Thursday, July 29, 2010
Online dating isn’t new. Match.com launched 15 years ago, and eHarmony, claims responsibility for 2% of all U.S. marriages.
What is new is that people are bypassing matchmaking sites and creating their own online presence to solicit dates.
Brian, a 23-year-old from Milwaukee, Wisconsin is using his site Dating Brian to wade through the very large pool of single women in NYC. His goal is to go on 30 dates in 30 days, all with women suggested by visitors to the site. If you’d like to date Brian, you can even nominate yourself. He uses Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to update his followers on date status and to request date suggestions.
Colby Brin (as seen on a recent Today show) is another interesting example of someone taking ownership of the online dating scene….sort of. His mom, Geri Brin, actually solicited dates from eager young women on her son’s behalf, whom she describes as family-oriented, cute, funny and a fabulous writer.
Brin’s idea inspired a new dating site where moms can add their single kid to the dating pool.
The Fab Over Fifty website includes a “Date My Single Kid” link. In the site’s first few days, profiles are already pouring in, with moms extolling the virtues of their kids, from their smarts to their culinary skills.
So far, the fix-up site is drawing moms posting about their kids ranging in age from young 20s to 40. The site doesn’t set the kids up directly; naturally, any potential suitor has to answer to mom first.
And if that seems like meddling, well, Brin won’t hear of it. “I don’t think it’s meddling at all; I think it’s casting a wider net,” she told Vieira. “Everybody’s busy today. We can be agents for our kids.” – MSNBC
Users are definitely embracing the online world to get real-life romance.
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Labels: eHarmony, Match.com, online dating, viral
Monday, July 26, 2010
Facebook is moving from your computer screen to the Big Screen. Set to release in October 2010, The Social Network centers on the creation of the social media networking giant and the person (or people) behind it.
On a fall night in 2003, Harvard undergrad and computer programming genius Mark Zuckerberg sits down at his computer and heatedly begins working on a new idea. In a fury of blogging and programming, what begins in his dorm room soon becomes a global social network and a revolution in communication. A mere six years and 500 million friends later, Mark Zuckerberg is the youngest billionaire in history… but for this entrepreneur, success leads to both personal and legal complications. – IMDB.com
While the film probably won’t have the cinematic impact of Citizen Kane, it has the potential to be a big eye-opener for Facebook users. With all of the concerns over privacy and current legal issues facing the company, this film might only help to fuel the anti-site fire that has been building.
May 31 of this year was the first official Quit Facebook Day, with more than 37,000 people committing to deleting their profiles from the site on that day – only a matchstick of a flame in the grand scheme of Facebook numbers, but a flame nonetheless.
At the very least, the casting looks pretty interesting.
Will you see the film? Will it impact the way you use Facebook or your opinion of the social networking site?
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Labels: Facebook, movies, social media, social media tools, The Social Network
Friday, July 16, 2010
The term “app” has so far been pretty synonymous with Apple’s mobile devices. However, Google is hoping to change that association with a new do-it-yourself app builder specifically made for the Android.
The “App Inventor” is so simple builders don’t even need to speak code to create what they want.
“Using an online interface, would-be developers visually design the app’s interface and interactions, using drag-and-drop blocks that specify what the app should look like and how it should behave” – ReadWriteWeb.com
While app building tools are not a new concept, Google’s approach to them is. By giving the power to create to the everyday user, Google gives anyone with a great idea the same app-creating power as programmers.
Although the approach is liberating and opens the door for more app concepts, you can’t help but wonder if this will create a collection of half-apped ideas. Just because the ingredients and recipe are in front of you, it doesn’t mean you’re a chef.
What’s your vote? Google’s open app building platform or Apple’s more controlled approach?
Think you have an awesome idea for an Android app? You can start here.
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Labels: Android, App Inventor, Apple, apps, Google, social media tools
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Seeing ads on your iPods, iPads and iPhones is not anything new. However, with the new iAd platform that Apple launched earlier this month, you might be seeing them in a new way.
“iAd brings motion and emotion to mobile advertising. Entertain and inform with full-screen in-line video, wallpapers, games, interactive maps, in-ad app or iTunes content downloads, social networking tools, and more. Viewers can dive into immersive ads without ever leaving their apps. Tap the ad and the application pauses. Close the ad and the application resumes. Your ad will captivate your audience from the moment it launches to the moment it closes.” – Apple.com
Reports on the success of the new platform have thus far been positive, according to MarketingVox.com.
“One developer, Jason Ting, famously posted details of his initial iAd earnings for an LED camera light application - he has seen a click-through rate of nearly 12% and earned a total of $1,372.20 in revenue in a single day.”
The big question though is will the success last? Will the millions of Apple mobile device users embrace the more sophisticated ads or will they grow annoyed by them?
The good news (or slightly creepy, if you think about it) is that Apple is able to target which ads you see based on their “unique audience interest and preference data,” which includes:
- Demographics
- Application preferences
- Music passions
- Movie genre interests
- Television genre interests
- Location
So your ads will always be tailored to a specific audience that has already indicated interest in your products or products like yours.
Have you encountered any ads built on the new iAd platform? Are they interesting and engaging or do you find them annoying?
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Labels: advertising, Apple, iAd, MarketingVox
Friday, July 9, 2010
Online video viewing continues to be one of the most popular online activities. According to comScore, in May 2010 online users viewed nearly 34 billion videos. “In total, 84.8 percent of the total U.S. Internet audience watched online video last month.” – NewTeeVee.com
Google sites, which include YouTube, saw the highest number of viewers at more than 14 billion videos viewed. However, Vevo, a site that focuses on music videos, saw impressive growth with more than 430 million music videos watched on the site in May alone. It seems that when MTV (Viacom Digital) dropped the ball, Vevo picked it up.
Cable providers might want to pay attention – customers want their videos now and they want them for free. With everything from full television episodes to movies, music videos and the latest viral spoofs right at their fingertips, consumers are becoming use to instant gratification.
It will be interesting to see how the continual growth of online video viewing is addressed by some of the larger cable providers – particularly in terms of advertising rates and opportunities.
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Labels: advertising, online video, vevo
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
In the world of non-profits, free can be good. John Haydon, founder of Inbound Zombie, a social media strategy firm, has written a free e-book to help guide small non-profit organizations through the Facebook jungle – The Complete Facebook Guide for Small Non-Profits.
Filled with practical step-by-step explanations, case studies, and video tutorials, the 104-page e-book is “a comprehensive ‘brain-dump’ of strategies and tactics … to help small nonprofits get more out of using Facebook.” It tackles the tough Facebook questions most often asked by non-profit board members, staff and volunteers:
- Do we need a Facebook Page or a Facebook Group?
- How do we measure engagement with Facebook Insights?
- How do we put a Facebook Page Fanbox on our non-profit’s website – and how can we customize it?
- How can we get our Facebook likers to donate?
- What the heck are “Community pages”?
The only catch? In order to download your free copy, you must visit the InboundZombie Facebook Page and hit the “Like” button to reveal the download link. Which, really isn’t a catch at all – it’s just smart marketing and a good lesson about how to increase social media engagement for any size organization.
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Labels: Facebook, fan page, guide, John Haydon, non-profit, social media, social media tools
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Want the absolute most up-to-date information on any hot or trending topic? Just Google it. Google’s new real-time search feature means you get more than the latest news, images and web content – you access conversations.
The real-time search function launched December 2009, and originally included Twitter, blogs, news, Web sites, Yahoo Answers and MySpace. Google added Facebook fan pages weeks later.
The stream doesn’t currently include public Facebook profiles, which limits the feedback from individual users. However, companies can keep a finger on the real-time pulse of what followers of fan pages are saying about them – the good, the bad and the ugly.
While having what people are saying about you take a front-and-center spot in the world’s most popular search engine might seem scary, being able to monitor and participate in those conversations so efficiently should be an exciting new possibility for marketers. More importantly, including Facebook fan pages in results will help publicize the pages to new potential fans.
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Labels: Facebook, fan page, Google, real-time search, social media, social media tools
Monday, January 25, 2010
Gigoam recently released a glimpse into the Apple App Store economy. One interesting thing is that in December 2009, developers realized $175 million in revenue. Conventional wisdom has always held that most iPhone users only want free apps. While it’s true that three-quarters of downloaded apps were free, the other one-quarter resulted in a significant chunk of change. The second interesting thing is that nearly 300 million apps were downloaded in December 2009 alone. We’re going on record now–if your target audience’s demographics overlap with the average iPhone users, then you should think about developing an app (paid or not). It’s a great way to be literally in your customer’s pocket and at their fingertips.
Here’s the graphic, with thanks to Gigoam:
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Labels: Apple, apps, iPhone, statistics
Friday, January 22, 2010
Can a campaign that integrates interactive and social media make a difference in selling packaged salads? Dole Company thinks so.
The Packer reports that “according to Dole, in the past 60 days, its Facebook page members have grown 2,000%.”
‘Our Facebook and Twitter programs connect salad lovers with a wealth of salad-inspired information and possibilities,’ said Russell Evans, senior brand manager for Dole Fresh Vegetables. ‘But beyond direct and immediate access to information, these programs create a community of salad lovers with similar shared values.’
In addition to social media, the Dole Salads campaign encompasses a dedicated Web site, consumer contest, banner and display advertising on Hulu, Food Network, Recipe Zaar, Rachel Ray, All Recipes, Fine Cooking and other outlets; search marketing on Google, Yahoo and Bing; and a series of direct-to-consumer emails, according to the release.”
Inside Facebook reports that the company created a new Facebook page that includes information, video, and a Super Slider game featuring a trip for two to the California Health and Longevity Institute. As of today, the page has 14,615 fans; no word on how Dole is tracking fans and contest entries to actual salad sales. However, entry to the game requires an email address (or snail mail entry); that kind of information is gold to a consumer marketer and can be smartly leveraged to sales through coupons, special offers and more.
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Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Got an application on Facebook? Now you can use it to gather users’ email addresses.
Starting today, Facebook is allowing application developers to request or require email addresses of users — and not proxied emails, either, but the “real” thing. This is a major step forward for companies who want to use their Facebook applications as a lead generator. Of course, there are a few rules:
- Abide by all CAN-SPAM Act rules (one-click unsubscribe, etc.)
- Don’t sell email addresses to third parties
- Don’t use Facebook’s name or image in your emails
- Provide a use/privacy policy to users
- Establish one domain name from which emails will be sent and register it with Facebook
- Facebook reserves the right to allow users to provide proxy emails (fed through Facebook while the real email is hidden) if it thinks a developer is abusing the process
It will be interesting to see how many developers decide to require users to provide their email addresses, and equally interesting to see how many users choose to do so.
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Labels: email, Facebook, lead generation, social media marketing
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