If you haven’t heard of Google+ (yes, that’s the official name, not Google Plus), you will start hearing a lot more about it in the coming weeks. It launched yesterday, and I was lucky enough to be one of the few in the sandbox (“Field Trial”) at this point!  I’m not going to go into all the details of what it includes, as you can read about it on Google’s blog. But, essentially, it aims to take real life interactions to the web, more in the manner in which we interact in real life.  It’s made up of 4 parts:

• Circles
  • “share what matters, with the people who matter most”
  • basically a way to group your connections into meaningful “circles”
  • aka Facebook friend lists, in a more user-friendly way

  

• Sparks
  • “strike up a conversation, about pretty much anything”
  • add your interests, and you’ll see content that interests you
  • aka Twitter
• Hangouts
  • “stop by and say hello, face-to-face-to-face”
  • video chat with up to 10 friends
  • aka Skype, with more people
• Mobile
  • “share what’s around, right now, without any hassle”
  • location based posts, fast photo upload, group texting

Here’s Google’s launch video about the “project”:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwnJ5Bl4kLI[/youtube]

Here are a few thoughts on the specifics of this platform:

• Circles is VERY cool — the interface is drag-and-drop is is very user friendly and visual.  MUCH better than Facebook friend lists, as Facebook lists feels like a patch added later, whereas Circles feels like a central part of what Google+ is about.  Circles allows you to very easily share your status updates and content just with certain groups of people.
• Hangouts — There’s no other video chat platform I know of that allows up to 10 people, so this is GREAT for personal interactions, as well as business meetings for virtual companies.  It’s also very cool, because as each person speaks, their video stream becomes the main image.
• Google has now integrated a new Google navigation bar that appears at the top of your screen when you are working in any Google product.  It gives you the capability to more easily access Google products.  Very smart!

• Sparks – really seems just like Twitter – finding good content in topic that interest you
• Adding location to updates – Already a common feature on Twitter, but not yet part of Facebook.  It will be interesting to see if non social-media types will use this feature due to safety concerns
• Huddle – doesn’t seem to be active on my account yet
• Unlike Facebook, this isn’t a reciprocal network… you can follow someone who chooses not to follow you
• You can share content with people NOT on Google+ — they just receive an email instead — this is BIG, as it will encourage people who like Google+ to use it, although their friends may not be
• I’ll give it 2 weeks before applications like Hootsuite have Google+ incorporated into their platforms! :-)
• UPDATE: I finally have some friends on Google+ so can see more of the features.  What strikes me is how this follows you around the web, if you are a google product user.  This will make a MAJOR difference for this platform, instead of people having to remember to “check facebook” or “check twitter” — it’s just there with your notifications everywhere you go.
• UPDATE: Invitation feature has been shut down, according to the Sr. VP of Engineering:

Overall

Google’s stance is that this is NOT meant to be a competitor to Facebook: “We aren’t trying to replace what’s currently available, we just want to introduce a new way to connect online with the people that matter to you.” (source: SearchEngineLand) and that it’s just trying to make using Google products more social, it sure seems like a direct competitor to Facebook.

I can’t see myself updating Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+ on a daily basis… eventually you just need to pick 1-2 networks to focus on.  And, while Google+’s features certainly aren’t up to snuff yet with Facebook, knowing Google, I have no doubt that major improvements are coming soon.

What do you think of Google+?  Have you had a chance to try it out?  Based on what you’ve read, do you see yourself using it?

This week, I attended one of the best webinars I’ve attended in a long time… “60 Landing Pages in 60 Minutes” by Billy MacDonald and Mark Kilens at HubSpot. The webinar was fast paced, and provided a lot of GREAT info, by live reviewing and critiquing 60 landing pages. Below are my tweets of the tips I picked up during the webinar.

• Reduce image on page so it’s not distracting
• Good idea to include photos of people leading your webinar on the landing page
• Less is More!
• Trust symbols are key to increasing conversion rate (Better Business, A+, etc)
• A landing page without branding elements is like wearing old clothes to a job interview. (RT of @admom1)
• Instructor bio helps with credibility on landing page. But don’t include links… distracting
• IF you have a “personalized” or “custom” offer, say that for sure on your landing page… people like that
• Dropdown boxes are better than checkboxes or radiodials, as those make the form seem longer
• Use the form on your landing page as an opportunity to ask a business relevant question to our audience (RT of @AdamLaFever)
• If you have more than one piece of content to offer, have a SEPARATE landing page for each.
• Don’t forget to have branding elements on your landing page!
• Include Facebook Like and Tweet button on your landing page so people will share it!
• Need call to action AND “what’s in it for me” — why would I want to download this, or watch webinar?
• White text on background is tough to read (agree!) – instead, grey background with black text
• Headline shouldn’t be a question… use the action verb instead
• Keep your sales pitch on the Thank You page, not on the landing page
• Remove all links from landing pages, except if it’s the call to action button
• If you DO have links unrelated to your call to action, have the links open in new tab/window
• Have a Thank You page following your landing page. You can have more calls to action on those pages
• Don’t forget to mention the offer in the Headline!! (whitepaper, webinar, etc)
• Form is best on left, so it stands out
• “Blink test” – 5-10 seconds have for someone to understand what the page is about
• Bolding matters
• Good idea to do optional questions… i.e. Biggest Challenge
• Whitespace is good on landing pages — draws your eye to important parts
• Have at least one image in each landing page… should be simple, and include a caption
• Can even have action words on your “contact us page” — “train in 8 months…” — gets people thinking
• Put your form on the left side, to ensure it doesn’t get cut off on smaller screens
• Great idea to have a video sneak preview on the landing page
• Bold your buzzwords on the landing page
• Each landing page should have 3-5 bullets of what’s in it for me and compelling value
• All headlines on the landing page should include a good action verb
• “Top of the Funnel” forms should only have 2-4 fields in the form
• Entire landing page should be above the fold — don’t make people scroll down
• Good idea to include testimonials and credibility (awards, etc) on landing pages
• “Going Naked” – no navigation or other links on your landing pages, so people aren’t distracted
• Have offer in your headline on the page
• Good to add opt-in for your email list; make your “submit” button action oriented

Here’s a link to the slides they presented and a recording of the original webinar.

Do you have any other tips to create a successful landing page?  Please share them in the comments below!

There are still many people out there who believe Facebook is just for kids. Hopefully this infographic will show you otherwise.  Here are a few of my favorite statistics:

• 1 in every 13 people on EARTH are active Facebook users
• The 35+ age demographic represents over 30% of Facebook users
• 71% of US Internet users are on Facebook

Via: Online Schools

What do you think?  Does any of this surprise you?

There’s a new trend on Twitter where people create a “news daily” on a site called paper.li. I’m not a fan of them, but was really curious about what others thought, so asked people’s thought on Twitter this week, and even ran a poll.  First, here’s a bit about Paper.li and how it works…

Essentially, paper.li automatically creates a newspaper for you on a daily basis from content that comes through your twitter stream.  They either create it based on the links in the Twitter stream of the “curator” (person creating the newspaper) and the people they’re following, from a hashtag, or from a particular list. Then it sends a tweet something like this.

The Joel Richman Daily is out! http://bit.ly/fsd7cm ▸ Top stories today by @muckrack @bostonmarketer

December 7, 2010 11:58 am via Paper.liReplyRetweetFavorite

@xylem

Joel Richman

(sorry Joel, I don’t mean to pick on you — it was just a recent example :-))

Now I don’t know exactly what tweet of mine was in that Daily, but normally, it’s really nothing exciting.  It says “top stories by @BostonMarketer“, but it’s not a blog post I wrote.  Sometimes it’s just a regular article I tweet or something I’ve said. Or, on my @WebinarListings account, it’s one of the many tweets we send out about upcoming webinars.  Are these tweets worthy of being in a newspaper?  I’d like to think they are, but normally they’re just every-day tweets.

So, really, what value is it adding?

Do the curator’s follower’s get a benefit out of seeing these random tweets in a huge newspaper?  I don’t.  I see enough of the tweets of people I follow.  Maybe it’s more valuable for people just getting started on Twitter? Does anyone actually read these?

Does the person who gets mentioned in the newspaper appreciate seeing his/her name in lights?  I don’t.  It’s automated, so it’s not like it was manually selected for being a particularly interesting tweet. And, out of the many people in the daily, you weren’t specifically selected to be in the automated tweet. (by the way, you can opt for paper.li to not mention you in the automated tweets).

Maybe it’s more value for the person creating the newspaper?  But since it’s automated, and not based on highly retweeted tweets, I’m not sure why it’s any better than just looking through your Twitter stream. And, if that’s the purpose, then what’s the value in sending a tweet with only a couple of people it mentions?

But, maybe this is just me.  So, I asked on Twitter, and ran a poll.

A Few Comments From Twitter

Looking for someone to say why the LIKE the paper.li "dailies" people put out. Any supporters? Or, if you do one, why?

December 7, 2010 11:26 am via HootSuiteReplyRetweetFavorite

@bostonmarketer

Rachel Levy

(Note that my question was looking for supporters, and I only got 8 supportive comments in total, and many more negatives.)

Positives

@bostonmarketer I have a paper.li set up for my corporate acct, just to read it for myself. It helps me wade thru tons of content.

December 7, 2010 11:31 am via RockMeltReplyRetweetFavorite

@kehutchinson

Kate Hutchinson

@bostonmarketer I use it to see what I missed the previous day from a list

December 7, 2010 5:45 pm via twidroyd (original)ReplyRetweetFavorite

@jeffespo

Jeff Esposito

@bostonmarketer I like paper.li dailies b/c they provide a quick + effective means of offering content in an easy-to-digest format

December 7, 2010 5:23 pm via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

@admelfo

Albert D. Melfo

Negatives

Today's pet peeve-- paper.li "dailies" that attribute stories I linked to... to me. Bad. Awful

December 8, 2010 5:58 pm via HootSuiteReplyRetweetFavorite

@DougH

Doug Haslam

@bostonmarketer i hate the dailies - it's like: why don't you just share everything on twitter? very counter-intuitive IMO

December 7, 2010 12:01 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@KEVINgotbounce

kevin mandeville

@bostonmarketer Voted, and commented, too! Hate them: I've been disappointed too many times.

December 7, 2010 7:15 pm via TwInboxReplyRetweetFavorite

@sarahebourne

Sarah Bourne

And, the Poll…

I also created a poll on TwtPoll, and here are the results, and comments:

So out of the 30 people who took the poll, a max of 8 people supported the concept (including the comments).  And, that’s being very generous… I allowed people to select multiple answers, and I’ve counted them multiple times.

Given all these responses to my question and the polls, I still don’t understand the value.

Thoughts? Are you a fan of these?  What’s the point?  It seems like he major benefit is to the people publishing the paper.  If that’s so, then why tweet it?  Why mention people?

When was the last time your company’s customer service department made  a “random act of kindnesss?” Well, for Constant Contact, it was just the other day, and I was the recipient of their generosity.  Here’s what happened…

On Tuesday evening, I got a direct message (a private message) on Twitter from Constant Contact saying:

“Could you DM me a good number to reach you at? I’d like to give you a call about your account. :) – Marisa”

Intrigued, I called back right away.  Marisa informed me that she was going to give me a credit for one month of service, which for me is worth $40.  Why?  Just because! Wow, how nice!  So, yes, it could have had to do with my earlier tweet that said “Yea! @constantcontact now works with Chrome!!”  But, still… I didn’t expect any response from Constant Contact about my tweet, not to mention a gift!

Very smart move, Constant Contact.  I have always been a big fan of Constant Contact, but when you give someone something free, particularly unexpectedly, you make a stronger advocate out of them.   In addition, because I thought it was so nice, I posted something on Twitter, Facebook and am obviously writing this blog post.  The Facebook update got 3 “likes”, and I’m sure there were many more of my 1,000 Facebook friends and 8,300 Twitter followers who saw my posts, but didn’t comment.

Wow, check it out! @constantcontact just called and gave me a free month on my account! Hanukah came early this year. GREAT #customerservice

November 23, 2010 8:16 pm via HootSuiteReplyRetweetFavorite

@bostonmarketer

Rachel Levy

Then, because I was still so impressed the next day, I posted again about Constant Contact’s new Chrome interface and got 2 responses…

@bostonmarketer They added Chrome support!?!?!? Wooo Hoooo!!!!! cc: @constantcontact

November 24, 2010 1:00 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@mikeconaty

Mike Conaty

@bostonmarketer Nice I was getting annoyed having to use I.E. to access

November 24, 2010 1:08 pm via HootSuiteReplyRetweetFavorite

@CaronElectric

Max ServiceManager

So, for $40 Constant Contact got a more committed and loyal customer, 5 other interactions with the brand, and countless other people knowing about the situation.  Priceless.

Have you seen other companies do this? Are there any other advantages you see of customer service departments doing this?

Have you heard of the new Fox show Lone Star? I had seen one commercial for it, but it really caught my eye, when I received an email a couple of weeks ago from Klout.

Of course, I responded to the email and this past Thursday, I received a HUGE box in the mail:

And the following inside the box: cocktail napkins, 4 plastic wine glasses, 4 plastic beer mugs, plastic ice bucket, soft cooler, bottle opener, corkscrew, 2 posters, tub of popcorn, t-shirt, 2 show posters and a DVD of the pilot of the show. All branded with the Lone Star name.  Awesome!

So what’s Klout? Klout calls itself the “Standard of Influence” and rates Twitter users and gives them a score of their clout based on reach, amplification and network.  In a few seconds, it gives you your Klout Score by combining factors such as the number of lists the Twitter user is on, your retweets, and your mentions… all of which are factors that are much more important than the commonly looked at “follower numbers”.  How many followers you have is irrelevant if no one is listening to you, and Klout attempts to quantify how much people are listening to you.  It’s  a great measure, and is quickly becoming the “standard”, as they say.  I have looked up many people I know from Twitter, and the scores seem reasonable based on how influential I know these people to be.

What Klout is starting to do, is partner with companies to give offers to people who have high Klout scores.  I have received a few like this (Covergirl, Starbucks in partnership with BzzAgent), but this was, by far, the most impactful presentation.

The idea is that I am supposed to throw a party with the contents of the box, and watch the pilot episode with my friends.  Brilliant thinking Fox!  Here are a few reasons why it’s great marketing:

• Gets people excited about the build-up to the show
• Makes enjoying the show a social activity
• Makes the receiver of the package (me!) feel special
• Gives people something to talk about after watching the pilot and enjoying the “party in a box”
• Targets people who are influential

Fox has also coupled this with other social media tactics, including a Twitter account (@LoneStarOnFox), use of QR codes in print ads, strong use of hashtag (#LoneStar), a Facebook page and a sweepstakes on Facebook.

Overall, a very smart social media campaign by Fox.  The major feedback I’d have for them is to start earlier.  I received the party box on Thursday, the premier is on Monday, and I’m supposed to plan and have a party in that 4 day period.  Also looking at their Twitter page, it looks like thy just started promoting it last minute, with only 300 followers (although follower number aren’t everything, right?). Their Facebook page has been  active longer, but still only has 1,900 fans, a small amount for a national show. It’s important to remember that social media is a slow build medium, so you need to start early!

So, did I have the party and watch the show?  I didn’t have the party, as it wasn’t enough notice for me, but I DID watch the pilot I received.  I loved it!  The cast is great, and the plot is just a twisted mess of lies (in an intriguing way!). I’m looking forward to seeing more of it, and will certainly be watching the premier on Monday!

Have you seen campaigns like this?  What do you think of the idea of this campaign for “influencers”?

Facebook launched a MAJOR new feature on their iPhone app yesterday, called “Places.” It’s a location based service (“LBS”) where you “check in” to locations, letting your friends know where you are.  If you use Foursquare, Gowalla or BrightKite, you are very familiar with these types of apps.  Or, if you have friends who cross-post their Foursquare updates to Facebook and Twitter, you may also know what they are (and may not have a positive opinion of them!).

Since I just got the feature enabled on my phone, I haven’t had too much of a chance to play around or think about it, so this post has just a few of my initial thoughts.  More to come soon, and I’m sure Facebook will be making a lot of changes along the way.

[youtube width="320" height="260"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfX_ZQag1BM&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

Basics

When you’re on the Facebook iPhone app, where you normally type in your status update, you’ll now see a “map pin” icon, that you can click and it brings up nearby locations for you.  Just click the location, or tap the plus to add a new one, and then click “check in.”  You’ll notice that there is also a “Tag Friends With You” button, so you can say who you’re there with.  And, you can make a comment about what you’re doing there.

Once you check-in, it automatically posts your check-in to your Facebook profile, and tags the people you’re with.  In addition, it creates a “community page” for the location you have checked in at.  A community page is similar to a Fan Page, but is automatically created by Facebook from information on Facebook.  Eventually businesses will be able to “claim” these pages, and manage them, but for now, you can’t do much with them.  BUT, your post shows up on that community page.

So, why would you want to check-in?  Well, it’s an easy to tell your friends where you are.  And, many Facebook status updates are about people’s location, so it’s a more descriptive way to do it.

Privacy

Always a biggie with Facebook… they assume you will share you’re information, until you turn it off.  In Twitter language, we call that #FAIL :-)  They’ve assumed 3 things:

1. You want to share your check-ins with all of your friends
2. You want to be included in “People Here Now” (shows who is at the location even if you are NOT friends with them)
3. You give your friends permission to check YOU in to a location

Those are some pretty big assumptions, Facebook! To change them, do this:

Account –> Privacy Settings –> Customize Settings (small text link in middle) –> Under Things I share, the last 2 settings should be looked at.

AND

Account –> Privacy Settings –> Customize Settings (small text link in middle) –> Under Things Others share, the last setting should be looked at.

The other consideration is what I mentioned above about Community Pages — your check-in ends up on the community page, essentially making it completely public information.  I don’t like that at all (stalkers can see where you hang out), but there currently doesn’t seem to be an option to change that.

Update on 8/24: There’s one more privacy setting…

By default, Places is set to share your location information with applications your friends use. If you want to change that, go to your privacy settings page –> edit your settings (under the “Applications and Websites” title, in the lower left corner of the screen) –> edit settings (next to “Info available through your friends”) and uncheck the box.

Will Places replace Foursquare?

It’s too soon to tell at this point. Why did people use Foursquare in the first place?  There are a number of reasons, and not all of them are currently satisfied by Places:

√ – Find out about new places

√ – Share your location with your friends

√ – Meet new people who go where you go

NO – Earn points and badges

NO – Get deals from local businesses

But, one of the biggest complaints I hear about Twitter is “I just don’t  have time to use ONE MORE social network”.  If that’s true, many people would not have wanted to use Foursquare, but since Places is integrated into the most popular social network, they may just be more likely to use it.

Apparently Places will be integrating somehow with Foursquare and Gowalla, but how that will happen exactly is yet to be determined.

Other random thoughts

For me, the biggest downside is that your Places check-ins automatically post to your newsfeed.  I’d rather just have it visible if someone goes to my profile, but not clutter their stream with all my check-ins. I didn’t like it with Foursquare, and I don’t like it any more here.  In addition, unlike other Facebook apps that you can permanently hide, you CANNOT hide Places.  So, you will see everyone’s check-ins, whether you like it or not.

I think eventually, probably sooner rather than later, Foursquare will die.  They have a good lead on Places now in terms of the deals and badges, but unless they keep innovating faster than Facebook, they’ll lose out quickly.

As with Foursquare, I was most intrigued about how it would be used from a marketing perspective, and it is proving to be a great way for companies to interact with customers. I think Places will start to serve the same role, but more on that in the next post!

What do you think of Places so far?  Will you use it? Why or why not?  Do you think they approached the privacy correctly this time?

Now that Tweetdeck is integrating more social networks (LinkedIn, Facebook, Google Buzz, Foursquare, MySpace), I’m guessing there will be a name change soon. Ideas? Take this poll!

Click here for the results so far.

If you haven’t heard, the past few weeks have not been good for Facebook.  They’ve made a number of changes in how the privacy settings work, and have not been completely clear in explaining the changes. They’re not respecting people’s privacy.  “Facebook changed the rules and this information was unexpectedly shared with perfect strangers. That is, simply stated, a profound invasion of privacy.” (Gizmodo, 5/10/10). Rather than reshashing all of the issues, I’ll direct you to a few articles:

Facebook: The ‘Evil Interface?’
10 Reasons To Delete Your Facebook Account
Facebook keeps crossing lines and the last one may be a line too far
(Thanks to Derek Peplau for the list of great articles)

People are in an uproar about this. There’s even a formal revolt for people to quit Facebook on May 31st.  I understand why people are mad.  Facebook hasn’t been clear about what they’re changing, and people don’t trust them to keep their data safe.  I agree that Facebook should have some backlash for this, as they are not keeping promises made to consumers, and are playing around with potentially sensitive information.

So What?

On Facebook, I do protect my privacy (unlike on Twitter).  I only friend people I know, I put people I don’t know very well into lists so they don’t see certain things (status updates, photos of my nieces) and I don’t use my real birth year or high school graduation year to protect against identity theft.

But as someone who is also VERY public with my online life through my blog, Twitter and LinkedIn, my question is, what should I be worried about? (note that I’m NOT asking why is it wrong that Facebook is doing what they’re doing.  I get that they are wrong). What are the risks to me? In the worst case scenario that ALL of my data is exposed, what’s the problem?  I see a few possibilities, none of which concern me enough to quit Facebook:

• Facebook’s advertisers have more information to target me with –> I don’t really care about that, if I get ads that are more appropriate for me
• People will see photos of my nieces –> OK, not great (and my brother-in-law would not be happy), but not the end of the world
• People see information about my work history –> It’s all very public on LinkedIn and my website anyway
• People will see my private status updates –> I’ve probably posted something similar on Twitter anyway!

So, is it just me being naive, or are there other security risks I”m not seeing?  Identity theft?  Using my information in a way that could harm me?  I’m really trying to understand this, so comments, as always, are encouraged!

(Photo credit: Facebook Trash)

You may have noticed that Facebook made a change this week from calling the action of joining a Facebook page “Fan” to “Like.” What does this mean, really?  Nothing!  It’s really just a name change.  Instead of clicking “Become a Fan”, you now click “Like.”  In Facebook’s words, “We believe this change offers you a more light-weight and standard way to connect with people, things and topics in which you are interested.” (from their FAQ).  As an example, here’s how it looks:

So, why don’t I like “Like”?  There are a few reasons:
 

It’s Confusing

“Like” is being used here in a very different way from what people are used to.  I feel that Facebook is taking a very common word that means something specific to people, and already has a common way it’s used on the internet, and they’re changing it.

For example, on YouTube, to show that you like a video, you click on the “Like” button.  That doesn’t mean you’re “joining” that person’s YouTube channel, you’re just saying you like the video.  VERY different from how Facebook is using Like.

Even within Facebook, “Like” is used in different ways.  For example, you click “Like” on a status update or on something someone has done on Facebook.  But you’re not “joining” anything, you’re just indicating you like it.

Here’s another example… see the ad to the left.  What is the “Like” button there?  I would assume it means I like the ad, but it actually means that I’m joining their Fan page.  VERY unclear.

And, I saw this at the bottom of a ReadWriteWeb article:

What do you suppose that “Like” button does?  I clicked it, and I’m still not sure if I became a fan of their page (because I already was) or if it’s just showing my support of the article.

Call To Action

The “call to action” for getting someone to join your Fan page used to be ”Fan us on Facebook” or “Become our Fan on Facebook.”  What is it now?  ”Like us on Facebook!” “Become a liker on Facebook!”  That really sounds silly.  And, while this is just semantics, it’s important, as this language is used EVERYWHERE!

Research

I really wonder if Facebook did any research on this. Their rationale for the change says “We believe…” — did they really make that change on what THEY believed?  Or did they ask consumers?  The old adage “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” keeps coming to mind.. were people really complaining about “Fan”?  Do people feel that “Like” is more lightweight?  Will it change their actions?  I’d like to see that research, if they actually did it.

What do you think of this change?  Is it confusing to you?  Do you “like” it?