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Amy Martin

Twitter Spreads Its Wings

December 8, 2011

By: Britnee Johnson

Today, my enthusiasm for Twitter has taken on a whole new level of excitement. If you were reading your social feeds this morning, odds are you saw the folks at Twitter chatting about their latest version of the platform via the #LetsFly hashtag. To those of you who are still trying to navigate the new design or are gearing up to explore option-features, I invite you to read below and find out exactly why the new version will have you seizing a pre-holiday thrill.

Prior to the new version, those of us logging into Twitter.com would see a simple feed of all our followers’ activity in addition to a separate feed of your own. Now, users will be exposed to an entirely new interface including tabs such as Home, Connect and #Discover, which provide an enhanced experience.

For the accounts who have enhanced profiles, new features will include:

    • Enhanced profile with option to include an additional image below your profile avatar
    • Ability to highlight the most engaging content to existing followers by ‘pinning’ a tweet to the top of your profile page
    • Access Twitter Analytics for brand accounts that have enhanced accounts

Key takeaways for the everyday user will be that they receive the latest version of the platform equipped with the newest tab features and search options (equipped to lure in all social addicts) in addition to finding out the amount of retweets and favorite per tweet. The enhanced profiles will allow users and brands to better market to their audience through the second image (think spot for hashtag or ideal real estate for branded message) and added analytics. If you’re like me, you’ll find yourself even more excited about connecting with tweets, as there are added features like drop down selections for viewing multimedia in addition to a new user-friendly layout. As for marketers, it’ll be a big win if they know how to play their social media cards just right and creatively optimize the space.

Just from the looks of things, my social wheels are spinning. I’ll assume if your reading this, yours are, too. For more information, check out the Twitter tutorial, here.

Google+ Makes Strides with New Brand Pages

November 10, 2011

By Alana Golob

Although the fate of Google+ and its 40 million users may be unknown, the platform has been making big (and quick) strides this week with the roll-out of the new Google+ Brand pages. Similar to Facebook, Google+ Brand pages allows brands to develop pages to publish content including photos, videos and links. Users can now add their favorite brands, teams, athletes and celebrities to their Circles. One added perk of Google+ Brand pages is the ability to have an animated photo strip. For a great example, check out what Red Bull did.

Google has successfully developed a platform that is focused on the elements that enhance communication and interaction, whether it’s between family members or a brand’s loyal consumers.

The following are key takeaways from the Google+ platform:

Google+ Circles:
My husband knows better than to talk to me about fishing, because it’s a guarantee that I’ll stop listening within the first 2.3 seconds. The same goes for me and talking to him about my favorite reality TV shows. Google has taken this basic communication principle and developed Google+ Circles. This feature allows brands to segment their audience based on demographics/geographics by adding them to specific Circles. Marketers then have the ability to control the content that their audience digests and deliver value that is relevant to a specific audience (circle).

Google+ Hangout:
As technology progresses, human interaction will continue to decrease at the same rate. Nothing will ever replace the power of face-to-face interaction, and Google+ Hangouts makes an attempt to fill that void. The feature allows brands to have live video interaction with their consumers, guests and fans. Imagine the relationship potential there.

Founder of Digital Royalty, Amy Jo Martin, had the opportunity to take part in a G+nius Women Panel hosted on Google+ Hangout prior to her speaking at an upcoming TEDxRainer event. Five speakers participated with one moderator. Although Google+ Hangouts limits session to 10 individuals per Hangout, the cool factor is that the one-hour panel discussion was recorded and repurposed on YouTube so it could be shared with thousands and watched, here.

On a larger scale, Will.i.am gave exclusive backstage access to fans through Google+ Hangouts On Air that was broadcasted live on YouTube back in September.

Google+ Badges:


Following the Brand page roll-out, Google+ did a quiet roll-out of their Google+ Badges. The Badge signifies which of your friends have given a “+1” to a website, or in other words given their recommendation. It connects your Google+ brand page with your website. The Badge also gives the user the opportunity to add a site to their circle. This increases visibility to your site, which ultimately leads to higher web-traffic. A brands potential reach of +1 doesn’t end with the 40 million users on Google+, but the billions of people that visit Google each day.

It’s your move, Facebook.

The X Factor USA Reveals Twitter Voting

November 2, 2011

By: Kirsten Stubbs

Social TV used to mean families gathering around their televisions to discuss sitcoms over TV dinners on portable trays. Tonight, The X Factor USA ushers in a new generation of social TV, spreading the discussion from across your living room to across the world.

As one of television’s most buzzed-about programs on social media, it only makes sense that the show would harness the power of the readily available and plentiful opinions of its socially savvy viewers and give them the power to vote via Twitter.

In addition to voting via phone, text message, website and Facebook wall, The X Factor USA is the first television talent competition to allow fans to vote for their favorite acts via Twitter through direct messages.

It all goes back to social media’s inherent ability to deliver value when, where and how fans (or customers, consumers, guests, clients) want it.  The people behind The X Factor realize a vast portion of their audience is discussing the show online and are using that latent power to enhance the already social idea of voting for the future of the show and the ultimate winner.

Interested in voting for your favorite contestant via Twitter DM or any other medium… and being part of the future of social TV? Check-out all the ways you can voice your opinion on The X Factor here.

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