Beware Social Media Marketing Myths

MySpace, Twitter, and Facebook are all the rage, but for most business owners there are better ways to stay close to customers

BusinessWeek, May 26, 2009 — Comedian Jim Gaffigan has a suggestion for preparing a Hot Pockets frozen entrée: "Take out of package. Place directly in toilet." Gaffigan is not a big fan of Hot Pockets. He doesn't like exercise, either. But he loves bacon. "Without bacon, no one would even know what a water chestnut is," he says. Gaffigan's also a fan of social networking sites.

You'll see him on Facebook, Twitter, and News Corp.'s (NWS) MySpace. He keeps fans up to date on his concerts, albums, TV appearances—and naps. In short, he's a social networking success story. For a one-man band like Gaffigan, who probably has a decent amount of free time between eating bacon and being on stage, social networks and blogs have proved effective vehicles for marketing his business and... continue reading

Social Media Marketing Is A Multicultural World

MediaPost Publications, February 19, 2009 — Social media is now ubiquitous. Usage of blogs, social networks, and video sharing sites is increasing rapidly, and millions of people now look to social media sites as their primary source of news, opinion, and entertainment. As we witness this dramatic shift from traditional to social media, we believe it's important to examine its cultural dimensions - that is, who is driving this shift, what are the cultural factors behind it, and what are the implications for marketers seeking to reach specific ethnic/cultural groups via social media?

Marketers Take Search Ads Beyond Search Engines†

Facebook, MySpace, iPhone Figure in Efforts by Pizza Hut, Others to Boost Online Exposure While Controlling Costs

Wall Street Journal, January 20, 2009 — Marketers, seeking to boost their online exposure while keeping a lid on costs, are looking beyond Internet search engines such as Google and Yahoo to find new places for their search ads.

The trend reflects a change in the way consumers are navigating the Web. More online searches now take place on YouTube, the popular video site owned by Google, than on Yahoo, the No. 2 Web-search property. The change has companies including Pizza Hut, Universal Pictures and Monster.com rethinking their search marketing strategies.

MySpace reaches out to Google in bid to extend reach, counter Facebook expansion

Chicago Tribune, December 9, 2008 — MySpace.com is teaming up with Internet search leader Google Inc. in a campaign to extend MySpace's reach and counter the expansion of their common rival Facebook Inc.

The alliance, unveiled late Monday in Paris, builds upon MySpace's seven-month-old effort to make it easier for the 127 million worldwide users of its online hangout to connect with their social circles while they're at other Internet destinations.

Facebook Tries to Woo Marketers†

Firm's 'Engagement Ads' Amplify Its Push to Curry Favor With Madison Avenue

Wall Street Journal, November 11, 2008 — Despite its surging Internet audience, Facebook Inc. has yet to prove it can wring steady revenue out of advertisers. Now it's trying a new tactic to woo Madison Avenue.

The Palo Alto, Calif., company is rolling out a new ad format called "engagement ads" that further blurs the line between marketing and social networking.

Like a Billboard, but, Oh, So Sleek

New York Times, November 5, 2008 — One of the biggest and fanciest shopping malls in Europe opened here last week in a test of British consumers’ ability to keep spending during a steep downturn. The shopping center, Westfield London, is also shaping up as a vast experiment in making over the humble billboard.

CBS Outdoor, a division of the CBS media conglomerate, has installed more than 100 digital advertising screens at Westfield, including one covering 646 square feet.

The idea is to try to attract new kinds of clients to so-called outdoor or out-of-home advertising, including luxury brands.

Behavioral Targeting: A Tricky Issue for Marketers†

Brandweek, October 21, 2008 — These days, countless users are wishing their social networking sites would simply pay attention to their online travels so they could serve up an ad for something they would—gasp—actually want to buy. After all, that's the whole idea behind behavioral targeting, isn't it? The footprints left behind a user's daily wanderings through the Web (or, in the case of social networks, personal and lifestyle details) are analyzed to later match her up with ads for products or services she's likely to want. It sounds so promising—in theory at least—that behavioral targeting is what many consider the wave of the future.

MTV Plants Its Flag in the Digital World

Fast Company, October 13, 2008 — MTV famously missed its chance to buy MySpace. Now the network's president, Van Toffler, is investing in dozens of digital media projects — and one might soon be a billion-dollar business.

What's New at MySpace

With Facebook surging, cofounders Chris DeWolfe and Tom Anderson have gone back to their roots -- music, pop culture, and a proven cash-flow ad model -- to spur a next phase of growth. Will that be en

Fast Company, August 27, 2008 — Chris Dewolfe, the lanky, shaggily hip CEO of Myspace, is holding his last meeting of the day from a prone position, a collection of long limbs stacked on a tiny red love seat. The early evening powwow, taking place in the cramped office of his senior communications director, is interrupted when I come crashing in to say good-bye.

The Social Network as a Career Safety Net

New York Times, August 14, 2008 — If you have avoided social-networking sites like LinkedIn and Facebook with the excuse that they are the domain of desperate job hunters or attention-seeking teenagers, it’s time to reconsider.

In a world of economic instability and corporate upheaval, savvy professionals like the technology consultant Josh So epitomize the benefits of brushing up your online image and keeping it polished.