Twitter trends, internet marketing and spontaneity by Jackie @ Adrac Ltd

Somewhere, I can’t remember exactly, the Tweet outcry of “I am Spartacus” was billed as the trend to launch a thousand blog posts.

Here’s number 1001. But in case you’ve been on a different planet for the last few days, the Twitter community’s use of the hashtag #IamSpartacus alongside exact repetitions of a “menacing” (so Judge Davies confirmed) tweet, which landed Paul Chambers with a £1,000 legal bill and lost him two jobs, trended on Twitter for around 48 hours in the UK and worldwide.

The British, eh? A nation of shopkeepers versus British bulldog and all that? Didn’t someone once accuse us of being a little bit on the boring side until roused by … well, apparently until a judicial decision threatens our right to be sarcastic. We are British: give us a moment to boil the kettle and steep them leaves, then watch us take over a major social network for two whole days to defend our right to place our tongues in our cheeks.

In the same weekend, another very British trend took the UK and the global tweeting community by storm. Quite compellingly, an account named @justsobritish garnered amazing respect for all things British, from the words we use to the tea we drink to the TV shows we watch. Ridiculously simple, completely addictive.

The trend #justsobritish caught on like the proverbial wildfire and Twitter was alive with foreigners telling our nation we are “just so cool”. Like we don’t know that already <<insert cheeky smiley emoticon with tongue hanging out here>> Oh. Oops. Is there an unblog button a delete button Oh, gosh

While there’s no doubt that structured internet marketing campaigns are behind some of the most successful viral campaigns on the internet, it’s also refreshing, and exciting, to witness what appears to be genuine spontaneity.

Adwords & Twitter: reputations count – don’t they?

Google is seeking to maintain or improve the reputation of its AdWords campaign. After all, it’s no good trying to get customers to click through if they’re in danger of being fleeced by “rogue” pharmacies, as the search engine’s lawyer Michael Zwibelman described them.

The “don’t be evil” motto might also be behind the move. Google has a keen sense of its own social conscience.

Less about Google, let’s talk about Twitter, before our readers start thinking the dominant search engine is all Adrac thinks about. But we’re not going to examine the pros and cons, effectiveness and ROI of this aspect of social media. Adrac just wants to ask, “why is it so easy to hack?” We’re quite incredulous that a gaping security loophole that had already been identified was duplicated across to the new-look Twitter design, and exploited.

The Guardian technology section has a great “how it happened” description here. Feel your jaw drop, and pick it up again, if you passed over the news the first time around.

Reputations matter. But it says something about human nature that we continue to use services where their reputation re: privacy or security has surely been shattered. Don’t we care?

Facebook Embeds Itself Further Into The World Wide Web

Facebook announced yesterday a new set of social plug-ins which will extend Facebook’s influence and presence on the web. This could propel it to new heights of social networking as it plans to turn the web into a social platform.

The new social plug-ins will allow users to browse the web while interlinking with Facebook, effectively taking their friends with them as they browse. A Facebook user will be able to personalise the things they see; photos, music, stories, by clicking a ‘like’ button. This will then share the content with friends on Facebook.

The service will only be available on third party sites that have partnered with Facebook; so far, 30 partners have signed up, including several UK brands such as LoveFilm and Sky.

Twitter Succumbs To Social Media Marketing Demand and Allows Ads

Social networking site Twitter is the latest website to succumb to the demand for social media advertising. The popular site is now allowing advertisements in the form of ‘promoted tweets.’

The ‘promoted tweets’ can be used by advertisers to reach Twitter’s 25 million users, as they appear at the top of search lists when users type in keywords. These tweets will be labelled as ‘promoted’ but in future Twitter plan to allow advertisements on their homepage when users log in. These will be tailored to that user’s specific interests determined by the activity on their account.

This will be the first time since Twitter’s launch two and a half years ago, that the site has been able to make any money. Initially Twitter was set up as a blogging site where users can ‘tweet’ their activity throughout their daily lives.

Improve SEO through Social Media Sites

If you’re struggling to get yourself or your business noticed in search engine results then social media sites could be the saviour you’ve been waiting for. The Yahoo! Advertising Blog backs up the importance of organisations getting involved with social media, as it can drastically improve your visibility in search engine results.

By signing up for accounts and creating profiles on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace, you could enhance your search engine optimisation strategy and find yourself high up in search results. It’s cost effective (actually it’s free!) and relatively easy to sign up to these sites. The more sites you’re signed up to, the more results relating to your name or business will appear.

In order to maintain visibility however, it may not be as simple as signing up to certain sites- to get the most out of your account and improve SEO, profiles and accounts should be maintained and updated regularly. Britain currently has the highest number of people in the world logging onto Facebook and Twitter via mobile phones.

Social Media Encourages Internet Marketers to Plough Money into Online Advertising

The growing popularity of social media sites is causing a storm in the
internet advertising industry, with advertisers investing billions to target key audiences. According to the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) report on advertising spend- there has been a 4.2 per cent increase in advertising expenditure between 2008 and 2009.

Social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter could be partly responsible as statistics show that 20 per cent of total time spent online is spent visiting Facebook. These sites are an advertiser’s dream, making online advertising more engaging and entertaining.

The report also showed that online advertising spend has grown by an incredible 2,200 per cent over the last decade which has been put down to an increase in advertiser confidence, faster broadband and more internet users.

ASA Set To Regulate Social Media Marketing

Social media sites have been the brunt of controversy lately with the tragic death of teenager Ashleigh Hall. Ashleigh was lured to her death by a sexual predator, posing as a 17 year old male on social networking site Facebook.

Not only are the authorities and parents calling for social networking sites to clamp down on security, but the Advertising Standards Agency are also clamping down on social media marketing and other digital activities.

As reported in the Guardian, tighter controls on how companies use social media marketing to promote products and services are set to be introduced, partly to protect children. Social media marketing will now be included under the ASA online marketing policies.

The Advertising Association which represents the UK advertising and media industry has agreed a set of proposals to be policed the ASA in line with those set for TV, press, poster and radio ads.

The policy will ensure that all online marketing is responsible, legal, honest and truthful, and is set to come into force in the third quarter of this year.

Social media done badly is worse than social media not done at all

On November 25th, Adrac attended the launch of the 2009 Social Media Survey Report, produced by bigmouthmedia and Econsultancy. After receiving the exclusive invitation to London, we were looking forward to listening to what some of the biggest influencers within the social media world had to say. Speakers included Kate Box, Head of Social Media-Sales at Microsoft, Josh Smith, Head of Inside Sales at Facebook and Jessica Healy, Head of Search & Social Media at Futurenet.

Amazingly, just 10% of company respondents were not engaging in any form of social media, despite findings that social media can increase customer engagement according to 73% of company respondents. It also offers better brand reputation (66%) and increased communication with key influencers (62%).

We were enriched with knowledge about how to use social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook to benefit and stimulate business. There were some surprising statistics – 64% of companies have experimented with social media and 26% are heavily involved, in a bid to implement social media advertising and marketing strategies. Adrac were inspired by the knowledge and experience of companies that had ‘been there, done that’, and either failed or succeeded. This valuable information has got us buzzing with ideas here at Adrac and we look forward to implementing them within our online marketing strategies.

You can purchase the Econsultancy & Bigmouthmedia Social Media Report here.

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