Nikki Van Winkle--How to Monetize Without Hurting Your Community

At the Mashable Media Summit on Friday, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian joined Mashable features editor Matt Silverman on stage to talk about how to monetize a website while still putting the community first.

By doing so, Reddit hopes that advertisers will recognize the value. Ohanian talked about Reddit's old model of advertising, similar to billboard ads, and how it's becoming less effective.

"In 2005, we thought, 'We're going to get lots of traffic and advertisers will take care of the rest,' " Ohanian said. "Websites advertise like digital billboards. Now we can see click-through data on these ads and we realized: Holy shit, no one cares."

Moving forward, Reddit intends to flip the tables. Subreddits like/r/gameofthrones have more than 100,000 active users creating content even when the show is off the air, just because they enjoy it.

"They are spending hundreds of hours making fan art, debates, propagating for a show that's not even on the air right now," Ohanian says of the Game of Thrones community. "You're effectively getting free [advertising] from die-hard fan evangelists. "

AMA interviews, short for "Ask Me Anything," have been a valuable tool for brands to interact more organically with the Reddit community. They require a different marketing approach than Facebook or Twitter.

One of the biggest successes was President Obama's impromptu AMA during the 2012 election campaign. Brands have utilized comedians and athletes, among other notable people, to act as a spokesperson through the Reddit community.

Ohanian compared Reddit's plans to Digg, one of the site's early competitors, which he says put advertisers over users, ultimately leading to its demise.

"When you take away the core of what it's supposed to be about, the community is not going to be too happy about it," Ohanian said.

Ohanian claims that Reddit still has a lot to work on, but it intends to find a way to monetize from the community directly -- similar to how comedians like Aziz Ansari are benefiting from direct distribution to fans.

"We live in a world where there's just too much data to ignore, and there's just got to be a way to figure it out," says Ohanian.

There are other functions of Reddit that the company does not intend to stray from, but rather enhance -- for example, Reddit gold, a more ceremonial way for Redditors to show support for the network and each other. Users pay or gift $3.99 per month or $29.99 for one year as a Reddit gold member, which enables small bonus features like more statistics and the ability to subscribe to more subreddits.

"It's a status symbol, and it shows that you cared," said Ohanian.

Ohanian intends to expand upon users gifting "cred" to one another as a way to generate revenue that embraces the community, rather than exploits it.

Photography by Erica Gannett.

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9 Ways Your Startup Can Use Social Media Lists

Scott Gerber is the founder of Young Entrepreneur Council, a nonprofit organization that provides young entrepreneurs with access to tools, mentorship and resources. The YEC recently launched #StartupLab, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs grow businesses.

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From Foursquare to Facebook, using social media lists as a personal curation tool is an increasingly easy and fun way to sort through the noise on your favorite network.

Business owners can also use social media lists to curate content on behalf of their customers, whether it’s to emphasize nearby neighborhood hotspots for brick and mortar businesses or to maintain high-touch relationships with super fans.

To find out more, I asked a panel of successful young entrepreneurs to share their smartest social media list-making strategies. Here’s what they had to say.

1. Share Brand Values With Fans

Increasingly, we’ve been seeing companies start to use lists to promote their brand. For example, the Virgin Group has created lists on the newMySocialCloud platform to share its beliefs with fans. This allows fans to connect with both the company’s values and the products the company is selling.

- Nikki Van Winkle, Elysium Enterprises

2. Curate Needs-Based Lists

A great way to curate valuable social media lists for clients is to base the lists on the clients’ needs. As a publicist, I created a Twitter list for “Media on Twitter” that’s helpful to my small business followers who are looking to reach members of the media.

- Melissa Cassera, Cassera Communications

3. Monitor Client Requests

The number one thing we’ve seen success with is simply being there when people need help. More and more customers take to Facebook or Twitter with problems rather than sending an internal support email. Being able to respond quickly helps them get what they need, and anyone else who stumbles across us sees that we provide good service via social media.

- Wade Foster, Zapier

4. Assemble Your Fans

We’ve created a private list on Twitter for our super fans, and we often pop into that feed and comment randomly on related tweets. People love that we’re actively engaging with them and get a huge kick out of it.

- Derek Flanzraich, Greatist

5. Give Unexpected Compliments

Adding customers, partners and clients to social media lists is a great way to make them feel recognized. Create lists with positive attributes like “Marketing Experts,” “Valued Customers” or “Favorite Customers.” When they receive a notification that they’ve been added to such a list, it’s an unexpected and subtle compliment.

- Abby Ross, Blueye Creative

6. Circle Industry Content

I currently use a Google Circle labeled “Partners.” I use this to post high quality content that I create or find online. The goal is to become a thought leader in a particular niche. If your goal is to become a thought leader in gamification, then you need to make your Google Circle a high-quality hub for gamification information.

- Jay Wu, Best Drug Rehabilitation

7. Drive Subscribers to Interest Lists

In order to promote your startup, consider creating aFacebook Interest List. Take the time and effort to cull a modest amount of other Facebook pages that are related to your industry. Pick pages that contain genuine value for your readers. Include your page on this list. If you build a quality list, more people are likely to subscribe. Your content will benefit from increased exposure.

- Andrew Schrage, Money Crashers Personal Finance

8. Use Foursquare Lists to Attract Foot Traffic

Foursquare lists can be valuable for a local business. The more people are in your vicinity, the more likely they are to stop at your store. Create lists of all the best spots within walking distance of your location. This could also be a great way for a realtor to showcase the best spots in a neighborhood or give a virtual tour to people who are new to a town.

- Laura Roeder, LKR

9. Be a Definitive Resource for Your Industry

Regardless of your niche, there are always going to be others doing the same thing. Create a list of all of the people in your space. If you’re good at what you do, your customers will keep coming back to you. But if your company isn’t a good fit, you can still give users valuable advice by pointing them to someone similar who is a better match. They won’t forget that.

- Sean Ogle, Location 180, LLC

Image courtesy of Flickr, Cathdew

TOPICS: BUSINESS, CONTRIBUTOR, SMALL BUSINESS, SOCIAL MEDIA, STARTUPS

courtesy of mashable.com

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Nikki Van Winkle

Facebook Rolls Out Privacy Shortcuts in Plain English

Chris Taylor 16 hours ago

Remember those privacy controls Facebook announced last week, alongside the rather less friendly news that you would no longer have the option to hide when Facebook users are searching you?

Well, those changes are finally here. As of 10pm ET, you should start seeing a small symbol with a lock in the top right hand corner of your screen. Click on it, and you've got a list of "Privacy Shortcuts" in plain English -- namely, Who Can See My Stuff, Who Can Contact Me, and How Do I Stop Someone From Bothering Me.

That's a whole lot better than what used to be in that spot -- a dizzying array of privacy options in a control panel that was hard for the average user to decipher.

"We believe that the better you understand who can see the things you share, the better your experience on Facebook can be," writes Samuel Lessin, a product manager at Facebook, in a blog post. All users will see the new shortcuts by the end of Friday, presuming the end of the world doesn't intrude.

More plain English changes are rolling out across the site. For example, when you want someone to remove a photo you've been tagged in, here's the dialog box you're presented with:

Given the abundance of holiday parties, this is the time of year when such changes are most welcome. Facebook sent Mashable a handy five-step guide to making it better when your drunken blunders end up splashed across the social network:

1. Visit the updated Activity Log to see what you are posted in
2. Use the new filters to see what photos are still out there that you may have hidden from your timeline
3. Use the multi Report and Remove tool to select those that you don't want tagged and click untag with one simple click
4. If you really don't want them on Facebook, use the new tool to ask whoever posted them to take them down, again with one click
5. Still have questions? Use the new privacy shortcut tool to type a question and get straight into the help center answers

Do you have the new privacy controls yet? Do they make more sense than their predecessors? Let us know in the comments.

Facebook to Marketers: Clicks Don’t Matter, But Reach and Frequency Do

Facebook on Monday continued its mission to convince the world’s top marketers that the standard means of measuring an online ad’s performance — the click-through rate — doesn’t matter.

The social network advanced its latest argument to a packed room of marketing execs at the IAB MIXX conference in New York featuring Director of Pricing and Measurement Brad Smallwood (pictured) and Tom Buday, head of marketing and communication at star pupil Nestle.

In his presentation, Smallwood compared social media to the early days of television, which lacked a standard metric until Arthur Nielsen introduced a ratings system in 1950. Smallwood proposed that the industry rely on the two measurements that have served TV well since that time: reach and frequency.

To bolster his argument, Smallwood cited research from Nielsen (the company, not the founder) that showed a 0.07% correlation between high click-through rates and actual sales. Smallwood also rolled out some new data from a study conducted with Datalogix that found 99% of sales generated from online branding ad campaign came from consumers who saw ads, but didn’t interact with them. The report also produced fuzzier statistics, like campaigns that “maximized reach” generated an average 70% higher ROI than those that didn’t and that campaigns that maximized frequency had a 40% higher ROI. Since Smallwood didn’t outline what constitutes either maximized reach or frequency, the stat seemed short on specifics. However, he emphasized that each campaign is likely to have a different threshold for each.

Facebook’s pitch to marketers was that the company would calculate such thresholds for them and ensure that each campaign reached its potential. To underscore its point, it showcased Buday’s experience with Nestle. Buday criticized the idea of a media platform like Facebook having a set ROI. Instead, he reiterated that the quality of the marketing communication plays a big role. “The single greatest source of leverage is the quality of messaging, whether its a TV commercial or a post on a Facebook Page,” he said. “It’s not platforms that work or don’t work, it’s brand communications and messages that do.”

To illustrate his point, Buday showed slides of Nestle brand Skinny Cow’s highly engaged Facebook Page. “If you look at the typical Facebook Page, it’s rarely this good,” Buday said immodestly. To achieve its high level of success, Nestle not only followed Facebook’s recommendations for reach and frequency (both of which are enhanced by ad buys), but adhered to a strict rulebook on communications on the platform. (Example: Go easy on the cow puns.) In Buday’s view, the onus is on the brand marketer to compete for attention in the News Feed with “husbands, wives, kids and nephews.”

Facebook, which has underwhelmed Wall Street with its ability to monetize its format, particularly the mobile iteration, via advertising, has been making the “clicks don’t matter” argument for some time. Even the parallel with Nielsen Ratings isn’t particularly new since the company has been pushing Nielsen’s Gross Ratings Points as a metric since last August.

Whether Facebook will succeed in convincing Corporate America that CTRs are a relic of the past remains to be seen. Though there are plenty of doubters, including General Motors, there are proponents as well, including Scott Monty, Ford’s global digital/multimedia communications manager who, like Buday, ridiculed the idea of measuring Facebook via clicks. “What’s the ROI of a TV commercial?” he asked. “What’s the ROI of a press release? What’s the ROI of putting your pants on every day? It’s hard to measure but there’s negative consequences for not doing it.”

courtesy of mashable.com and Todd Wasserman

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5 Better Ways to Network on Twitter and LinkedIn

Social media is like a professional cocktail hour — a way to connect, share and interact with others beyond the confines of your cubicle. But now, it feels more like an epic college kegger — the kind where you find yourself wandering in a sea of red cups, the clamor of rowdy partygoers drowning out any real conversation and eliminating the chance to forge relationships that don’t involve tacos at 3 a.m.

So, how do you bring that party back down to a reasonable size, and actually connect with people you want to talk to? Half the battle is being able to sift through the noise. Here are a few easy ways to identify and jump into the right conversations with the right people for you and your professional interests.

1. Find the Authors of the Content You Read

Who are the social influencers in your area of expertise? Identifying these people is particularly useful in seeking out great conversations. One of the best places to start is the blogs or websites you go to for content. Check out the authors — people who contribute to online publications usually have a social presence, too. Follow them on Facebook and Twitter, and take the time to let them know what you think. Comment on their articles or blogs, then take it a step further and tweet some feedback. Giving a compliment with some added insight on the topic goes a long way.

2. Become an Author Yourself

There’s no better way to join the conversation in your field than by writing on the topic — either on your own blog or for industry publications. Not only will you have something to readily share and discuss on your social networks, you’ll likely have people in your field reach out to you with comments and ideas of their own.

If you don’t consider yourself a wordsmith, stick to what you know. Think about what questions you get asked most often about what you do, and write down your thoughts. Once you get started, you’ll be surprised how much you truly have to say.

3. Leverage Twitter Keyword Searches

Twitter can be a great source of information, but it can also be one of the “noisiest” places on the web. So a great way to find people, filter tweets and join a conversation is to search for keywords related to the topics in which you are interested. For example, if you work in social media, the most obvious place to start would be a keyword like “social media.”

It seems simple, but this isn’t a perfect science, and it requires some trial and error to see which keywords get you the results you want (for example, you might try “social media marketing” or “Twitter marketing”). Play around with different versions, and join the conversation when you find something of interest. Reply to people’s tweets and give your feedback or comments. Did someone link out to an article and give her opinion? Tell her that you agree or disagree and why.

4. Join Relevant LinkedIn Groups

LinkedIn groups are great forums for career-related discussions — members often share articles, ask questions and start online conversations with each other. Do a quick group search on LinkedIn, and you’re likely to get a long list of niche groups within your field. That said, do your research to make sure that any group you’re looking at is a good fit for your goals and interests before you request to join. (If you work in healthcare marketing, for example, a general marketing group might not be the best fit.) If the group is open (vs. invite-only), take a look around at the discussions and members to get a feel for the content and makeup of the group and see if it’s a good fit.

5. Meet the People Who are Looking at You

Even if you haven’t upgraded your LinkedIn account, if your settings allow others to see who you are when you look at their profiles, you should be able to see who’s looking at yours. Scan this once a week and take a peek at who has viewed your profile.

When it’s appropriate, connect with these people, thinking about why they might have taken the time to look at your profile. Are they in your field? In your community? A recruiter? Reaching out to engage in conversation not only shows you’re paying attention, but also shows you’re open to forming new professional relationships.

courtesy of mashable.com

www.nikkivanwinkle.com

Facebook’s EdgeRank Changes and How It Affects You

Facebook has made a tweak to it’s EdgeRank formula which now places posts from pages into feeds which have high engagement.  Previously it placed posts from any Page the user liked, but now it gives priority to Posts form Pages that have high engagement.

In plain English basically if a post has lots likes and comments it will be shown more than posts that don’t have lots of likes and comments.  This is a logical move by Facebook as they try to show to their users more relevant and engaging content in an effort to keep them on the platform longer.

But it’s not being seen like this by Small Businesses who see it as a way for Facebook to give brands more incentive to spend on the Promoted Posts advertising feature.  In general a Promoted Post will achieve more engagement as its shown to more users so the side effect of a promoted post is that it will now also go more viral.

Unfortunately this means smaller businesses with lower budgets will suffer, as they won’t be able to afford the investment needed to promote posts and have them compete with larger brands.

Now this is all very speculative because it’s yet to be proven that this is how it will actually function.  The intention of the change from Facebook was to reward Pages which are posting quality, engaging content by giving them higher rankings in users feeds, which is a positive thing.

In my opinion this will force Page Owners to really engage with their users, post higher quality content and improve the value they are giving to users.  All which are great things for Facebook and the users of Facebook.  While a few companies will take advantage of the change and use promoted posts to make their updates viral it should only be a few companies.

The major outcome from the change is positive for users, an incentive for Page owners to do the right thing and a strong foundation for the future of Facebook.

courtesy of: socialmediatoday.com

editing: nikki van winkle

http://www.nikkivanwinkle.com

New Web App Recommends Books Based on Your Tweets Posted on December 20, 2012 by socialmediamaven

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Posted on December 20, 2012 by socialmediamaven via http://mashable.com/2012/12/19/bookrx/

Reading a book is a significant investment of time. That’s why it’s common to ask friends for recommendations when looking for interesting literature. If you haven’t said it yourself, you’ve probably heard someone say the common refrain: “Read any good books lately?”

That method has worked fairly well thus far, but an innovative new web appsources recommendations from the person who knows you best — you.

Simply insert your Twitter handle into BookRx, and seconds later the app produces a list of categories and specific books you might enjoy. The app, which was launched yesterday, is a product of Northwestern University’sKnight Lab. Shawn O’Banion, a third-year PhD student, worked with his professor, Larry Birnbaum, to create BookRx.

“Twitter is really unique because it’s a stream of consciousness for the user,” O’Banion tellsMashable.

“Twitter is really unique because it’s a stream of consciousness for the user,” O’Banion tellsMashable. ”Typically you’re projecting an image of yourself on Twitter with the things that you say; while that might not be your true self, it’s actually who you want to represent on social media.”

It works by comparing the words, hashtags and mentions in your tweets to those of a sample user with pre-determined reading preferences. The app’s creators used a secret data gathering technique to assess the sample and a machine learning algorithm to link tweeted words to specific book recommendations.

O’Banion recently used a similar method to create an app called TweetCast, which aimed to use tweets to predict votes in the U.S. presidential election.

For some, there is something innately unsettling about AI predictions. It is even more disturbing when the computer is accurate. Unlike sites like Amazon and Google, however, BookRx shows you the exact words you tweeted that led to its various recommendations.

“Typically when you see recommendations online, you’re not given any explanation or reason for the recommendation,” O’Banion says. “It’s sort of like a black box, and I think that’s why people get kind of creeped out by it, actually — because it’s not transparent.”

BookRx is a fun tool to try, whether or not you’re in the market for a new book to read. It’s interesting to see how accurately your tweets correlate to your reading preferences. Give it a try and be sure to let us know what you think in the comment section.

courtesy of mashable.com
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