Digitalia | Indianapolis Social Media Marketing

Social Search Statistics from SES Chicago

I'm a numbers nerd. If you are too, then this post is for you. Below are some stats compiled from the From Search to Discovery, What's the Link Between Search and Social? and PR, Social Media & Search sessions at the 2009 Search Engine Strategies conference in Chicago last week:

66% of people on social sites have asked friends or followers to help them make a decision 

40% of all searches are real time "what's going on now?" 

88% of links that 14-24 year olds clicked were sent to them by a friend 

1 billion links clicked every month on Google is the same as 1 billion bit.ly links clicked on Twitter monthly

25% of search results for the World’s Top 20 largest brands are links to user-generated content on social sites 

78% of consumers trust peer recommendations over ads and Google SERPs

24 of the 25 largest newspapers are experiencing record declines in circulation because we no longer search for the news, the news finds us. 

Chad Richards

SES Chicago 2009 Video: Were you naughty or nice?

Video features search and social media marketing professionals

Greg Jarbo and his team made this video at SES Chicago, which stars a who's who on the search marketing and social media marketing scene. The questions were simple: were you naughty or nice? And what are you expecting Google to bring you for the holidays. It's hilarious. You have to check it out!

Duncan Alney Facebook | Twitter | Naymz | Social Media Marketing

Social Media Marketing Checklist from SES Chicago

The speakers in the Social Media Marketing Checklist session at SES Chicago, Sean Carton, Chief Strategy Officer, idfive; Jeanniey Mullen, Chief Marketing Officer, Zinio; Heidi Cohen, President, Riverside Marketing Strategies; and Brian Boland, Manager, Performance Solutions, Facebook created a list of 8 questions and actions to consider when developing their brand’s social strategy. Below are there suggestions:

1. What is your overall marketing strategy?

2. What are your marketing/business goals for your social media marketing?

3. What forms of social media will you use and why?

4. How will you measure? What metrics are appropriate for your campaign and what do they tell you? How will you gather information? What will you do with the data collected?

5. Are you currently listening to what is being said about your firm, brand(s) and/or product(s)?

6. What types of supporting marketing will you use to promote and extend the reach of the program?

7. What dedicated resources will you allocate for your social media programs - both financial and headcount?

8. Choose the right outlets.

Good advice, however, I would move question #5 to above #3. Allow your listening activities to determine what forms of social media you will use.

Chad Richards

Is twitter betting on search?

If you don’t have an automatic log-in, you likely noticed the debut of Twitter’s new homepage <www.twitter.com> earlier this week. It’s bright. It’s blue. It’s simple.

And it’s all about the search.


Behind us are the days of explaining Twitter. Enough people know about it now. It’s time to focus on searching, which is what makes Twitter stand out from the pack of social media outlets. It’s all about information in the most efficient way possible, and what better way to accomplish that than by placing a search box and the hottest trend topics on the homepage, categorized by the minute, day and week?

Upon discovering the new homepage, I immediately questioned the reason for the revamp. After a quick comparison of the old and new homepages and reflecting upon social media industry changes over the years, it seems to me Twitter is changing directions. Twitter is no longer aiming to serve as a place to build relationships. (That’s what Facebook is for.) Twitter is for information; to find out what’s being talked about in the world right now.

One of the most common reason I hear for why people haven’t joined the Twitter craze, or have an account and rarely log-on, is that they don’t see the point of constant status updates. Now, you and I know that’s far from the purpose  — with the exception of public figures — and Twitter knows it too. So Twitter marketing execs have decided to cater to these confused potential users by pitching Twitter as a search tool, rather than a social networking site, in an effort to get them hooked with the easy-to-use search box and trend topics, then reel them in with the quick and efficient search results that allow users to feel knowledgeable and relevant. 

The right move? You tell me.

Alyson (follow me @alyandthecity)

Beth Harte on social media, search & measurement

Conversation with Beth Harte about the importance of planning

Talked to my friend Beth Harte recently, who writes The Harte of Marketing, and is also the principal of Harte Marketing & Communications. She recently got rated one of the Top 100 Social Media Bloggers in the world. Here's a video interview of our chat where we talked about:

• the importanace of planning
• Fishing where the fish are
• and, of course measurement
• We also touched in the importance of integrating search into the social process - optimizing press releases, linking to other assets, using keywords, making the releases sharable, and making news transferable.

What do you think is important? Has your planning panned out the way you wanted it to? Can you share a success story with us?

Duncan Alney Facebook | Twitter | Naymz

SES NY Videos Posted

Check out how the best of the best do what they do!

 I had the opportunity to chat with several of the featured speakers at the Search Engine Strategies conference to learn about how the best of the best in the search and social media world do what they do. All of the interviews are now posted on our YouTube channel. Head on over and check it out!

Duncan Alney

Facebook | Twitter | Naymz

Firebelly Talks Twitter With Guy Kawasaki At SES New York

Firebelly's Duncan Alney had a chance to "talk Twitter" with Guy Kawasaki at the Search Engine Strategies conference in New York. In this video they discuss "true influence" on Twitter, re-tweeting, Guy's follow and unfollow philosophies, and, yes, even Britney Spears.

Duncan has been, and will continue to be, live tweeting from the event all week. Follow it all on Twitter at @firebelly