It's that time of month again, and April was a light month in terms of technical development, or de facto product releases, but there were many little iterations on the social web that will likely make a big difference, as the year goes on. Per the usual MetzMash format, each development is addressed in terms of its business value, and the actionable that you can take in response.
(If you can't tell, I'm going to see Rush for the second time on Sunday night, and the accompanying graphic represents the first Rush album I purchased, in 1989, the futuristic masterpiece Farewell To Kings, which is also for sale in the MetzMash Canteen in the sidebar).
1. Twitter monitoring and search tools become highly differentiated and super-freakin' effective
In the last month, Tweetscan, Quotably and Summize have come into their own as top-notch Twitter (micro-blog) monitoring tools, and the size of the platform has grown steadily.
Business Value: Although you could fork out a ton of cash for a robust monitoring solution, you could also garner much of the same data by using these tools.
Actionable: Use the free tools to set up queries for your brand, your top execs (and possibly your competitors); read them in your RSS feeds.
2. Podcast advertising found to be effective, shady study says
Much to the surprise of radio and big media execs, a study published by (big surprise) podcast evangelist brand Podtrac (along with eMarketer and TNS) shows that podcast advertising was highly effective in that they bring "highly unaided ad recall," according to Doug Keith, president of Future Research Consulting (from Mashable).
Business Value: This study (even though its source is a bit questionable) validates a four-year-old theory: podcast ads work for brand recall, but they don't do so hot if you're trying to obtain an impulse purchase.
Actionable: Assess how much of your audio advertising spend is in the podcast space, and see if you can work up any ROI/ROP numbers, or if you can isolate any results to try to determine CPA (cost per action) based on a recent podcast campaign. A recent example would be an engagement by Adagio Tea on the Diggnation podcast.
3.Yahoo "Opens" its network
Although many advertisers and brands greeted this move with measured optimism, Yahoo's vow to "open" its platform has amazing potential for developers to get in front of, potentially, the largest consumer audience ever. (Yes, this is like Facebook times something like 100x, in terms of the number of actual social connections that could plausibly be made on the Yahoo platform.)
For a deeper read, check out Forrester analyst Charlene Li's excellent debrief.
Business Value: This could be the largest open software platform, in terms of users, anywhere. Lots of people, lots of real estate, lots of money to be made.
Actionable: Assess any existing partnerships your company may have with Yahoo or your Yahoo ad spend. Brainstorm the points of convergence between your existing social application infrastructure and your current Yahoo ad/marketing/social media collateral.
4. Facebook green-lights "low-key" Flash integration
Nobody wants Facebook to begin looking like MySpace's Las Vegas flash, but it seems that the platform has made some minor concessions. It's now possible to use Flash on Facebook Pages. Heck, I didn't even realize this until I saw a Guy Kawasaki post about Jessie Stay's Facebook tome, "I'm On Facebook, Now What."
Business Value: You can now build really robust branded content on your Facebook page.
Actionable: If you currently use the feature for your branded social network assets, explore the possibility of porting over existing Flash-enabled content from other social network platforms.
5.Groundswell continues to release free technographic data
The Groundswell blog continues to give away bits and bobs (thanks, Jesse) from sundry Forrester research studies that include really relevant social technographic data.
Business Value: This is the best data you're going to get on how your customers and prospects use the social web without paying $1k-5k per report for it, period.
Actionable: Make sure everyone on your marketing team reads this blog. Indispensable. Like Rush's Farewell To Kings. People on your team will rock out to this.
6.Ning fully integrates blogs and external websites
Business Value: Branded social networks can now include non-network web properties, tying your web property ever closer together, and making for a fairly coherent brand experience. It's certainly worked for Saturn on Ning, who recently created a robust ImSaturn network on the platform.
Actionable: Integrate your blogs with your social network, if your brand has one on Ning.
7. Outbrain launches a blog rating widget
Let's face it: passive engagement rules. Only a tiny percentage of people are actually going to leave a comment on your blog. The rest will *maybe* give you a "star rating," if they even have the time to do that. Are you ready to interact with the other 99% (the folks who don't comment)?
Business Value: You can get a better read on (1) whether your readers actually like your brand's blogging and (2) what other posts these people tend to like.
Actionable: Install the widget.
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One more thing on social media: If you're interested in getting a deeper read on the social gaming space, be sure to be on the lookout for the InterPlay Conference on social gaming, coming up in less than three weeks at the Hotel Kabuki, San Francisco, on May 22. It's being put on by Room Full of People and theMIX Agency (disclosure: my firm), and is the first-ever conference on social gaming.
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