Infographic Explains How Social Media Lost Its Way

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On the heels of its Social Inbox announcement, HubSpot has published an infographic that takes a look at how social media has changed in the short time it's been with us. It's all part of the inbound marketing company's push to make social personal again and, of course, that's exactly what its Social Inbox offering aims to do.

Filled with facts and figures, the infographic details the changes (and changing stats) of social media over the years from the early days when it was just a bunch of friends interacting online to businness' adoption to business' misuse and, ideally, back again.

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by Steve Hall    May- 9-13    
Topic: Social



YouShouldTotallyMeet App Makes Online Dating Simpler

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Online dating sucks. We hear that a lot. A group of four Toronto-based friends have developed YouShouldTotallyMeet, a Facebook app that uses the power of the network's connections (with help from a wing man) to ease the process of finding the perfect mate.

The app works on the idea that trusted friends know people's best - their likes, dislikes, motivations, hobbies, and such. They're the ones who will help people find success in the dating world, rather than some dating algorithm.

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by Steve Hall    May- 8-13    
Topic: Social



'Domino's Live' Lets You Watch Pizzas Being Made

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Just a step above watching water boil, Domino's has gone live with, well, Domino's Live. The brand has outfitted a Salt Lake City Comino's location with five webcams that allows people to view the pizza making process. Visitors to the site can also Like the brand's Facebook page and have their name appear live on a screen in the store...which also has a webcam on it so the entire world can see as well.

Of the work, Domino's CMO Russel Weiner said, "We at Domino's have made continued efforts to open our doors and be as welcoming as possible. This is simply the next step, and we are very excited to merge the visual tradition and spirit of the pizzeria with today's digital capabilities."

Following this pilot program, the brand may roll out the program to other stores across the nation.

by Steve Hall    May- 1-13    
Topic: Social



Lowes Launches Home Improvement Tips on Vine

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Lowe's has launched Lowe's Fix in Six, a Vine campaign which focuses on everyday home improvements by offering sharable tips. Created by BBDO New York, the Vines were shot by Meagan Cignoli, a photographer and established Vine user.

The video campaign consists of 12 Vines 6 of which can be seen below), each explaining different improvement tip. The Vines launched last week and will continue to debut on Lowe's Vine, Twitter and Facebook pages through the first week of May.

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by Steve Hall    Apr-30-13    
Topic: Social



How to Turn Every Employee Into A Brand Advocate on Social Media

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Hootsuite has put together a guide to organizational models for scaling social. If you want to influence the online conversation about your company, you need dedicated brand advocates who can participate in social media on your behalf. Advocates are invested in your success, aligned with your objectives and willing to defend your company. But where can you find them? Don't look far. Your best potential social advocates are actually your own employees.

Of course, creating an army of effective employee advocates isn't something you do overnight. That's why this guide takes you through two strategic models for broad social media participation across your company's workforce: Empowerment and Containment.

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by Steve Hall    Apr-25-13    
Topic: Research, Social



What Marketers Need to Know About Facebook EdgeRank

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Perhaps you've heard of Facebook EdgeRank. Or perhaps you haven't. In either case, you need to know how it works and how it can effect what you do for your brand on Facebook. In a nutshell, EdgeRank is an algorithm that determines where and what posts appear on each individual's newsfeed.

To help get a handle on how EdgeRank works, Facebook newsfeed publisher PostRocket has published two infographics that get to the heart of the matter. The first one is an introduction to EdgeRank and the second delves deeper into how EdgeRank filters newsfeed stories.

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by Steve Hall    Apr-23-13    
Topic: Research, Social



Social Media Bimbo Thinks Copy Machine is Tanning Bed

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Properly placing over-zealous social media types in their place, Jack in the Box, himself -- after being subjected to a T-Mobile speed-talking cheerleader-style verbal onslaught -- tells his new social media intern to cut the crap and makes some copies.

The ever so bimbo-like intern, played brilliantly by Rachel Grate, has no idea why Jack in the Box wants her to make copies with...a tanning bed.

Yes, people, social media interns are idiotic hotties who think Chiptotle Chicken Club sandwiches are "craze-amaze" and "Chipot-cray."

Truth or stereotype? You tell us.

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by Steve Hall    Apr-22-13    
Topic: Social



How Collaborative Marketing Can Build Your Brand

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Collaborative Marketing. Right. All we need is another buzzword. Hey, this is marketing. All we do is come up with buzzwords. But this one kinda makes sense so stick with us. Collaborative Marketing consist of three steps: Attract. Assist. Affiliate.

Marketers create incentives attractive enough for people to seek out. Marketers then assist people by being helpful, engaging and understanding the various contexts people use a brands products or services in order to, in essence, "co-create" the products and services people need and want. And thirdly, marketers harness the power of brand advocates and enable them to function as affiliate marketers to further attract customers.

CrowdTap has written a whitepaper on the topic that's worth reading. You can download it here to find out how collaborative marketing can work for your brand.

by Steve Hall    Apr- 3-13    
Topic: Research, Social



16 Top Twitter Fails in One Infographic

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Don't we all love a good Twitter screw up? Of course we do! It makes our days more interesting and gives us a bit of schadenfreude in which to wallow. And who doesn't love feeling better when the other guy is down?

All the classic fails are here in one infographic created by Social Commerce Today. KitchenAid's comment about Obama's grandmother; Chrysler's commentary on Detroit's drivers; StubHub's excitement over Friday and American Rifleman's Good Morning Shooters.

Check them all out below.

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by Steve Hall    Mar-27-13    
Topic: Social



Panties in A Bunch Over Tiger Woods 'Winning' Ad

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Oh the joys of real-time marketing backlash. We're quite sure Tiger Woods and Nike are very happy he's back on top. We're also quite sure they both really do feel "winning takes care of everything" as the brand's real-time ad touted yesterday.

It's also very clear quite a few people are none too happy about Tiger Woods flouting his newfound No. 1 status following his sex scandal debacle from a few years ago. Some say the ad is in poor taste and, in essence, sweeps the not-so-winning portion of Woods' life under the carpet.

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by Steve Hall    Mar-27-13    
Topic: Celebrity, Opinion, Social