search

My weekly update of what’s going on in new media marketing, pulled from social bookmarking site Creativing.com:

YouTube – reporterscenter’s Channel

I mentioned YouTube going local with video news reportage last week. This is a support site providing tips for those content producers. Smart way to increase quality of content and build community.

Facebook Search Improved for Everyone

With the attempt at buying Twitter and then acquiring FriendFeed, Facebook has made it clear they’re serious about real-time search. When I think about how often I’ve seen something on Facebook and couldn’t find later to reference, I don’t think there’s any question this is going to be a great improvement. And Facebook’s highly-customizable privacy settings are part of the capabilities: I’m  convinced online privacy issues are going to be major. But most importantly, there’s little doubt at this point about the value of friend and network-based information. With Google search results, it’s a great place to start researching a product or service, but certainly not conclusive or that trustworthy. That gave way to user reviews like Amazon and Yelp. But we’ve seen how easily those can be gamed. The value of being able to rely on people you know and trust is obvious. It’s also interesting to see a marketing tactic come along that’s closer to the purchase decision point than Google Adwords: Assuming marketers have been able to get into those search results. And therein lies the greatest potential of social media.

Facebook’s Click-Through Rates Flourish … for Wall Posts

On the subject of the value of friend referrals: Striking new data out on how people respond to Facebook wall posts. Apparently, quite well. Of course it matters what’s in that wall post, but the online world hasn’t seen 2-40% click-through rates since oh, maybe the first banner in 1994? Of course I have to cringe at seeing the CTR as the metric of evaluation. This is a mixed bag. Social media needs metrics to convince a large number of CMOs, according to a recent survey. Yet the click-through dragged online marketing’s branding potential down to a DR mindset from which it’s never fully recovered. I’d like to think marketers are more sophisticated about the online space at this point, but when the battle is between clearly-defined data like the CTR and more nebulous inferred data, the case is anything but closed.

“Augmented Reality” Is Also A Form Of Search

Search is quickly becoming a lot more than typing a few keywords into a search engine. From voice driven search to location based filters to augmented reality interfaces, it’s good to keep in mind that people are finding out about information in continually-diverse ways. The mobile phone has already driven much of this, and we’re only in Act 1 for that technology. Given that search in whatever form it’s employed is so central to a campaign’s performance, it’s not something creative marketers can ignore.

Chris and Malcolm are both wrong | A continuing discussion about freemium content

Great expansion on the debate between Chris Anderson of Wired and Malcolm Gladwell of Outliers on whether or not the future of content is free or paid. This post, by Brad Burnham, Fred Wilson’s partner at Union Square Ventures, sees truths and flaws in both views. At some point, the whole discussion moves into a debate about the economics of abundance, particularly in terms of content development. It’s ultimately a debate about the scarcity of resources, which has been written about as early as 1971.

From the post:

“In a world where facts are readily available, from multiple sources, basic information will be commoditized. But the explosion of sources will create a real burden for the consumers of information. Raw information will become not just a commodity, it will be a nuisance. In that world, consumers will value scarce, relevant insight over abundant facts.”

An interesting point is that users of a site like Facebook, or even Twitter, are not just using the system. They’re adding value to it. They’re the filters that help people sift through the mass of information being created. So should every user of Facebook or Twitter be paid?

Need to Deposit a Check? Try Your iPhone

I’m all over this. Take a photo of your check and email it in. Get the deposit. Destroy the original check. It seems fraught with fraud opportunities, yet the cashed check always leads back to an account that someone has set up with identifying information that banks have to be vigilant on. There’s no question they’ve thought that part of it through. I hate using cash because it means going to ATMs, and only periodic checks aren’t auto deposited. We’re getting closer and closer to never having to go into a bank. Which has to be a big help to their profitability.

Wells Fargo Labs

Given the previous link, no wonder Well Fargo has a Lab. This is their attempt to create what Seth Godin calls a purple cow. Adding the remarkable to a product or service. Give people something to talk about (presumably on their social network sites). For many companies, this is the new marketing.

LocaModa – Mobile posting to Out-Of-Home displays

The concept of posting to a large public display from a mobile phone has been done before, but now it’s transitioning from a customized experience to something you can buy more like media placements. Wiffiti is another player in this space.

ddɐ ʞooqǝɔɐɟ ʇxǝʇʎɯdılɟ s,ʎɹɹǝɾ & uǝq

Thought this was a fun app, by Ben & Jerry’s. Simple, intriguing, and highly visual. This technique was used on IMs a year or so ago, but with social media now hitting on all cylinders, there are still legs in the idea.

Thinking Space

With so much emphasis on social media, a lot of the attention in marketing has moved away from Flash. And certainly the large Flash sites of the past 5 years. But Flash can create powerful experiences, now more than ever. This is an exceptionally clean site that combines what few sites can: A beautiful, elegant and distinct navigation that’s also intuitive.