REPOST: Google patents robot help for social media burnout

This article from BBC.co.uk talks about Google's plans to create a software that will mimic a user's updates on social media.

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If maintaining your presence on social media is becoming a burden, Google may be able to help.

The search giant has patented plans for software which slowly learns how you react on social networks.

The software can mimic your usual responses to updates and messages from friends and relations to help cope with the daily data deluge.

The software also analyses continuing interaction and flags messages that demand a more personal response.

Life lessons

"The popularity and use of social networks and other types of electronic communication has grown dramatically in recent years," wrote Google software engineer Ashish Bhatia in the patent. "It is often difficult for users to keep up with and reply to all the messages they are receiving."

In a bid to help people cope Mr Bhatia envisions a sophisticated system that collects information about all the different social networks someone has joined. This logs what they do and notes how they respond to the different types of messages, notifications, status changes, videos, images and links sent to them.

The system analyses these responses so it can eventually start making suggestions of its own that, ideally, should be indistinguishable from those of an actual person.

The suggested system should also be flexible enough to cope with many different types of event, use data culled from other interactions with a person and shape the responses to match the style demanded by different social networks. For instance, suggested responses to events on professional social networks should be more formal than those on services where someone interacts with friends and family.

Image Source: BBC.co.uk

Instead of writing every response individually or clicking buttons to "like" or forward messages, the software would generate suggested responses which a person could simply agree to be posted on their behalf.

Despite its potential sophistication, examples provided in the patent suggest it still needs refinement.

In response to learning that an acquaintance called David has changed jobs, the system might suggest: "Hey David, I am fine, You were in ABC corp for 3 years and you recently moved to XYZ corp, how do you feel about the difference, enjoying your new workplace?"

Social media technologist Hadley Beeman said the subtleties of human interaction might undermine the ability of Google's suggested system to pick out what matters most and flag it appropriately. A calendar appointment for lunch might look unimportant but loom large in someone's life for reasons the software cannot spot.

"The problem is that the 'important stuff' (or the trivial) depends on what our relationship is," said Ms Beeman. "If I had lunch with you, for example, then your message about hating that terrible sandwich is actually relevant to me."

Prof Shaun Lawson from the University of Lincoln who studies social computing wondered who would be compelled to use such a service.

"Are we really so concerned with posting messages to every friend or follower that we feel compelled to have to automate that process?" he said.

Google's system seemed to underline the common misconception that social media was reducing contact between people, he said.

"The fabulous thing about social media is the reverse," said Prof Lawson. "It facilitates human-to-human interaction in ways that were impossible even a few years ago."

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REPOST: Marketers Are Putting Their Money and Confidence in Social Media

This article from Mashable shows in graphic details the ever growing number businesses realizing the potential of the social media to help propagate their brands.

Image Source: mashable.com

Business to business (B2B) marketers are utilizing content marketing strategies more and more in the digital age to promote their brands. They're becoming confident in creating content supported by the brand, such as magazines, books, articles, how-to guides and more.

Social media sites facilitate the spread of this content by allowing customers to share information with other potential customers.

This infographic from LinkedIn shows that 93% of surveyed marketers are using content marketing to some degree, and 58% plan to increase their content marketing budgets over the next year.

Furthermore, 87% of content marketers use social media platforms as part of their marketing tactics. Of those who use them as a strategy, 91% preferred LinkedIn to popular social networking sites such as Twitter or Facebook, which 85% and 81% of those surveyed used respectively.

The least used social platform was a three-way tie between Foursquare, Tumblr and Vine, at 14% each.

Mobile devices ranked low on the list of tactics used by marketers. Only 38% of those surveyed used mobile content, with 34% using e-books and 28% using mobile apps. Printed media was also in decline — only 35% of marketers used print magazines and 30% utilized printed books.

For more articles on social media marketing, head on to this John Bohan blog site.

REPOST: 29% of Americans Use Facebook at Work Every Day

This Mashable article shares the latest survey result on Facebook usage at work among Americans. 

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How focused are you during the workday? Be honest.

Almost one-third of Americans — 29%, to be exact — visit Facebook each day while they're at work. Gmail, Yahoo Mail and YouTube are also popular destinations during the workday.

Statista's chart, below, is based on its own workplace survey that shows the percentage of American workers who visit different websites on a daily basis while on the job.

However, the chart does not convey how many workers use these sites for work-related purposes.

Image Source: Mashable.com

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Maximizing the use of digital marketing

Image Source: under30ceo.com

Currently, the benefits that digital marketing strategies bring to a company have become so numerous that it is almost impossible to deny the need for them. However, there are still many companies that are hesitant to build an online presence and include social media in their marketing campaigns.

There is a real risk for these companies to get left behind as most experts agree that technology is now central to marketing efforts. If a company has not yet bothered to make some changes in the way it promotes its brand, then its competitors may already have an undeniable advantage over it. Still, it may not be too late for companies to change its marketing strategy and help its employees improve on their skills.

Image Source: businessinsider.com

It is also recommended for companies to seek help from technology experts for their campaigns. It is better to bring in people who specialize in handling the new technology aspect of campaigns than to let employees who are used to old practices flounder with the use of new technology in marketing.

Companies are also advised to redefine how they evaluate their marketing campaigns in order to see the value of digital efforts. In digital marketing, companies cannot expect every interaction with the target market to instantly be converted to sales.

Ultimately, companies have to learn how to make use of all the data that users make available on the Internet to make the brand or service more relevant to their customers. Through digital efforts that add value to the product, companies can touch base with their customers and encourage more participation in brand building.

Image Source: ignitevisibility.com

John Bohan is the founder and general manager of SocialTyze, a social marketing company. For more news on digital marketing, visit this Twitter page.

Repost: #SocialShakeUp Recap: The Reality of Real Time Marketing

How can social media help in terms of real-time marketing? This SocialMediaToday.com article has the details.

This year will enter the history books as “The Year of Real-Time Marketing,” according to a panel of experts at the Social Shake-Up in Atlanta, Georgia. Events across the globe are being covered by numerous mediums and driving brand-driven, real-time content. However, the struggle for companies is to produce timely posts and tweets that are actually relevant to customers and potential partners.

The Social Shake-Up Panel featured speakers Pablo Henderson, Marketing Manager for W Hotels, Ragy Thomas, Founder and CEO of Sprinklr, and Erika Brookes, VP of Product Strategy for Oracle Social. This panel of experts was moderated by Peter Kim, Chief Solutions Architect for the Dachis Group.

 

Image Source: SocialMediaToday.com

The discussion began with a notice for audience members to turn their devices on, a nod to the connected nature of real-time marketing and a comedic jab at other conferences where people are asked to tune in and turn off.

Real-time marketing: What is it?
Ragy began the discussion by defining real-time marketing as something that just happens – brands don’t necessarily control the events – usually unstaged occurrences – and the message is also unplanned.

The CEO of Sprinklr explained that it is almost like standup comedy – there is a balance between impromptu actions and a basic framework that the performance is centered around. You can’t simply wing it and you cannot read a script. Real-time marketing should have a real feel to it, while also being a good representation of the brand’s voice.

Pablo Henderson added on to this point, noting that one needs to be extremely agile in their use of real-time marketing. Some chances have to be taken for a brand to stay ahead of the curve, and this is best done through the use of small, nimble teams that are empowered to make decisions for the respective companies.

Erika Brookes noted that processes need to be set up in order for brands to have effective real-time marketing.

“What is our brand about, what is relevant to us?” she posed to the audience. Businesses need to look to these questions while creating their real-time content, and each member of the marketing team should be on the same page with regard to towing the company line.

Ragy confirmed this sentiment, adding that each member of the company should be able to effectively reiterate points made by people in the C-suite.

Overcoming barriers, building infrastructure
Certain companies may not be able to take a freewheeling approach to real-time marketing, especially in industries and verticals with significant regulatory and compliance hurdles. Figuring out the topics and areas to avoid in real-time is key for these businesses, especially if messages are going to be quickly sent through social media channels.

Erika also noted that the right technology also has to be in place at these companies, as this will ensure that the message gets out as soon as possible once the compliance hurdles are overcome. Brands need to have their respective ears to the ground to keep up with consumer chatter, and internal people should constantly be monitoring different mediums to ensure this happens.

Ragy spoke to the need for infrastructure to extend beyond social media apps, with community management strategies coming in many forms. Without the right framework in place, and in turn the right people manning these technologies, sustained results won’t be an achievable goal.

“You need a plan A, B and C – there should be backup options in the case of something going wrong or down a path that wasn’t initially predicted,” Erika Brookes added, highlighting how this type of planning is possible thanks to the infrastructure that Ragy outlined.

Where do brands start?
Pablo Henderson brought the conversation back to the merits of real-time marketing and the specific approaches that companies can take. He spoke to the three essential types of real-time: Anticipatory, reactive and predictive.

Anticipatory real-time is when brands follow a situation that has two potential outcomes. They craft responses for both cases and then release the given statement based on what occurs. Reactive real-time requires relatively little preparation, as these events sometimes come out of left field and catch people off guard. The final type, predictive real-time, requires a company to take a chance. Here, a marketer may gamble and make a decision based on what they think could happen.

Once a marketing team figures out what resources they have, and in turn which types of real-time they can support, it comes down to selling executives on the respective ideas. You need the C-suite to buy into the plan, noted Erika Brookes, as they will be the people who allow for success to happen by granting permission to use the brand voice in that manner.

Demonstrating ROI: Possible with real-time?
Executives want to hear about return on investment, and it may be too early for marketers to truly show ROI for real-time. However, there are several ways for marketing teams to appeal to the C-suite with regard to real-time campaigns.

Erika noted that a positive customer experience on social media sites thanks to real-time campaigns can eventually lead to long-term value for any brand. Word of mouth is extremely important on networks like Twitter and Facebook, so promoting positive feedback is essential for businesses.

Pablo confirmed this, and also noted that effective real-time campaign can also serve as an excellent cost-cutting measure. Branding campaigns can be simplified and budgets for real-time pushes will be much lower than for more traditional forms of marketing.

Ragy reiterated these points, and added that ROI really is return on relationships in the modern world of marketing. Customer loyalty is built through real-time campaigns, which develops a strong base of support for the brand. This is the type of back-end method of driving revenue that marketers can show to executives, which easily justifies the initial costs of these marketing efforts.

John Bohan is one of the pioneers in Internet marketing. More about him can be read in this blog site. 

What makes a good social media strategy?

Nowadays, a good social media strategy is indispensable in a marketing campaign. If companies are supposed to follow their target markets, then they must build their online presence to start conversations with them. Online search is now the preferred way of gathering information, which means that the Internet is where it’s at in terms of building business visibility.

Image Source: cargillcommunications.com

Social media makes businesses more accessible to people, propping up platforms where customers could easily pick products and services to their liking. Companies, therefore, need to know how to effectively tap into this resource to keep their target markets warm.

Given that the goal is to connect with a customer base, authenticity sells. This may be difficult to achieve in the virtual world because opportunities for a deeper level of connection are limited online. This can be achieved, however, through a long reflective process that imbues the social media strategy with brand personality and values.

Image Source:jeffbullas.com

A good social media strategy also has focus. Instead of trying to reach everyone, companies must first fixate on their target demographic to build a community that will enjoin future customers. When individuals like a brand, they tend to get their peers to like it as well. Facebook shares and Twitter favorites are actually virtual rainmakers.

From there, companies should be consistent in their social media use. It may take a while for online communities to snowball and be a large enough force to influence market trends. While the companies wait out this success, keeping their audience well-informed of their activities is a must as this allows them to build strong relationships with their target market.

Image Source: virtualsocialmedia.com

John Bohan is the founder of Socialtyze, a firm which empowers brands through social media. Find more links to articles on the effective employment of social media in marketing strategies on this Twitter page.

REPOST: Why Most Businesses Are Anti-Social In A Social-Media Era

Why are most business today are anti social media? Rob Asghar of Forbes.com shares the details.

Image Source: forbes.com

In the age of social media, most businesses have become decidedly antisocial.

Sure, today it’s breathtakingly easy to talk in real time to someone on the other side of the planet. But it’s also harder than ever to connect in real time with a real human being anywhere who gives a damn about you.

Your call to the customer-service center is shuffled off to a faceless script-reader in Manila. Or many times you don’t even get that: You get a machine that keeps asking you, with an edge in its voice, to take another crack at clearly stating the nature of your problem. 

And pressing “0” only gets you another computer voice, mocking you and reawakening the spectacular sense impotence that your family instilled in you at the dinner table. The truth is that the company that you called doesn’t want to hear from you. Ever. You only wanted to discuss a minor billing question, but now you need to return to therapy.

How did our human organizations get so, well, inhuman? Social-media guru Brian Solis says that it’s because of our business models, which are focused on efficiency rather than value.

They’re thinking, “How quickly can we get them off the phone?” Solis says.

Businesses and organizations are inherently social. “But what ends up happening,” Solis says, “is that we build a firewall–how we are with friends and family, versus how we are in business. Business is structured to be efficient. It becomes optimized. It becomes anything but social.”

Solis says wise organizations, for their own sake and for the sake of their hapless customers, are beginning to undergo a “social revolution.” “People are being put back into center of why we’re a business,” he says.

Businesses have a compelling reason to get social: They can’t control the public discussion in the manner that they used to. “Information is too democratized now,” Solis says. While businesses used to be able to use the traditional media like a megaphone, now whatever they say through that megaphone is drowned out by the chatter on social media. They have to adjust drastically in order to be a part of the conversations that matter.

Solis coaches top social-media strategists on how their companies can become truly social. But that brings up the Social Paradox:

Being social, in our era, means jumping into a public conversation in which your company doesn’t have central control of that conversation. At the same time, your senior executives, who do have central control of the organization, often fail to see the benefit of being truly social. And so they block or undercut efforts below them to move the organization in a more social direction.

This requires new media people to adjust. “Social media people need to learn to speak the language of the C-suite,” Solis says.

He pointedly doesn’t fault just the executives for the communications gap. “For some reason, marketers are often more enamored by new technology, than by what it can do for the business,” says Solis. They ask for large outlays for the latest social-media trend and are frustrated when CEOs don’t hand over a blank check. CEOs shrug and counter, “Why can’t people just go to our website?”

The CEOs have to focus on bottom-line business outcomes, Solis says, and too few social-media workers appreciate this. “In order to earn executive support, you have to empathize with a day in life of your executive. Think like the executive.”

Solis proposes a modest, non-revolutionary approach. “Having the executives change their philosophy is too hard a task,” he argues. Rather, he recommends that social-media strategists step up and own the task of better connecting their activities to the bottom-line business outcomes that the CEO is beholden to.

That allows the social-media person to become far more strategic and productive, he says, in recognizing how to track customer sentiment, how to create awareness, and ultimately how to create deeper engagement.

John Bohan is an internet entrepreneur for more than a decade. Visit this Facebook page to know more about him.