest, as I tend to think of myself as one (although not so much anymore). I think the only difference is how much time each group spends on them. The younger, the more time they spend online.


What other tools, similar to Facebook, are useful for social marketing purposes, that perhaps people are not aware of?

ONeill: There’s a world outside of Facebook? Oh yeah, blogs and Twitter. Aside from that I’m not sure I’d pay attention to anything else, or at least I wouldn’t be investing too much time in it yet. Email marketing doesn’t fall into “social media” however it’s still a very big business and growing by the day.

Facebook has come along way so far; where do you see Facebook going in the future?

ONeill: Everywhere. Why not become its own virtual country? Perhaps it’s the future of passports? Then again I doubt any countries will support that notion. More seriously, I think in the immediate future we’ll see them expand their Facebook Credits offering. Once they’ve figured out a way to scale their existing advertising business, they’ll move that off site to third-party publishers and then eventually do the same thing for Credits. With those two businesses they’ll be able to reach many billions of dollars in revenue each year.

Social Times Inc. is a site dedicated to covering the convergence of social technology, advertising and new media. They host events around the country and produce a blog and newsletter to keep readers informed of news that impacts their businesses. ONeill graduated Cum Laude with a BSBA in Finance from American University Kogod School of Business.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

What is Social Media Engagement Anyways?

18
August
2010

As buzz words in the web industry come and go, currently everyone is focused on “engaging” their audience and customers. Andrew Bates reviews Brian Solis’s book Engage as well as current trends in social media engagement.

Bookmark and Share

Andrew Bates
Social Media Practice Lead

The idea of engaging the customer is not new. Advertisers and marketers have described this concept of attracting and holding the attention of the customer for decades. Today, brands, online marketers and social media thought leaders not only want their audience’s attention, we strive for interaction, participation, and a 2 way dialog. So is this social media engagement?

In Brian Solis’s book conveniently titled “Engage,” he offers insights and lessons learned that can be applied by any internal champion or brand evangelist. Although this book was published earlier this year, getting to it now reminds me of the fundamental truths that escape many organizations. Brian discusses activities focused and “designed to help bring everyone to the table.”

In Engage, Brian (@BrianSolis on twitter) focuses on:

- Fostering online networks and communities that honestly represent your brand and culture while cultivating “loyalty and trust” with your audience

- Genuinely participating in those “online ecosystems”

- Continually adapting by following new media trends and other ways to build connections

- Needing internal champions and well as establishing organizational structures and procedures to communicate effectively

Brian also wrote a Mashable’s blog post earlier this year where he clearly defines and quickly identifies the Rules for Social Media Engagement. In this post, he provides valuable and tangible guidelines that includes more then just the do’s but also a few of the don’ts while seeking opportunities to grow participation and communication with and from your audience.

The concept of engaging your audience and community to foster brand awareness, loyalty, and interaction is definitely not new. Engagement (along with many other buzz words) gets lost in the promotional web spam, but many of the facts remain the same. Good communication still requires listening, following through with fast and appropriate interaction, and above all being honest and genuine. In today’s world successful engagement is not about a catchy ad campaign. Brands and organizations must be authentic and they must act.

How do you define engagement in social media?

@EyeTraffic

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

« Older Entries