TMK's The Fridge

Is LinkedIn Becoming a Multimedia Giant?

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 16:53:55 -0400

When LinkedIn purchased mobile newsreader Pulse for $90 million in April, the message was loud and clear — the world’s biggest professional network is serious about content.

“LinkedIn argues that it is acquiring Pulse because it wants the site to “be the definitive professional publishing platform — where all professionals come to consume content and where publishers come to share their content,” wrote Frederic Lardinois for TechCrunch.

The idea is simple. Start your day with great content on LinkedIn. Then, hop back on the network for your afternoon brain-break. If you rely on LinkedIn to help you advance in your field, the high quality content will be your most powerful resource.

A Niche in the B2B Market

B2B marketers constantly struggle to find the right professional audience. While blogs can be a powerful medium, they are frequently limited in readership and influence. That’s where LinkedIn comes in.

“One of the things that we’re increasingly focused on in 2013 is going to be the opportunity to support content marketing,” said LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner in a conversation with analysts and investors.

What LinkedIn is becoming is a content hub with a built-in social component. The outlook?

“The platform hopes to become a giant information exchange where users can swap exclusive content like white papers, presentations, and expert discussions,” explained Joe Lazauskas in an article for The Content Strategist.

Custom Communities & Advertising Opportunities

LinkedIn is a community built on layers — the first being direct professional relationships. The platform’s users are also looking for value beyond their real life connections. That’s where niche groups come in.

According to Jonathan Lister, LinkedIn’s advertising sales and operations leader, big brands are leveraging LinkedIn to complement their traditional marketing efforts.

“They do this by building custom communities on the LinkedIn platform like Citi’s Connect: Professional Women’s Network, or through targeted sponsored updates currently being tested by GE and Xerox,” Lister wrote for FastCompany. “They spend their time on our platform creating and feeding content which will resonate with their base, and in turn, build committed followers from which they can glean insight.”

A Hub for Influencers

Last year, LinkedIn released an open call for influencers — connected CEOs, experts, and career coaches — and gave them a platform to write. Here’s how LinkedIn’s microblogging platform was born.

“LinkedIn’s newest feature, thought leaders, allows users to follow the world’s most influential thinkers,” wrote Lewis Howes for the Clarity Blog. “Everyone from President Barack Obama to Richard Branson are flocking to this platform for one major reason: reach.”

Why read 100 business leader blogs when you can find all the thought leadership that you need in one place? Through its microblogging platform, LinkedIn is capitalizing on this idea — that audiences love great content but want everything aggregated, in one place, on an easy to navigate platform.

From professional network to multimedia giant, LinkedIn is leading the content marketing charge. Do you think that the investment will ultimately yield an ROI? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Key Trends & Big Wins in Today's Mobile Economy

Fri, 07 Jun 2013 10:26:45 -0400

Seven years ago, the app industry didn’t even exist. Flash forward to today — the mobile economy is now worth an estimated $25 billion — a number that translates into 500,000 jobs. And the future? By 2016, apps marketplaces will almost double in size to nearly $46 billion .

According to research from iStrategyLabs, the average smartphone user has more than 100 apps on their mobile devices. U.S. consumers spend approximately two hours per day using their apps with 43% of their time spent on games and 26% spent on social media. By the end of this year, consumers will be downloading two billion apps per week.

The world of mobile has never looked brighter. Here’s what you need to know.

Tablet Commerce Is Taking Off

Adobe Digital Index recently analyzed 23 billion website visits and found that tablet usage tripled from 2011 to 2012. Adobe believes that by early 2014, 10% of web traffic will come from tablets.

This should be cause for action for many retailers. As GetElastic’s Linda Bustos points out, only 7% of retailers have tablet-friendly websites.

That’s a trend that needs to change — by 2016, tablets are expected to outship PCs.According to eMarketer, 15% of online retail sales in 2013 will take place on mobile devices — with tablets leading the charge. By 2017? That number will rise to 25%.

Consumers Value On-Demand Details

Last holiday season, smartphones were a major consumer staple. According to a January Pew Center report, nearly 60% of cell owners used their phones inside brick-and-mortar stores for assistance in making a purchase.

Shoppers rely on their mobile devices to consult with friends and family, research reviews, and compare prices. Young adults are leading the charge with this trend.

Consumers want details — now and without blinking. Smartphones empower shoppers with that craving for instant information.

Smartphones Are Life’s Hub

“For several years, technology companies have promised the dream of the connected home, the connected body and the connected car,” wrote Brian X. Chen for The New York Times. “Those connections have proved illusory. But in the last year app-powered accessories have provided the mechanism to actually make the connections.”

People are inseparable from their smartphones, which are quickly becoming life’s hub for staying in touch, managing finances, reading the news, and keeping comfortable.

Thanks to mobile, people are perpetually connected — a double-edged sword for both brands and consumers.

How does mobile fit into your brand’s strategy?

Buzzwords Explained: Native Advertising

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 12:47:52 -0400

Native advertising is taking the marketing world by storm. The idea? Present audiences with information that they’ll value and enjoy. These days, online advertising is the norm — banners, widgets, and lead gen forms are everywhere. Brands are constantly competing for consumers’ attention — and even more so, users are looking away.

“Traditional display advertising such as banners, pre-roll, and pop-ups continue to perform poorly due in no small part to vastly low public appeal,”according to a recent infographic by Column Five Media.

Banner blindness is causing major pain-points for conversion-driven marketers who prioritize results. Between 2000 and 2012, banner ad click-through rates decreased from 9% to 0.2%, says Column Five.

Native advertising is a new way to build substantive audience connections where all parties win — the advertiser is able to engage with users, and the customer is able to enjoy a high-value multimedia experience.

What Is Native Advertising?

This marketing strategy boosts user experience by delivering content in-stream. Brands and agencies are teaming up with major publishers like Forbes, Atlantic Media, and the Washington Post to connect with consumer audiences.

“Forbes BrandVoice allows marketers to connect directly with the Forbes audience by enabling them to create great content – and participate in the conversation – on the Forbes digital publishing platform,” wrote Frederic Filloux for The Guardian. “Each BrandVoice is written, edited and produced by the marketer.”

Native ads can be in article or video form. Some brands hire professional journalists, and others leverage in-house teams to cover recent events, evergreen topics, or areas of controversy. You can do anything as long as you follow one rule — make it compelling.

Does It Work?

New spaces have limited data — however, a recent study from Sharethrough and IPG Media Lab suggests that native ads are on to something big.

The study examined nearly 5,000 consumers on their response to native advertising. Of these participants, 200 agreed to have their eye movements tracked.

“The results overwhelmingly backed up the central contention of companies like Sharethrough, which helps publishers push their native ads across different platforms: that readers are more likely to pay attention to marketing messages that resemble the content around them,” wrote Jeff Bercovici for Forbes.

Study participants were 25% more likely to look at a native ad than banner — they also looked at native ads more often in the testing session.

It’s Emotional, Powerful, and Relevant

Native ads work because they aren’t salesy. Self-promotional pitches can only take your brand so far — no consumer wants to be beaten over the head with aggressive advertising.

“A native ad is something that consumers read, interact with, even share — it fills up their attention space, for a certain period of time, in a way that banner ads never do,” wrote Felix Salmon for Reuters.

This is a marketing strategy that does more than sell. It builds trust, forges bonds, and sparks a conversation. It’s a pull-mechanism that empowers consumers while keeping them interested.

Are native ads a fit with your brand strategy? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

TMK Desk Series: What does your desk say about you? Featured...

Mon, 06 May 2013 11:09:35 -0400

TMK Desk Series: What does your desk say about you?

Featured Chef: Clair Bergam

Core Tech Trends to Watch in 2013

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 10:00:48 -0400

It’s hard to believe that 2013 is already under way. Last year, the tech sector saw some amazing innovation — the rise of Pinterest, the sale of Instagram to Facebook for $1 billion, and historic highs in Internet ad revenue. This year, already-strong product and business models are positioned to grow even more.

A key theme that consulting giant Deloitte highlights is the concept of “social reeingineering by design.” In other words — “how work gets done is no longer constrained by 19th century platforms.”

These last few years have introduced new business models and monetization strategies — like affiliate marketing, online subscriptions, pay-per-click. These techniques have evolved into the foundations for commerce on the Internet. They’ve also opened doors to even more creative business strategies. Here’s what to expect in 2013.

1. Peer-to-Peer Business Models

“In the 20th century, consumer goods became key focal points for every Western economy,” wrote Dan Martell for the Clarity blog. “From televisions to cell phones, computers, luxury cars, entertainment, travel, and leisure, the concept of private ownership — especially in the United States — was entwined with prosperity.”

Now, that perspective is changing. People are pursuing options for cost-effective and sustainable living. They’re sharing instead of owning.

“Thanks in part to refined high-tech platforms, close-knit social media communities, and the economic downturn, peer-to-peer markets are emerging in key sectors including travel (AirBnB), transportation (Getaround, Relay Rides, Zipcar, Zimride), fashion (Rent the Runway, 99Dresses), skills (TaskRabbit, Zaarly), and even kids’ clothing (thredUP),” Martell said.

And it’s not just the consumer goods industry. Everyday consumers are participating in crowdfunding programs like Kickstarter, peer lending networks like Prosper, and shared office space environments.

2. Niche Social Networks

Phase one of social media was the rise of general networks like Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Then came B2B platform LinkedIn and intellectual discussion platform Quora. Over the next year, social media initiatives will continue to become more niche.

“The idea of appealing to a specific core audience isn’t exactly new,” wrote Christian Arno for SearchEngineWatch. “Forums, message boards, and online communities — the forerunners to social media sites as we know them today — have brought people with shared interests together for years.”

But these social networks aren’t looking to grow to the scale of Facebook and Twitter.

“They’re not necessarily looking to compete with the big boys on their own terms, but to win their own dedicated and highly specific sets of followers,” wrote Arno.

One example is HealthTap, an online platform that connects patients with doctors to address common medical questions. Another example is Doximity, a HIPAA-compliant professional network for doctors to share information about their patients.

3. Education 2.0

Student debt in the United States has now surpassed $1 trillion, and it is becoming increasingly clearer that continued education is becoming increasingly out of reach. With a national unemployment rate close to 8 percent and a widespread shortage of talent, the demand for skill-building remains strong.

That’s why alternative education programs are emerging through free or low cost models. Now, you can learn valuable skills in data, computer programming, finance, and business without the price tag of a major university.

These platforms are even combining free education with profitability. Udemy, for instance, works with employers to recruit top-performing students in exchange for a referral fee. Online platform Lynda.com charges students a monthly fee in exchange for unlimited access to professional lectures. General Assembly hosts expert-led classes, lectures, and development workshops in exchange for an attendance fees.

Through new health platforms, people are able to get smarter for less — in return, these education providers are still able to make a profit. Will 2013 be the year that these ventures begin to scale?

Your Thoughts

What core tech trends do you think should also be on this list? Which are your favorite? This year is going to be an exciting one, and businesses on the Internet are starting to mature. And still, opportunities are boundless.

Chef Profile Series: Bobby Miller

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 11:55:43 -0400

Where he’s from: The bustling suburban metropolis of Huber Heights, OH (home of rock band Hawthorne Heights, of “Ohio is for Lovers” fame).
Hobbies/Interests/What he does when he’s not working: Playing volleyball (some might say I have an unhealthy addiction to it).
Favorite TMK Memory: Presenting on Aboslut Vodka’s sponsorship of RuPaul’s Drag Race in front of the entire company during Presentation Skills class, and Patrick So laughing out loud in an otherwise quiet room at my “You Betta Drink!!!” title slide (PS. I had only been working at TMK for 2 weeks).
Favorite thing about TMK: The people, durr!

How Tech Is Reinventing the Supermarket Experience

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 10:28:02 -0400

It’s hard to imagine that Kroger, America’s largest supermarket chain, is now 130 years old. On the whole, United States supermarket sales exceed $500 billion with more than 3.4 million employees.

The scale, reach, and scope of your neighborhood grocery stores are never going to change. People are always going to spend their disposable income on food. In fact, on average, consumers make supermarket trips as often as twice a week.

On the whole, supermarkets follow the same brick-and-mortar model. That’s because it’s tough to buy food online. Big companies like Safeway and Amazon have ventured into this territory, but Internet-based grocery shopping hasn’t caught on. People want to buy their milk in a physical store, and that trend probably won’t change.

Consumers Demand Efficiency

It’s tough to deny though, that tech is transforming consumer behavior in the direction of efficiency.

“We are seeing the emergence of intelligent solutions to help us live easier, more convenient and efficient lives – particularly in our homes and how we travel,” wrote Peter Lacy and Justin Keeble in an article for The Guardian.

People want to live better, healthier lives – and they rely on technology as the key solution provider. Businesses need to catch up and drive change in consumer behavior at scale.

“It is widely appreciated that by 2050, if current population and consumption trends continue, increased demand in resources will require 2.5 planets to support the population with what it will need,” Lacy and Keeble wrote. “To create more sustainable consumption, businesses must reshape demand by making it more personal and relevant to consumers and leveraging the power of technology to drive engagement and transparency.”

Around the world, supermarkets and technology providers are capitalizing on this idea.

Example 1: IBM Simplifies Shelf-Browsing

Today’s consumers are information driven. They’re constantly researching products and doing their due diligence in reading reviews. Unfortunately, that process is quite time consuming. Regardless, people want to know – ‘what’s the best product for me?’

That’s the precise question that technology giant IBM is hoping to help consumers answer.

“IBM has unveiled an augmented reality mobile app that lets you pan store shelves with your smartphones to receive personalized product tips, recommendations, and coupons,” said VentureBeat writer Dean Takahashi. “As you enter a store, you can download the app on a smartphone or tablet, register for the service, and create a profile of features that matter to you, such as ingredients you’re allergic to or your favorite foods.”

As you explore the aisles, the app will help you find products you’ll love. It simplifies what consumers already love to do – browse.

Example 2: Tesco Maps Your Shopping List

In 2011, U.K. supermarket giant Tesco developed an Android app to help customers find items at the store. It all starts with what you need on your shopping list.

“When a customer enters a Tesco store, the app will create a store map with all of the items on the shopping list laid out on it,” Emma Barnett wrote for The Telegraph. “After pressing the start button, the app will then find the shortest distance between the products an the shopper, and create a route for the trolley to follow. Other items can be added to the list at any time and located within the shop.”

As an added level of convenience, the app allows users to share shopping lists with one another. Can’t make that last-minute grocery store run? Send the list to your spouse who will be passing by the store on his or her way home.

Example 3: Yihaodian Creates Augmented Reality Storefronts

Chinese grocery giant Yihaodian is deploying an innovative supermarket concept – augmented reality markets where users can shop with phones.

What the company plans to do is create virtual stores in every blank space, which includes subways, walls, and public squares.

While people who aren’t using smartphones won’t see anything out of the ordinary, Yihaodian is changing how smartphone users see the world around them. According to Betsy Isaacson of The Huffington Post, “those who arrive equipped with a mobile device will be able to see a fully stocked supermarket, complete with virtual ‘food’ users can scan with a smartphone to put in a ‘virtual shopping basket’ and have delivered at the click of a button.”

With this type of storefront model, fresh and healthy food instantly becomes more available to consumers. And the expansion potential? Infinite.

Your Thoughts
Does technology have the potential to transform the supermarket experience? What key trends are consumers most likely to adopt?

Twitter Vine: What to Know

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 10:22:00 -0400

In 2006, Twitter transformed online communication through one simple concept — that it’s possible to fully express thoughts, news, and feelings in 140 characters. Seven years and 500 million users later, Twitter has disrupted online media again. Only this time, it’s through video.

Enter Vine

In the Fall of 2012, Twitter acquired a product called Vine — a mobile service that helps users create six-second looping videos.

“It’s really beautifully integrated with Twitter and there’s a new level of simplicity around video capture that they hit on that has made it intriguing to people,” said Twitter’s former VP of consumer marketing to Mashable. “I think it moved a step ahead from integrating a still photo to integrating something more dynamic.”

Here’s what brand marketers need to know to leverage the tool successfully.

1. It’s an Art

The value in Twitter status updates is that they are functional — for maximum utility, users must condense information into short and direct expressions. Vine, on the other hand, is more emotionally intriguing.

“One of the things we know about creativity is that constraints are essential for getting people to do creative stuff,” said Stanford’s Human-Computer Interaction Group co-founder Scott Klemmer in a quote for CNN. “If you come up with the right constraints, that’s a benefit, not a drawback.”

Brands aiming to use Vine should focus less on what they’re communicating and instead, devote energy into the creative hows and whys of the platform. Long story short, the value of Vine is that it has beauty beyond its immediate functionality.

2. It’s Human

Some of the most amazing life moments happen in under six seconds — like bloopers, for instance. One of the prime emotions that Vine can convey is humor.

If you love bloopers, Vine is the right platform for sharing them. It’s like an intersection between the meme and animated GIF phenomenons. Vine has the potentially to be funny — with a baked in social component. Vine has the potential to take concepts viral.

3. Is It an Ad?

According to eMarketer, brands should keep their eyes peeled for new Vine-related opportunities.

“Although Vine has not launched an advertiser solution, industry pundits speculate the service may release a promoted video product, along the lines of Twitter’s Promoted Trends,” eMarketer said.

As of right now, awareness and adoption of Vine is relatively low, as the platform is something that is a couple steps ahead of current consumer trends. From a consumer standpoint, it might be relatively slow to catch on.

In the long-run, however, Vine has the potentially to redefine video advertising altogether. Right now, online video ads are mostly overlays and clips in streaming videos. Vine has the potential to be a game changer by forcing brands to be engaging and people-conscious.

Your Thoughts

At this point, could you envision Vine being a part of your social marketing and advertising strategy? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Real-time Marketing is Madison Avenue's Next Big Challenge

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 16:20:06 -0400

Real-time Marketing is Madison Avenue's Next Big Challenge:

In Barry Lowenthal’s latest post for The Economist Group, he discusses the evolution of communication between brands and their consumers. As the dialogue starts to shift from a one-way to two-way conversation, brand sentiment can more readily be expressed their target audience. Read more on Barry’s thoughts about how marketers should be listening, responding and participating in this exchange.

Will Graph Search Take Businesses Beyond Likes?

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 17:58:48 -0400

If you’re reading this blog post, you probably know that Facebook recently released its Graph Search platform. It’s the talk of the tech world, and some experts predict it will grow to become more powerful than the current ‘Google habit.’

Digital strategists and business owners alike share one key question — how will Graph Search influence the world of marketing?

“It’s rapidly shortening the distance between you and your customers by letting them find you more easily than ever before,” wrote Renee Warren for the Onboardly Blog. “What makes Graph Search unique from previous search technology is that it’s completely socially driven. Top results will be based on social prevalence. What are my friends consuming, doing, and liking? It’s these key questions that Graph Search will answer.”

Reinventing Existing Data

Facebook is a powerful data source, capturing key variables about its one billion active users.

“Facebook has access to countless data points,” wrote Matt Lee for the Adhere Creative Blog. “And they’re transforming this stream of numbers into actionable information. Every post you make sheds insight into who you are as a person. Facebook wants to leverage this data to bring advertising and marketing closer to what you might like or already consume.”

Graph Search repurposes existing user data into a consumer friendly tool that allows users to search for where their friends are shopping, dining, and hanging out.

“Graph Search won’t provide access to new information, however,” Lee wrote. “You’ll only be able to see what you already see elsewhere on Facebook, organized into a new format.”

Optimizations Worth Making

Even though Graph Search is still in beta, it’s obvious that Facebook is taking its business in a new direction. You need to make sure that your page communicates important information in the most social-friendly way possible.

Facebook recommends first making sure that your page is relevant and up to date.

Your page name, category, vanity URL, and ‘About’ section details should make your business easy to find. If your business is linked to a location or place, ensure that your address is up to date.

With Graph Search, your brand page’s visibility will directly relate to your sphere of influence. For that reason, it’s imperative that you prioritize fan acquisition and growth.

How Does the Future Look?

Facebook Graph Search will likely go through many iterations until a ‘final’ version sticks. The tool is currently in rough form and is — by all means — far from perfect.

Expect the concept to stick around, however.

“Beta testing will work out a lot of kinks, as the data is in very rough form,” Warren wrote. “But experimentation is key to building a successful product, right? Remember when Newsfeed launched, and everyone seemed to hate it? Over time, it quickly became a social media staple. It’s hard to imagine Facebook without it.”

Media Watch: Super Bowl XLVII

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 20:14:03 -0500

This week might see the last of the Super Bowl-related articles in new media. Super Bowl XLVII saw the surprise success of mobile and social media as the press counted the jaw-dropping number of comments, tweets and text messages sent during the game. With the 46th installment last year, we found out new media was here to stay when those numbers climbed even further and platforms such as Twitter and Facebook exploded with game-related content. This year, “new media” became “established practice” as the big guys not only noticed the phenomenon, but have simply integrated it into their overall media strategy.

Running Some Numbers

As with the previous two Super Bowls, the sheer volume of new media activity during the game was impressive. Check out the statistics collated by ABC News.

* Social media comments during the game totaled 12.2 million, as compared to the 1.9 million made during #46. That’s a 600 percent increase.* During the conclusion of Beyonce’s halftime show, @Beyonce’s twitter feed alone saw over a quarter million tweets per second.

* Jacoby Jones’ 108-yard kickoff return for a Ravens touchdown was met with 185,000 tweets in response. The Ravens victory as the clock expires saw a similar peak in traffic.

* Pinterest and Facebook saw enormous spikes in traffic before the game as people shared photos of costumes, game day setups and food in preparation for Super Bowl parties.

* 231,000 tweets per minute discussed the power outage at the Superdome. As with Hurricane Sandy, mobile media trumped little things like a lack of electricity.

#Superbowl

One indicator of how seriously new media is being taken is how many celebrities and brands tried to get in on the act. Take, for example, a tiny percentage of those who used #SuperBowl as an easy piggyback for their message.

* During the blackout, Oreo, Walgreens and Audi immediately Tweeted messages riffing on the problem, and how their brands offered unique — or at least humorous — solutions.

* Pundits Bill Maher, Keith Olbermann and Evan Shapiro used key moments of the game to get some extra face time with their followers. Even science superstar Neil DeGrasse Tyson got into the act.

* 38% of the video ads we saw during the game included a hashtag viewers could use for more information. That’s a 31% increase over last year’s game.

* Klout founder Joe Fernandez scored a pop culture twofer during the blackout by tweeting “Is this the part where Bane comes out?”

Simply put, this year’s game proved the importance of new media, to the degree that it questions the name “new media” we’ve attached to social and mobile communication. Readers, what do you predict will be the next “new media” to change the game? Give us your thoughts in the comments below.

6 New Ways to Self-Publishing

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 10:00:28 -0500

Just as the self-publishing boom of the last decade has changed the publishing industry forever, it has also had a powerful effect on marketing. In the 21st century, education and expertise are the most powerful forms of ad copy, and publishing showcases them. Whether you want to find a home for your novel, or you’re planning marketing strategy for a Fortune 500 company, it’s worth taking a look at these new models of self-publishing.

1. Print on Demand (POD)

It’s been possible to pay for a print run since Gutenberg was still manning the press, but new technologies have made POD runs affordable for small companies and even individuals. You can choose between anything ranging from a booklet style or a trade paperback to fancy leather-bound volumes. In recent years, even a run of under ten copies has a reasonable per-unit price.

2. Podcasting

Since mp3 files and the iPod revolutionized portable sound, smart publishing doesn’t ignore audio. If you have smart ideas — especially ideas that speak to busy people who commute or work with their hands — a podcast might be the best way to get those ideas out. Since the product is digital, individual copies are free. The only cost is your time, and whatever you want to spend on the recording equipment.

3. The eBook Revolution

While costs to print on demand have decreased this decade, ebooks are even more cost-effective. They’re free to distribute, once you’ve covered the costs of writing, layout and editing. During Christmas 2011, ebooks outsold every other individual form of book like trade paperbacks or hardbacks. In December 2012, they outsold other forms of book combined. If ebooks were once taken less seriously because of their medium, that stigma has passed.

4. Straight to YouTube

Video advertising and education were once expensive to produce, and even more expensive to distribute. YouTube and camera phones changed all that over the course of a few recent years. You can produce a video in your living room, with higher sound and video quality than you paid for at the movies during the 80s. It’s more involved than just writing down your ideas, but also potentially more engaging. YouTube gets more than 3 billion hits every single day.

5. The App Market

“New” is a relative term, and the app market is the newest option on this list. You can release an app that’s essentially an ebook with a different skin, or go all the way to a highly interactive product that advises or entertains. Apps are more expensive to produce than ebooks, podcasts or videos because you need a programmer to do the job, but are free to distribute and one of the hottest growing publishing options of the past three years.

5. Amazon Almighty

Apparently learning from the lessons of the Hollywood and Blockbuster video chains, Amazon embraced new publishing from the start. As of January, 2012, the Amazon print and electronic self-publishing platform is the most accessible option for distributing your work. Even if you only plan to give your novel to a few family members, or to use your book as marketing collateral, it’s worth taking an extra hour to put it up on Amazon. Just appearing in their search improves your credibility, and there’s always the chance of a breakout success.

What’s your experience with self-publishing, either before or after the advent of new media?

Will Social Media Transform Healthcare?

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 11:19:22 -0500

According to a recent Pew Center report, 59 percent of U.S. adults say that they’ve browsed the Internet for health information in the last year. One in three Americans have gone online to research whether they or a loved one have a specific medical condition. Consumers are looking beyond medical professionals for information — they’re turning to search engines and peer communities of patients with similar conditions.

“The social life of health information is a steady presence in American life,” wrote Susannah Fox and Maeve Duggan for the report. “One in four adults (24 percent) says that they turned to others who have the same health condition during their last bout with an illness.”

A Stable Trend

The trend has persisted for years, according to Fox and Duggan. In an earlier Pew study, Fox surveyed groups who are likely to search online for individuals with specific medical conditions. She found that people are not only sharing medical information — they’re building lifetime bonds.

“Some of the most notable interactions involve people who meet online for the first time,” Fox wrote. “There were numerous examples of these powerful long-distance connections in our online survey of patients and caregivers who take part in rare-disease communities.”

It’s these social bonds that are bridging the connection between health, human interest, and social media. Here’s how.

HealthTap: Doctors Join the Community

HealthTap is a community that helps doctors and patients share valuable information. The question and answer platform has recruited thousands of approved physicians to help patients better manage their medical conditions.

“Instead of anxiously searching Google or WebMD, people would rather turn to a real human being for answers to their pressing health questions — preferably one who’s been to school for 10 years,” Rip Empson wrote for TechCrunch. “The problem is, of course, that visits to the doctor’s office cost money” To meet this need, HealthTap was founded in 2010, “to give anyone and everyone the opportunity to consult with human doctors in realtime, for free.”

In addition to asking their own questions, patients can research existing conversations — and seek out second and third opinions. As HealthTap reveals, social media has the potential to make health-related information more accessible and more affordable.

ChicRx: Where Gossip Meets Health

Imagine what would happen if Glamour magazine met a medical journal. That’s exactly the premise behind ChickRx, a health startup that targets women. The platform empowers women to anonymously seek out answers to their most private medical conditions.

“ChickRx is an online safe haven for questions from 18-to-39-year-old women,” wrote Mashable’s Joann Pan. “It’s a place where you ask anything. Plastic surgeons are available to answer questions about breast augmentations, reproductive health psychologists are there to address concerns about birth control and pregnancy, and peers are readily available to chat about dating. Other popular topics include celebrities, weight loss, cancer, alcohol and stress.”

Through social communities, ChickRx is able to create an open climate where women feel comfortable talking about their bodies. The result? Health education that’s informative, fun, relevant, and easy-to-access.

Doximity: Where Physicians Connect

If only there existed an online platform for doctors to connect with one another to share industry knowledge and share perspectives on patient care. It does exist, and it just raised a $17 million series B funding round led by Morgenthaler Ventures.

Doximity is a free networking tool that helps physicians share information with one another.

“The company started as a LinkedIn for doctors, and this year it added a newsfeed that allows doctors to post messages to colleagues they are connected with on the platform,” wrote Christina Farr for VentureBeat. “Doximity has grown rapidly since securing is first round of funding 17 months ago because doctors have few other options. They cannot use traditional social networks, email, or SMS texting to discuss patients, which is considered a violation of privacy.”

The bottom line is simple — Doximity helps doctors provide better care for their patients in a HIPAA-compliant way.

The Full Circle: The Patient Care Model

By improving communication and quality of care, social media provides tangible benefits to patient care. It’s all about data, human interest, and the spread of information. In what direction do you think that social media will influence patient care?

First DJ Friday of 2013

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 09:58:00 -0500

Thanks Grace & Lindsey for the party playlist. And a special thanks to Popular Science for sponsoring! A great time was had by all…

DJ Playlist:

Gold Dayz – Ultraista

Ghoswriter – RJD2

Can’t Stop Me Now – Pretty Lights

1976 – RJD2

Take your Mama Out – Scissor Sisters

I don’t feel like Dancin’ - Scissor Sisters

Electric Feel – MGMT

Victory – Trampled By Turtles

Still in Love with You – Trampled By Turtles

Never Again – Trampled by Turtles

Turn on Me – The Shins

Sealegs – The Shins

This is the Last Time – Keane

Crystal Ball – Keane

Hold On – Alabama Shakes

Mary Jane’s Last Dance – Tom Petty

Learning to Fly – Tom Petty

Friday I’m in Love – The Cure

One More Night – Maroon 5

Ho Hey – The Lumineers

Finally Moving – Pretty Lights

Sympathy – Goo Goo Dolls

Heartbeats – The Knife

Locked Out of Heaven – Bruno Mars

Sweet Nothing – Calvin Harris

Cruise – Florida Georgia Line

Too Close – Alex Clare

Catch My Breath – Kelly Clarkson

Ho Hey – The Lumineers

Clique – Big Sean

Somebody That I Used to Know – Gotye

Girl on Fire – Alicia Keys

Undo It – Carrie Underwood

Scream & Shout – Will.i.am & Britney Spears

Fantasy – Mariah Carey

I’m Different – 2 Chainz

Red – Taylor Swift

Synergizing Your New Media Accounts

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 14:25:53 -0500

You’ve heard of Facebook, Twitter and Linked In, maybe even Reddit, Pinterest or Classmates. But what about Ning, Tagged, Orkut, or Multipy? As of December 2012, there are over 200 active social networking sites worldwide. It’s impossible for a business to use every single one effectively, but it’s nearly that difficult to have an effective social media program with only one such account. The most successful businesses synergize their social media by integrating multiple platforms to help each grow more than it would on its own.

Balancing Unity Versus Uniqueness

There’s a continuum describing how to treat social media over multiple platforms. On one end, a brand broadcasts identical content across all modes, because this is the least expensive and time-consuming option. On the other, each platform broadcasts unique content that appears on that site alone. This side is more effective, but more costly.

Few experts recommend taking on either extreme, but instead say businesses should take a moderate position according to the needs of their individual programs. Businesses that rely on personal attachment typically do better with unique content, while larger-scale operations can get good results from a more “cookie cutter” approach.

Comparing Individual Statistics

This is the most vital aspect of multi-platform new media marketing, and the most frequently ignored. It’s important to keep statistics such as social sharing, unique views and response/comment rates for everything you put on any media platform. It’s even more important to compare those statistics across different platforms. Some particularly telling comparisons include:

* How identical posts perform across different platforms.

* How similarly themed posts on the same platform perform as compared to one another.

* How much traffic on one platform increases when mentioned on another platform.

Understanding Different Audiences

Related to whether you want unified or unique content, this aspect looks at how different audiences use the various top-level social sharing networks. The specifics change as popularity waxes and wanes, but as of 2012, a guide to the top five social media platforms would advise:

Facebook — Keep content brief, despite the lack of limits on post size. Consider the space an opportunity to link to longer-form content like blog posts.

Twitter — Deceptively informal. Good for humor and insider tips, but remain professional.

LinkedIn — A professional network for professionals behaving professionally.

Pinterest — Use only for compelling visuals, with links to pages with a call to action.

Google+ — Less populated, but key to Google search performance in the coming decade. Activity should be heavily optimized.

Putting It All Together

Ultimately, synergizing new media projects is no different from combining any other marketing campaigns. Though the technology is new, the concepts are as old as the marketing industry. Plan projects intelligently, set reasonable and measurable goals, and hold regular sessions to compare progress against those goals. Successful synergy will follow.

Do you have anything to ask or add about new media marketing? Start (or join) a conversation in the comments below.

Retail Trends in Personalized Shopping

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 14:21:28 -0500

Why treat your customers like strangers when you can use technology to build a personal rapport? Through mobile apps, marketplace data, and social platforms, retail brands are leveraging technology to create highly personalized shopping experiences for consumers.

“Retail is going through a period of flux,” Kim Bhasin wrote for Business Insider. “From big box stores to specialty shops to online vendors, everyone’s trying to figure out how to survive. It has become all about the ability to adapt as technology transforms the retail landscape.”

Not sure where to get started? Here are three brand examples worth studying.

1. Neiman Marcus: Personalizing Mobile

Luxury brand Neiman Marcus recently launched its NM Service mobile app to connect customers with new products and eager-to-help staff.

“The app connects consumer data with sales associates to help create a more positive and custom-tailored customer experience,” according to the ZapTap blog.

The goal is to combine shopping history data with location-based information to improve the efficacy of customer service in stores.

“NM Service will provide information on new products and future events taking place, as well as listing the sales staff currently in-store,” wrote Judy McRae in a SpringWise article. ”Those sales assistants will also have a version of the app tailored to them, alerting them when a participating customer enters the store.”

2. Burberry: Bringing Online Experiences to Stores

Consumers have a love-hate relationship with online shopping. As convenient as it may be to shop from your couch, it’s likely that you’ll end up making more than a few returns or exchanges.

Burberry is creating an engaging in-store experience that connects the best of both online and offline worlds. The idea is for people to shop at the physical locations, but with the added convenience and robustness of a computer.

“Full-length screens wrap the store, transitioning between audio-visual content displays, live-streaming hubs, and mirrors,” wrote Lauren Indvik in a Mashable article. “Radio frequency identification (RFID) chips have been atached to certain clothes and accessories so that when a customer approaches one of the screens in a fitting room, specific content — say, information about a bag’s stitching and craftsmanship, or a video showing how a skirt was worn on the catwalk — will appear.”

Technology can bring an otherwise flat brick and mortar experience to life.

3. NetPlenish: Let Customers Name Their Own Prices

It’s no secret that retailers compete against each other for their target customers’ attention. Mobile app NetPlenish is taking that dynamic to the next level.

“Mobile app NetPlenish lets consumers make an item list, then calculate the best deal for the entire order,” Bhasin wrote. “On the way to checkout, participating retailers compete around the asking price.”

NetPlenish boasts more than 3 million products in its inventory ranging from diapers to dog food and human food.

Your Thoughts

Will personalized retail catch on? If so, in what capacity — via mobile, online, or brick and mortar? Share your observations and thoughts in the comments below. In which directions should retailers invest their time and energy?

Creative Ways that Brands Use Pinterest

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 14:02:02 -0500

This year, Pinterest took the social media world by storm as one of the fastest-growing destinations online.

“According to comScore, the average Pinterest user spends 98 minutes per month on the site compared to 2.5 hours on Tumblr, and 7 hours on Facebook,” Josh Constine wrote in a Techcrunch article. “If you don’t count sites like Google+ and new Yahoo channels that have built in user bases, comScore’s data shows Pinterest would be the fastest site of any kind to hit 10 million monthly uniques in the U.S.”

Pinterest is an especially powerful platform for visually strong content. Magazines, home and garden, and fashion-related brands are taking off among Pinterest’s substantial user base of young women. But what about brands that don’t have a strong visual strategy?

Should these companies shy away from Pinterest and invest their finite marketing resources elsewhere? Absolutely not — as a marketing medium, the value of Pinterest transcends ‘pretty’ pictures. Whether your company specializes in engineering, plumbing, or fashion design, you have a place on Pinterest. Here are three creative examples that exemplify why.

Miracle Stories at Ohio Dayton Children’s Hospital

Hospitals are among the last organizations that you would expect to see on Pinterest. Ohio Dayton Children’s Hospital, however, has built a community on one key principle — human interest, according to the HubSpot blog. By sharing stories about childhood and parenting, the hospital is able to establish a strong connection with its target demographic.

“These marketing teams probably knew that 80 percent of Pinterest users are women, and that 30% of these women are between 25-34,” Allyson Galle wrote in a HubSpot blog post. Within that demographic, it’s pretty common to have children. And what’s incredibly important to raising a family? Healthcare.”

Leverage Pinterest to connect with customers’ core values. Your company doesn’t need to be a retail brand or magazine. Just focus on what people care about.

Chobani Yogurt: Focusing on Customer Needs

This company quickly realized a need to step beyond egocentric promotional marketing.

“The brand knows that merely pinning images from their own site isn’t the best use of their Pinterest presence,” Beth Hayden wrote in a FastCompany article. “So instead, they created insightful boards and pins that they know their ideal clients want.”

Chobani maintains boards promoting a range of recipes from fellow websites and blogs. Sharing this information can help keep potential customers interested and engaged with the brand.

“The yogurt company knows that their target audience (women, who do most of the grocery shopping) are always on the lookout for delicious simple recipes to feed their hungry hoards at home,” Hayden wrote. “So instead of just pinning links from the Chobani website, they’re in the business of solving problems for their followers.”

The Wall Street Journal: Building a Consumer Resource

Pinterest is more than a collage board — the platform can also function as an educational tool. The Wall Street Journal, for instance, created “an informational board to help new Pinners understand the social network,” according to Courtney Seiter in the Marketing Land Blog.

Give people a comprehensive resource that they can share, bookmark, and repeatedly consult. The best part of this approach is that it works for virtually any brand. Every sector is filled with prospective customers who are looking to learn. Whether you’re a plumber, home inspector, or loan agent, Pinterest can help you market your brand.

Video vs. Text: an SEO Dilemma

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 11:31:08 -0500

You already know that consistently updated content is the fastest way to move up the Google page rankings.

You already know that blogging and vlogging are two of the best modes for creating and posting that updated content.

What few people know for sure — so don’t feel bad if you’re among them — is which of these modes is the best task for the job. There’s a simple reason for this: there’s not just one answer. Neither is necessarily better or worse for SEO. One or the other may or may not be better for SEO in a specific situation.

You won’t get a cut-and-dried answer here today, but we’re going to try to give you the information you need to consider when making a decision for your project.

It’s All About Keywords

If Search Optimization/Search Engine Optimization/SEO is the engine that drives the “car” of Google, then keywords are the fuel. Entire books can be (and have been) written about this subject, and the details change every year, but when it comes to blogging or vlogging a few things are clear.

* URL matching to keywords is one of the most powerful tools

* It’s more effective to hit one keyword with related phrases repeatedly, than to spread effort across several.

* Placing keywords in metacomments on your site can give you extra instances without cluttering the visible page

* Inbound links from quality sources (not farmed links) are growing in importance, as is the individual who created the update.

Pros and Cons

As mentioned earlier, neither text nor video is objectively better or worse — but each is better for specific purposes.

* Video, especially funny or useful video, draws more social media shares than text.

* Search engines do not (yet) scan the words spoken in video, making text more effective for including multiple instances of a keyword.

* Blogs and vlogs both allow you to create an individual URL for each post — which can be tailored to your keywords. However, videos perform better when shared on YouTube, which does not give you that option.

* Text is faster, easier and cheaper to create.

* Video is generally better for topics that are visually interesting or physically complex.

* Text wins for topics that work best with a simple, linear explanation.

The Big Questions

When deciding about your updated content, ask yourself the following questions to determine which type (or which mix of types) is most appropriate for your needs:

* Do you have the time and financial resources to create quality video?

* Will you rely more on social sharing or keyword frequency as you major route to SEO performance?

* Does your subject do better in a spoken presentation, or with the written word?

* How many different keywords will you court in this particular project?

Any readers made a switch or tracked some numbers to compare? Share them with us to start the conversation.

5 Impending Technologies That Could Change the Game (Again)

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 10:37:01 -0500

In the 1970s, Alvin Toffler wrote a book called Future Shock predicting that the ever-accelerating pace of technological development would eventually drive us all insane. Well, while Toffler hasn’t been proven to be exactly right, new technologies continue to appear on a regular basis. Consider these five game changers that could be part of everyday life by the end of the decade.

1. Predictive Analytics Software

In the past five years, the amount of data on individuals and groups has escalated incredibly, yet some of us are still using statistical techniques from the 20th century. Predictive Analytics Software takes advantage of mathematical models available only with the massive mountains of data available in the modern world. The result is new software that can predict, with reasonable accuracy, events in the social, economic and even physical realms. Hari Seldon would be proud.

2. Parallel Microcomputing

Parallel processing allows computers to work on multiple problems simultaneously, greatly increasing the speed and power of our devices. Recent developments are making this possible at the portable level — meaning the next tablets and smart phones could be just as powerful as your desktop computer. With PC sales already falling behind mobile, this could mean the end of the personal computing era.

3. Voice Sensor Profiling

Fans of CSI and similar shows already know your voice is as unique as your fingerprints. The newest generation of voice sensors will be accurate enough to use this fact to record exactly who’s using your phone — and who’s calling in. But that’s not all. By analyzing changes in your voice, your phone may be able to tell when you’re sick, injured or drunk…and take appropriate steps to help you.

4. Augmented Reality

Google Glasses are the most famous example of this technology, but the big G isn’t the only company working on this kind of device. Before 2020, we can expect to carry devices that know where you are and what you’re looking at, and feed you a constant stream of information it knows you’ll find interesting based on your search and shopping history.

5. Lithium-Air Batteries

Mobile devices are only as good as their batteries, a fact that has long been a major stumbling block for manufacturers and early adopters alike. Lithium-air batteries will use the air itself as their cathode. This means the batteries will have much greater energy density, allowing for longer life or smaller batteries, and significantly reduced charging time.

New technology is a lot like the weather in the Pacific Northwest: if you don’t like what’s happening, wait ten minutes. Readers, comment with what you think will be the “next big thing” that changes the game once again.

Nothin’ but love here at TMK!

Wed, 09 Jan 2013 15:08:23 -0500

Nothin’ but love here at TMK!