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The post Things You Need To Know This Week – July 25, 2015 appeared first on V3B: Marketing and Social Media Agency.]]>
Hopefully you're enjoying a holiday as well, or at the very least having a lazy sunny Saturday relaxing on the deck. Put your feet up, because in this edition of "Things You Need To Know This Week" we take a look at brand engagement, share some surprising data about millennials, see how the Apple Watch is doing in the rankings (hint: very well!), and get up in arms over Twitter's recent background changes.
B2Bs Choosing Quality Over Quantity For Lead Generation
In a trend I hope becomes the norm, quality seems to finally be winning out over quantity, at least where lead generation is concerned. A July 2015 study by Ascend2, found that 70 percent of B2B marketing professionals surveyed said that improving the quality of leads was the most important objective for an effective lead generation strategy. Nearly 60 percent cited increasing sales revenues as most important.
Email and website or landing page marketing were cited by 48 percent and 44 percent respectively as the most effective tactics for lead generation. Content marketing came in third. Uh oh, might time to look for a new job! Paid search, online advertising, and testing and optimization came in dead last, seen as the least effective tactics of the bunch.
When it came to measuring lead generation performance, the most useful metric cited was "sales qualified leads generated," which Ascend2 noted was useful for measuring how well B2Bs were doing at improving lead quality.
Personalization Efforts Still Rely on Basic Data for Most Marketers
In a classic "just the facts, ma'am" scenario, it appears marketers continue to rely on the basics when it comes to personalizing their marketing efforts.
According to a June 2015 study by VB Insight, core personal/identity-related data such as email (57 percent), name (45 percent), location (41 percent) and demographics (40 percent) are used most often for personalization purposes. More advanced data such as location-related data (18 percent), lifestyle details (15 percent) and psychographics (eight percent), were less often.
A surprising revelation was that that 80 percent of marketers worldwide said they didn't understand their customers beyond basic data such as demographics and purchase history and 96 percent said it was challenging to build a comprehensive single view of a customer. As an marketer.com article says, "…(this is) a major problem when one considers that more than six in 10 marketers worldwide surveyed in March 2015 by Signal said they couldn't personalize customer experiences the way they wanted to due to fragmented data/profiles.
Obviously, especially in the era of big data, marketers today need to learn how to better gather, integrate, and act on more advanced data. Numbers like 36 percent and 47 percent of marketers saying their data-related marketing investments were positive or somewhat positive aren't very high. There seems to be a lot of marketers out there who are missing out on data marketing opportunities.
Brand Engagement Being Powered by Social Promoters Study Says
Whether you're a fan of influencer marketing or not, social promoters drive more brand engagement than run of the mill social media users so. The number of social media "like'ers, followers and sharers" worldwide is high, BUT, only 19 percent of those surveyed (by Social@Ogilvy," said they would actively recommend brands and products to family and friends. And those are the people you want in your camp.
Nineteen percent might seem like a small number, but consider the differences social promoters bring to the table:
So, if you're looking for high quality folks to start engaging with on social, seek out promoters. And let's stop turning our noses up at influencer marketing.
Surprisingly Millennials Aren't So Mobile When it Comes to Shopping
Ok, I'm no millennial (Lord knows!) but I'm fairly tech savvy and do a lot of web shopping. Like, A LOT. And there's NO WAY I would make a purchase on my smartphone. And, it appears I'm not alone. It's not only millennials who aren't using mobile to buy.
According to a recent emarketer.com article, "…35 percent of the younger set who were polled by MocoSpace and Social Lens Research said they would like to buy more on their phones but that it was too hard. Similarly, in a January 2015 study by Fluent, 36.4 percent of US smartphone users ages 18 to 24 said mobile shopping was only easy some of the time or never easy, as did 38.7 percent of those ages 25 to 44. However, these figures weren't all that different from respondents in older age groups: Around 48 percent of those ages 45 to 64 and 65 and older said the same
That said, though, millennials are more likely to use use smartphone shopping apps than us old people. In research conducted by King Retail Solutions in late 2014, 61 percent of U.S. millennial smartphone owners had downloaded at least one shopping-related app. Older age groups were less likely to have downloaded apps with only 50 percent of Gen Xers and 40 percent boomers having done so.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to sephora.com for a little retail therapy
Digital Media
YouTube Is Now Beating Cable Networks Among 18-49 Year Olds
Wow. Congrats YouTube. You're now bigger than any individual U.S. cable network for the key demographic of 18-49 year olds, info revealed by Google's chief business officer Omid Kordestani during last week's earnings call.
According to Kordestani, the number of YouTube homepage visitors is up over 300 percent year-over-year and the time people spend onsite watching videos has also increased, up 60 percent year-over-year.
According to a TechCrunch report, this has been YouTube's fastest growth rate in two years.
Kordestani added, "We're also seeing great adoption of our video ad formats like TrueView, and continue to help marketers engage and connect with consumers in new ways. The number of advertisers running video ads on YouTube is up more than 40 percent year over year. And for our top 100 advertisers the average spend per advertiser is up over 60 percent year over year."
OTT Devices Bring Hulu Viewers Back to the Couch
Are we heading back to living room? According to recent research from Hulu, the answer is a resounding yes. The video-on-demand (VOD) service reported that their share of U.S. Hulu viewers on over-the-top (OTT) devices grew from 44 percent to 58 percent from Q1 2014 to Q1 2015, and, more importantly, viewing on desktops and laptops saw a huge drop, from 41 percent to 24 percent. The share on mobile devices held relatively steady.
Other research indicates a rise in digital video viewing via OTT devices in general. A 2015 study by Digitalsmiths found that over 42 percent of adult internet users in North America reported using a TV-oriented Wi-Fi enabled device to watch digital video content, up 8.1 percent over last year.
Apple Watch Accounts For 75 Percent of Smartwatch Market Worldwide
Apple is now the dominant smartwatch maker in the world with shipments hitting 4 million units last quarter, according to a forecast released this week by Strategy Analytics. While Apple is being coy with their numbers, assuming the data is accurate, that means Apple now owns 75 percent of the global smartwatch market. This contradicts concerns expressed by other analysts that the launch of the Apple Watch was actually weaker than expected.
During Apple's recent earnings call, CEO Tim Cook said that "sales of the Watch did exceed my expectations, despite supply trailing demand at the end of the quarter." Cook added that the Watch saw its highest sales in June in the wake of fears that demand has been dropping which seems to correlate with the findings of the Strategy Analytics study.
Facebook Introduces New YouTube-Like Videos Tools For Page Owners
Facebook is all about video domination lately, and just this week announced a new set of tools to help video publishers control and manage their video content.
Key features of the newly announced tools include:
These updates bring Facebook creeping closer to YouTube functionality, and they are also introducing a new Video Library so Page owners can manage all their uploaded videos, and allowing them to edit videos individually or in bulk. Expect to see them being rolled out worldwide to Pages "over the coming weeks" according to Facebook.
Google Testing Paid Custom Gmail Addresses
Remember the halcyon days when having a Gmail account was kind the cool, "in thing?" Well, those days appear to be over. Google is testing a new service that lets users get rid of their @Gmail addresses for custom ones, but, as with most things in life, you have to pay for it, at a cost of $2.00 per month.
According to an official statement from the company, "We know that your first choice of username probably wasn't email@example.com, which is why we're experimenting with scalable ways to provide other options. This is just a test though, and we haven't made any decisions for the long term."
Google Plus Photos Shutting Down August 1
And in more Google news, say bye-bye to Google Plus Photos as of August 1. This move will hit Android first followed by iOS and the Web "soon thereafter."
This can't be much of a surprise, as many Plus users have been being prompted to switch to the new Google Photos service, and have likely already made the switch.
According to thenextweb.com "Google says those still using Google Plus Photos should download the Google Photos app soon "for uninterrupted access to all your photos, videos and albums." If you fail to switch ahead of August 1, Google says you can find your photos and videos at its photos portal, and they'll be available for export using Google Takeout."
Twitter Deletes Custom Background Wallpapers From User Accounts
MY CLASSIC OLD MIX TAPE WALLPAPER IS GONE!! This makes me very sad, and I'm not the only one. There was much kvetching this week after Twitter "went white" this week. A Twitter spokesperson told Engadget, "we're removing background images from the home and notifications timelines on web for all users. Now, background images are only available where logged-in users will see them publicly (Tweet pages, list pages and collections pages.)"
While Twitter has not offered any additional comment, this could mark the beginning of the end for all custom user uploaded wallpaper backgrounds in favor of a more consistent, albeit plain, looking Twitter experience. So, my Twitter wall will now be void of any of my personality (well, tweets aside), and just as boring and bland as everyone else's. Yuck.
Munchkin: The Teddy Bear Ewok
This guys knows how to get his "Uptown Funk" on!
photo credit: Millennials via photopin (license)
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The post Why You Need to Tell Your Fans About Facebook News Feed Changes appeared first on V3B: Marketing and Social Media Agency.]]>
In fact, I personally don't see any brand messaging, other than what's sponsored (read that: paid to appear) in my News Feed. Which is actually fine with me as a human, but as an agency that provides social media community management services for brands, getting brand content in front of fans who actively opted in for it is obviously high on my radar screen.
Why You Might Care About "See First"
That leads me to Facebook's recent introduction of "See First," a new feature designed to help Facebook users take more control of what they see and read in the News Feed. Right now "See First" is available on the iOS Facebook app. You can also access the feature on the desktop by visiting the individual pages you want to see pop up first in your News Feed and clicking "see first" where it says, "Follow" or "Following." This is important beyond how a brand might want to use Facebook. As an example, I love the content produced by Liz Gumbinner and Kristen Chase and their team at Cool Mom Picks. However, in spite of the fact that I've long "liked" and "followed" their Cool Mom Picks Facebook page, the only time I see the content they produce and share is when Kristen and/or Liz share it from their personal pages. So, if there's a brand whose content you don't want to miss, whether for information or discounts and deals – or of course for stalking, (it's the Internet, stalking is encouraged, right?), this should be of interest to you. Maybe it's your favorite nonprofit, maybe it's my friend, travel blogger Dan Fogarty, who shares the coolest travel tips, destinations and amazing photos of all time on his You Should Go Here Facebook Page that I don't want to miss.
Maybe it's your favorite local small business or retailer you want to support who regularly serves up discount codes and coupons in their feed, maybe it's a competitor you want to keep tabs on, or maybe even a fitness or health and wellness site whose updates you really enjoy — all of which you'd like to be seeing again. See? When you think about it, there are probably lots of brands whose content you wouldn't mind seeing in your News Feed on a regular basis.
What Brands (Big and Small) Need to Do
So this is pretty cool. At least I think it is. As a user of The Facebook I like having more control over what I see–or at least thinking that I do–for however long Facebook lets me think that. However, while having more direct control over what shows up in the Facebook News Feed is great for users, it should also be a call to action for brands. If you manage a brand page or have a Facebook page for your business, you need to make sure your fans and followers know what to do if they want to continue seeing (or if they ever want to see) your content in their feeds.
What to do? Develop a campaign to start getting the word out to your fans about these changes and use this opportunity to reintegrate Facebook into what you're doing from a marketing and community engagement standpoint. In a way that doesn't cost you anything (yet anyway) but the effort it takes you to communicate this. Create an email campaign to educate your audience about what's going on (because they're sure as heck not going to see it on Facebook) and tell them what they need to do in order to see the content that you share on Facebook. Give them a reason to want to be a part of what you're doing and sharing there (deals, discounts, comedy, beautiful imagery, etc). If you've never invited them to be a part of your Facebook community (or given them reason to want to do so), now's the time to do that as well. And remember not to just ask or mention this once–continue to mention and remind your subscribers in follow-up email campaigns (or via your personal Facebook page if you don't yet have an email list) on a regular basis, since it usually takes a few reminders to get people to act.
So, hopefully you now know more about the See First opportunity that exists—for both humans and for brands—relative to Facebook and how you use it, you'll check it out and modify your News Feed to allow you to actually see the stuff you want to see and/or reach out to your community and tell them how to do it.
To use the feature on your iPhone, make sure you have the latest update of the Facebook app installed. Open the app and click on "More" on the bottom right of the screen. Under "Settings" click on "News Feed Preferences" and then "Prioritize Who to See First." Now simply select the people you want to "see first" in your feed. What do you think? Are you like me and think this is a pretty good move? There are many brands that I actually look forward to hearing from and it's way easier to see their content in my Facebook News Feed than it is to open emails from them and/or remember to go check them out. I like it. Your thoughts?
Other resources on this topic:
Here's How Your Facebook News Feed Actually Works
Facebook is making it easier to declutter your News Feed
Photo Credit: Chris Miles via Compfight cc
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The post How to Measure the Fundamentals of Cloud Maturity appeared first on V3B: Marketing and Social Media Agency.]]>
But how do business leaders who have been accustomed to traditional processes and evaluation methods measure their progress in this brave new world? The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) set out to answer that question by undertaking a 12-month research program exploring how companies can develop successful cloud strategies. The IBM-sponsored program is designed to help organizations using cloud technologies understand the journey they are on, the metrics to use to measure success, and, most importantly, how to recognize when their goals have been achieved.
The research has identified what is described as the "five fundamentals of cloud maturity," as illustrated by this infographic from the EIU.
Fundamental 1: Aligned Strategy
"Know what's possible, what's imperative, and how you will measure success."
You can't get any strategy off the ground, never mind one as "new" as cloud maturity measurement, unless you have all your senior level ducks in a row. This is when it's critical that executive leadership and senior IT leadership (and/or your managed service provider vendor partner) come together to identify both the business objectives of the company as well as how adopting cloud strategies can help achieve their respective strategic goals. The strategy is your road map, and once your destination is known, cloud strategies can be developed, implemented, and optimized to ensure those goals are reached.
The EIU highlights some pragmatic advice for CIOs struggling to convince fellow executives to buy-in to cloud initiatives. Hyperion Insurance Services CIO, David Jack, had this to say, "Just do it. Then people can see what is possible. The way you get the business close to IT is to grab two or three issues that are already close to the business, and then show the CFO that you have got him or her off the hook in lightning-quick time. Find a pain point and then fix it." I love this strategy and use it all the time. Don't try to get buy-in from everyone, find a few key areas and people (or teams) that you can make heroes and solve problems for (and maybe even generate revenue and/or cost savings for), and that'll get you the attention and the buy-in (and budget) you seek.
Fundamental 2: Organizational Harmony
"Redefine teamwork. Always bring IT and business executives together to ensure cloud technologies support business strategies."
As mentioned above, the way to success is to break down the silos between the C-Suite and your IT department and to function as a team. The IT team can't (and shouldn't) be viewed as a service department, they should play a key role in strategies that are designed to build and grow the business. This is an important move for senior leaders. Establishing a corporate culture where effective dialogue between IT and other business units is the norm will go a long way toward avoiding "Shadow IT" initiatives, and other potentially dangerous security issues from rearing their heads. If you're a managed service provider working with clients, the same is true of your relationship with the key senior executives at your client companies. When you ask for a seat at the table when it comes to the development of key business goals and strategies, that's where you can help your clients the most and deliver the greatest impact.
Fundamental 3: Digital Culture
"Prepare for the rule of the digital natives. Help employees of all ages and backgrounds embrace the 'as-a-service' culture."
Younger workers, especially the Millennial generation, have grown up surrounded by rapidly evolving digital technology. They are more likely to be accepting of—if not the driving force behind—technological change and a move to cloud services. But sometimes there can be a danger in moving too quickly. Likewise, more seasoned workers may be less quick to adapt and change, and may need more training and support. Strong teams need both! Senior leaders, their IT teams, and their managed service provider partners do everyone a favor by ensuring that the entire organization has a clear understanding of why new technologies are being used, and communicate a common purpose in implementing them.
Fundamental 4: Dynamic Infrastructure
"Be practical. Find ways that cloud technologies fit with your organization's unique needs and capabilities."
Every organization is unique, and its needs are likely unique as well. Once you've managed to get your employees on board and the cloud and business strategies aligned, make sure you review your underlying technology infrastructure, and redesign it as needed. Your goal should be practical and workable technology options that will respond to the company's needs, capabilities,and goals, and which are adaptable, and scalable, as needed.
Fundamental 5: Good Governance
"Don't risk the reward. Ensure that security, privacy, and legal compliance are addressed – up front."
Recent high profile cyber attacks ensure that scrutiny from regulatory authorities and the public will grow ever more intense. Organizations must ensure that their approach to the security and integrity of cloud infrastructure and data management becomes a part of their corporate culture from the outset. Make sure you and your team are focused on developing security policies and make sure every single person on your staff understands them, and adheres to them.
To that end, here's some info on a pretty cool new tool just released from IBM that easily allows you to calculate your organization's cloud maturity curve, and lets you know how you stack up against others in your industry. Called The Benchmark Tool, I've played around with it, and it's extremely simple to maneuver through, taking about five minutes to complete. They ask pretty in depth questions about your company, as well as your overall cloud usage, etc., so be prepared to open up if you want to try it!
Also note that you have to register to use the tool, but it's not an annoying process and I think it's definitely worth the time to check it out, especially if you're getting more serious about the cloud as it relates to your organization and/or, if you're an MSP, your client's organization, and want to set a benchmark for where you sit currently as far as cloud maturity is concerned.
You can also find out a lot more about the EIU research by downloading Mapping the Cloud Maturity Curve (registration also required).
Additional Resources on this Topic:
Most Companies Naive About Cloud Strategy Maturity: SAP Study
Channelling Digital, People and Organisational Power
Cloud and the Revolutionization of Business
This post was brought to you by IBM for MSPs and opinions are my own. To read more on this topic, visit IBM's PivotPoint. Dedicated to providing valuable insight from industry thought leaders, PivotPoint offers expertise to help you develop, differentiate and scale your business.
Photo Credit: mitbbsnews1 via Compfight cc
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Millennial Binge-Viewers Say Bye Bye to Bad Video
A recent study by Conviva found that 33 percent of Millennial binge video viewers in the United States were not willing to put up with a poor digital viewing experience. Top reasons for clicking away include poor video resolution and frequent buffering (man, I hate buffering!) and those who did watch only stuck around for one to four minutes if viewability was poor.
When the respondents were asked about which devices and services they used to watch TV shows online, desktop and laptop PCs came out on top and connected streaming devices, such as Roku and Apple TV came in a close second.
And it's not just the Millennials who want quality. An April 2015 study of adult digital video viewers in Australia, Canada, the UK and the U.S. found that 46 percent of adult digital video viewers surveyed said they would allow a digital video to buffer no more than twice before clicking away.
Findings are similar with mobile video. A 2015 survey by On Device Research for the Interactive Advertising Bureau found that good picture quality was most important to viewers. Other important factors cited for a quality viewing experience included fast buffering and streaming speed as well as good sound quality.
Digital Media
Netflix Dominating Online Video Entertainment
Digital video is the real deal and Netflix appears to be leading the way. Digitalsmiths polling in Q1 2015 found that over 46 percent of Internet users in North America subscribe to Netflix with Amazon Prime Instant Video and Hulu/Hulu Plus a distant second and third.
According to an article in emarketer.com, Digital TV Research Ltd. forecast in June 2015 that the number of paid Netflix subscribers in the U.S. would reach in excess of 43 million by December 2015, up more than 20 percent from September 2014. It's no wonder that Netflix's share prices are skyrocketing!
Customers want convenience and they want choice. When Netflix subscribers were asked why they subscribed, 82 percent cited the convenience of on-demand streaming programming. Cost was also cited, as a factor as well as the wide variety of content and the ability to watch on any device.
Comcast to Launch New Video Streaming Service Aimed at Cord Cutters
Everybody wants in the video streaming game—and the old saying "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em" comes to mind in light of the news this week that Comcast will be rolling out "Stream," a new $15-per-month streaming TV service aimed at its Internet subscribers who just want to watch a handful of channels. The only requirement is that you need to be a subscriber to Comcast's Internet service.
According to Comcast, you'll be able to watch live TV and on-demand shows from about 12 different networks. Stream appears to be Comcast's latest effort to discourage subscribers from "cutting the cord" by offering an alternative option to stay with cable. Online-only services like Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu as well as new OTT (over-the-top) services from HBO and Showtime are increasing pressure on Comcast to get creative in retaining subscribers.
Stream will roll out to Boston at the end of the summer, then move to Chicago and Seattle, with reported plans to launch the service to all customers by early 2016.
Smart Watch Wearing Males Pass on Mobile Apps
According to an October 2014 study by Resonate, smart watch early adopters are young, they're male, they make good money, and, interestingly enough, they're predominantly white.
The study, conducted well before the launch of the Apple Watch, found that almost two-thirds of smart watch owners were men, and more than half were under the age of 35. As a point of comparison, only 12 percent of smart watch users were 45 and older.
Even though smart watch users skew heavily male, they were far less likely to use most mobile apps as compared to their female counterparts.
So far, estimates of smart watch adoption vary widely, though all firms do predict dramatic growth in the category in the coming years.
Mozilla Firefox Says No to Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash has been known to be a security nightmare for quite some time with
companies like Apple dropping support for the maligned browser plug-in years ago. As of this week, you can now add Mozilla's Firefox browser to the list. Mozilla has decided to block the software in the latest version of its popular web browser. The news was tweeted by Mark Schmidt, who heads up Firefox's support team.
Schmidt followed with another tweet explaining that Flash will only be blocked "until Adobe releases a version which isn't actively exploited by publicly known vulnerabilities."
Just this past Friday, Adobe announced a fix of the vulnerability issues with Flash and claims to have taken steps to prevent similar attacks in the future. Even with the latest fix, this could mark the final nail in the coffin for Flash, with many having moved on to HTML5 and other newer and more secure technology options.
Facebook Rumored to be Developing a Siri-like Competitor
Better late than never, right Facebook? Word on the street is the social behemoth might be news this week indicates it may be preparing to challenge Apple and Google in the virtual assistant space by developing a Messenger-based Siri competitor called—hello James Bond fans—Moneypenny. I'm in love with it already, from the name alone!
While there is nothing official from Facebook, a report from The Information indicates the system will have "real people" answering questions, which is pretty cool, and is a departure from the artificial intelligence method employed by Apple and Google.
There's no release date as of yet, but it's apparently far along in development phase. Definitely something to keep your eyes on.
Facebook Testing a 'Buy' Button for Brand Pages
According to a report from BuzzFeed, Facebook Pages will soon host e-commerce shopping sites, even adding a "buy" button to help facilitate the purchasing process.
Facebook product marketing manager Emma Rodgers says, "With the shop section on the page, we're now providing businesses with the ability to showcase their products directly on the page."
Currently working with only a handful of partners, Facebook has yet to announce when the 'shops' feature may roll out.
Katch Upgrade Now Includes Periscope
Want to save your Meerkat and Periscope videos? Now you can. Katch launched in March, before Periscope came on the scene, but just included it in its latest upgrade. To save your videos from Meerkat or Periscope to the Katch website, simply tweet your video title, and include the hashtag #Katch. If you'd like to archive all your content automatically, you can sign up for authkatching. Kind of sweet.
In an updated released just this week, Katch has also added instant replays, additional privacy controls, and the ability to download your videos.
In a post on the Katch's Medium account, it says processing times have been reduced from minutes to seconds and promises most videos will be available as soon as your broadcast ends.
Katch could prove to be a thorn in the side of both Meerkat and Periscope, especially if they plan to make more of a product feature of saved streams.
Review of DANGEROUS Japanese Fanny Flambeaux doll (okay, so Shelly found this video this week and hasn't yet been able to stop laughing. I take no responsibility for this one, folks)
If Sports Drink Commercials Were Honest
photo credit: Netflix – Generic Photo – Creative Commons via photopin (license)
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The post Want to Engage With Millennials? Don't Forget to Email Them appeared first on V3B: Marketing and Social Media Agency.]]>
Millennials are definitely tech-natives. Having grown up with gadgets, they are savvy about what advances in technology can bring to the table, and, some would say, are social media obsessed. But are they so engrossed with their social and mobile tools that you need to throw your marketing budget in that direction to reach them? Apparently not. According to the latest research, when it comes to brands that are targeting the younger generation, it's good old-fashioned email that often wins the day.
Millennial Communication Preferences
Although principally aimed at unearthing financial trends amongst Millennials, the Millennial Research Study from The Principal Financial Group revealed some fascinating nuggets about their communication preferences.
Email wins out for one-to-one contact. More than four in ten respondents said that their preferred method of one-to-one contact with companies is email. This rose to almost half (47 percent) for contact with retail stores.
Email tops social media and texting. This compared to just six percent that listed social media as their favored method from retail companies, two percent text message and five percent for both phone call and online chat.
Email is relied upon when doing product research. Email also scored strongly for research on products and services at around double the rating for social media. Unsurprisingly web search rated most highly for research but was the only method to beat email.
Is it Possible Social Channels are for Socializing?
So why should this be so for the supposedly socially media savvy, connected Millennial generation who, we are told, live out their lives on social networks? Over at Marketing Land, Steve Dille contends that the clue is in the title—with "social" being the key word. He suggests (and I agree) that the social networks dominate the social interactions of the generation who emerged after the digital revolution started. Since they were old enough to create their first Facebook, Twitter, or SnapChat accounts (or perhaps even before), social media has been the go-to way to communicate with friends and family. But social isn't the only channel this group uses.
Let's not forget though, that email has also been a constant in their lives. After all, however many bells and whistles a new social platform might have, you still need an active email address in order to set-up and maintain your social accounts. Millennials are also no different than the rest of us in that they have to use their email accounts for practical purposes such as notifications, account administration, product updates, and in some cases, even for work. Most will check their emails every day, and many, it seems, prefer email over social when it comes to direct contact with the brands, businesses, and other organizations they deal with.
The Impact of Mobile on Email
One big factor in the enduring appeal and use of email among Millennials is mobile. The latest figures from Pew Research show that by the end of 2014, 85 percent of the 18—29 year old age group owned a smartphone; this compares to just 27 percent of over 65s. Mobile friendly apps and email provider upgrades are making it easier than ever to access email messages on mobile and tablets.
This is reflected in the rapidly increasing proportion of email opens on mobile devices, compared to desktops. The latest U.S. Consumer Device Report from Movable Ink suggests that more than half of all emails opened in the first quarter of 2015 were viewed via smartphones.
With nearly another 17 percent being accessed on tablets, desktop opens fell to less than a third of the total. The rate of increase is illustrated by the comparative figures for Q3 2014, which show smartphones at 48.51 percent, tablets at 17.47 percent, and desktop at just over 34 percent. As with everything else in life and business these days, the pendulum appears to be swinging firmly towards mobile, the preferred habitat of the Millennial (and a whole lot of the rest of us as well).
How to Think About Email and the Millennial Audience
So despite any preconceived judgments we might make (or read) about Millennials, it appears they still welcome, open, and read emails, a fact marketers need to take note of. When you think about it, what better way is there to directly and personally reach and engage with this valuable target audience, using the same authentic, personalized voice brands strive to attain on the more "hit and miss" social platforms?
As with many things though, Millennials' expectations and demands are different when it comes to the way email content is delivered and consumed. The traditional long-form email is less likely to be successful, and marketers should also keep these key points top of mind when targeting Millennials using email campaigns.
Content is still king. Content is (as ever) key as Forward Push Media's Marc Apple explained to TNW News, "Content by far is what a Millennial is looking for when a business reaches out to them via email. It's just not any content, it must be relevant and relatable content."
Video is effective and easily consumed. The message should be in an easily consumed format and, when possible, integrate video into your campaigns. This cohort are big fans of video that's quick and easy to consume.
Keep content clear and concise for mobile viewing. As we've seen, messages are increasingly likely to be viewed on a mobile device, and the content in your emails needs to reflect that. Your message should be visually appealing and work in a mobile format, and the content must be crafted in such a way that it's clear the value it delivers. Lastly, don't waltz around, get to the point quickly and succinctly. As an aside, I'm pretty sure this advice rings true across all demographic audiences.
Make sharing easy. To ensure your message reaches the widest possible audience, makes sure it is easily sharable. Joshua Lingenfelter, director of marketing for Clowes Memorial Hall of Butler University, told TNW News why this factor is especially vital for Millennials, "Older generations tend to click on 'view as a webpage' and review the entire email in their Web browser and then forward directly to friends. Millennials tend to review the email quickly on their phone, find the info they are excited about and then share on Facebook."
As with so many aspects of digital marketing, the Millennial generation is demanding a new approach from the brands and advertisers vying for their attention. Email clearly still has a big role to play but not in its own silo, set apart from other campaigns. It needs to be integrated as deeply as possible across other channels as part of the continuing drive to deliver a more personalized and customer-focused approach.
Do you still see email as an effective marketing tool across all generations? Are you a Millennial that hates email? Are you a marketer who tries to segment your audience generationally and test email messaging accordingly? I'd love to hear about it if you're doing that. Are you doing anything exciting with email that we'd like to hear about, c'mon, let's hear it.
Additional Resources on this Topic:
Your Email Marketing Campaign Isn't Attracting Millennials (for Good Reasons)
How Millennials Are Changing the Face of Consumer Marketing
Five Strategies to Optimize Email Marketing Targeting Millennials
photo credit: 3 Emails your Business Should be Sending to your Subscribers via photopin (license)
The post Want to Engage With Millennials? Don't Forget to Email Them appeared first on V3B: Marketing and Social Media Agency.]]>
The post NIH Seeks Your Input: Data Collection Best Practices for Devices and Wearables appeared first on V3B: Marketing and Social Media Agency.]]>
The initiative from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) stems from the Precision Medicine Initiative (PMI) unveiled by President Barack Obama in his State of the Union Address in January. The PMI has been created with the aim of creating a national research cohort study of more than one million Americans to improve the understanding of health and disease. Specifically, the program has the aim of generating scientific evidence to "move the concept of precision medicine into clinical practice." According to a follow up article in The New England Journal of Medicine and Science, "the initiative taps into converging trends of increased connectivity, through social media and mobile devices, and Americans' growing desire to be active partners in medical research."
THE PMI was launched in June, with the first post on the NHI Precision Medicine Initiative Feedback Blog. The article set out the critical questions that the research would address and invited comments and questions on the issues raised. The second and most recent post raises questions and seeks feedback on so called mHealth, a term which describes the practice of medicine and public health supported by mobile devices.
Interested in Wearables for Health Monitoring and Want to Participate?
The PMI is considering the viability of using smartphone and wireless technology to collect data from their cohort of volunteers. They are asking for input from the public on the use of technology for this purpose, including some specific considerations. What they want to know includes the following:
Researchers are also interested in hearing from the tech community on what other ways might exist to collect data remotely, beyond smartphones and connected wearables. If you or your clients are working in this space and/or have ideas that are ready to share, they'd love to hear from you.
Google and Apple have already been exploring the concept of using mobile tools to collect data for clinical research purposes. It's interesting to see such a large stakeholder, and a government agency at that, doing the same. What is surprising though, is to see that none of the questions promoted by the PMI concern privacy and the security of data. Some of the early comments have already addressed that issue and I think more are likely to follow—especially since this relates to health and data that is, by its very nature, something that people wish to keep private.
This is an important issue for MSPs who serve the mobility space, especially those focused on healthcare, as well as for mobile service providers, health researchers, and the public. If you have any thoughts on the PMI mHealth proposals you can add your comments at the NHI Feedback Blog. Please also share this call for public input with colleagues and clients who you think may have an interest in either participating or sharing.
For those of us in the tech space, being a part of initiatives like this and sharing our thoughts and feedback can go a long way toward developing what is right now the wild, wild west of health tech. My team and I think that is kind of exciting—hopefully, you will as well.
This post was brought to you by IBM for MSPs and opinions are my own. To read more on this topic, visit IBM's PivotPoint. Dedicated to providing valuable insight from industry thought leaders, PivotPoint offers expertise to help you develop, differentiate and scale your business.
Photo Credit: toddjesperson via Compfight cc
The post NIH Seeks Your Input: Data Collection Best Practices for Devices and Wearables appeared first on V3B: Marketing and Social Media Agency.]]>
The post Meerkat's Move Toward Facebook and What That Means appeared first on V3B: Marketing and Social Media Agency.]]>
Meerkat's Key UX Changes
In a nutshell, the changes are simple. Meerkat has changed its login procedures to include options beyond a Twitter account (which it probably should have thought about to begin with). Now, users can use Facebook to create a Meerkat account. In addition and as is the case with so many other apps, by using Facebook, you can connect automatically with all your Facebook friends who are also on Meerkat.
This is also big news for Facebook Page owners. Anyone who is following your brand page will also automatically be following your Meerkat account. For brands and publishers with large followings, this means thousands and possibility millions of additional followers instantly.
And Then, There's Cameo
While that alone is pretty big news, Meerkat did something this week that could catapult it to a whole new level. "Cameo," a new feature that allows a broadcaster to invite viewers to take over their stream for 60 seconds at a time, was introduced. When a user takes over a stream, their followers will be notified and encouraged to tune in via a push notification. Talk about instant growth in a follower base. This is pretty cool and there are lots of exciting ways this could be used.
The Facebook Factor
As mentioned earlier, the fast pace of new features and enhancements being rolled out to the Meerkat app shouldn't come as much of a shock to anyone who has been following its battle with live streaming rival Periscope. The Twitter owned app has been taking much of the spotlight away from Meerkat ever since Twitter shut off access to its social graph. A Meerkat/Facebook relationship only makes sense.
According to a recent Re/code article, Meerkat CEO Ben Rubin believes the Facebook integration could help increase the "time spent" metric, especially if it gives bigger publishers more incentive to publish.
And, it's no secret that Facebook is interested in the live video streaming space. According to Rubin, Facebook has been surveying users about how they use Meerkat and other streaming apps. Does this mean Facebook will acquire Meerkat? Maybe. "Facebook has been very nice and we have friends there that are helping us," Rubin revealed to Re/code. "They've been supportive and very transparent."
The budding relationship between Facebook and Meerkat seems to signal Facebook is not looking to build its own livestreaming app, but may instead look to acquire one. Perhaps Meerkat? I don't think this live video conversation is about Periscope versus Meerkat any longer. With a Facebook integration, Meerkat is, to my way of thinking, moving into the power position. Twitter is not a sticky site, and it's not a place where much engagement is happening these days. Facebook, on the other hand, well, I don't need to tell you what's going on there. Facebook is where the conversations and connections are happening, it's where video views are happening, and it's where video content is being shared.
From a personal standpoint, with a Facebook integration, I'm way more interested in live video streaming than I was when it was limited to a Twitter integration. What about you? Very much looking forward to seeing where this one goes.
Related Articles on this topic:
Native Video Views Skyrocket on Facebook: Marketers Take Note
Meerkat Makes Friends With Facebook's API, Adds Viewer Cameos And Streaming Storage
Cut Off By Twitter, Meerkat Turns To Facebook For Views
photo credit: Dylan Dunlap via photopin (license)
The post Meerkat's Move Toward Facebook and What That Means appeared first on V3B: Marketing and Social Media Agency.]]>
The post Things You Need To Know This Week – July 11, 2015 appeared first on V3B: Marketing and Social Media Agency.]]>
Marketers Go All In With Influencers
According to a recent study by Schlesinger Associates for Augure, 84 percent of marketing and communications professionals worldwide expect to launch at least one influencer based campaign in the next 12 months and 81 percent of those who already launched campaigns said influencer engagement was an effective marketing strategy.
Identifying the right influencers was cited as the biggest challenge when rolling out an influencer engagement strategy by 75 percent of those surveyed. Other challenges include getting influencers' attention and ways to measure efforts.
In terms of measurement, page views ranked as the most-used data point, cited by 85 percent of respondents. Engagement metrics were less important, with 60 percent of bloggers saying brands measured social shares and 40 percent citing comments. What this says to me is that brands are realizing that their efforts at content and social aren't delivering. Not surprisingly, since in general brand efforts in that regard are generally thinly disguised (if disguised at all) as advertising and brand chest-beating. Which isn't interesting to anyone, much less prospective customers. Tapping influencers, who have generally spent years building reputations for credibility and legitimate blogs and communities is a potentially more effective tactic.
Digital Communications Integration Challenging B2Bs
According to an April 2015 study by Omobono, in partnership with The Marketing Society and Circle Research, found that only 28% of B2B professionals in the UK and U.S. had a formal digital communications strategy.
The benefits of an integrated approach to digital communications are many, especially related to the customer. Nearly 66 percent of B2B professionals said integration contributed to a better customer experience, and nearly 60 percent said communications were more effective as a result.
When asked about the biggest challenges of having an integrated digital communications strategy, B2B respondents were most likely to cite issues with different objectives and priorities across departments as well as a lack of understanding of the importance of digital. Lacking support from leaders as well as limited time to collaborate were cited by about a third.
Online Shopping
Younger Grocery Shoppers Buying More Online
An April 2015 study by 72Point for Door to Door Organics found that 54 percent of U.S. online grocery shoppers said they had increased their activity in the past year. Over 60 percent of respondents from 22 to 34 were the most likely to have increased their online shopping activity. The 35-to-44 age group was close behind at 58 percent, while 51 percent of the 18- to 21-year-old age group rounded out the top three.
On average, shoppers had increased the percentage of grocery shopping done digitally by about 30% over the past year. Respondents were most likely to do about 20 percent of their grocery shopping digitally, with younger consumers more likely to buy from online grocery store over older age groups. I buy groceries online – do you?
Digital Media
Showtime Has Joined HBO in Going OTT – No Cable Subscription Needed
As of this week, you can now stream Showtime, the premium cable network, without a traditional cable subscription. After the thirty-day trial period, a monthly subscription costs $11 a month and is available on Apple TV, iPhone, iPad, iPod, Roku as well as Hulu and Sony's PlayStation Vue.
Like HBO Now, you can get a free 30-day trial of Showtime a la carte to see whether it's worth it for you. It's also worth noting that Hulu subscribers only pay $9 a month—a $2 monthly discount, if you do indeed decide to buy a subscription.
HBO Now prompted me to completely opt out of that coverage via my cable provider and I'm sure I'm not alone in that regard. Where are you in the cutting the cable process?
Users Gain More Control Over Their Facebook News Feeds
Facebook is giving users greater control over what they see in their News Feed. The new features allow users to determine what kind of News Feed stories are most important to them and what they prefer to see first. Users will also be able to more easily find new pages and quickly unfollow people and pages to stop seeing their posts and further customize their News Feeds.
According to Facebook:
With an updated design of the tools we previously launched, you can now see a list of the top people, Pages and groups that you've seen in your News Feed over the past week, and choose to unfollow any friend, Page or group if you don't want to see their updates. You can also see who you've unfollowed in the past and choose to re-follow them at any time.
The new features are currently being rolled out to iPhone and iPad users and will come to Android soon.
Facebook Testing Video Ads to Better Compete With YouTube
Facebook is testing video ads with a small group of publishers to hopefully attract both more content and, of course, ad revenue. And, in a move that will allow it to more effectively compete with YouTube, Facebook will be implementing revenue sharing to encourage video creators to publish more video natively. Publishers will receive 55 percent of the revenue from Facebook ads that run against their videos, matching YouTube's payout.
Previously, the only incentive for video creators to publish on Facebook was the opportunity to get their videos seen by Facebook's enormous audience. Since the explosive growth of Facebook's video views, the company most likely felt pressure to offer video creators added incentive to keep publishing content to keep the momentum going. With the introduction of video ads, Facebook also moves into monetization of its video machine.
Several important details of Facebook's new video ad business have yet to be disclosed, including how much it will charge for ads. During the test, Facebook will be using ads that have already been paid for, at no additional charge to advertisers.
Twitter Introduces New Video App Ads
This week, Twitter announced several new features to its app install advertising tool kit. Advertisers will be able to promote apps within video ads and optimize bidding for installs and actions. According to a Twitter blog post:
Optimized action bidding: This new bidding type allows app install advertisers to optimize their bids according to install, while still paying by app click — offering another way to lower cost-per-installs and yield the highest possible ROI. Cost per install bidding: Advertisers can bid, optimize and pay by install giving you cost-efficiency and maximum control over your cost per install.
Twitter, which introduced its app install ad products a year ago, said advertisers using the program are seeing high returns on investment across all verticals, from tech to entertainment to retail.
You Can Now Add Your Birthday to Your Twitter Profile
In a move that seems designed to be more like Facebook (yawn), starting this week, Twitter users can now add their birthdays to their profiles. According Twitter product manager Ricardo Castro, "your birth date is a completely optional part of your profile and you have full control over who can see it."
What's the point? I'm not sure. Although I will say that there is a marked lack of engagement on Twitter these days, so maybe it's a wild card effort to try and remedy that. I think it's kind of silly. You?
New Meerkat Feature Allows Users to Make a "Cameo" Appearance
In a smart move by Meerkat, a new feature called "Cameo" lets viewers take over a livestream when invited by the person who initiated the stream.
To use the new "Cameo" feature, users just tap their profile and choose the "Cameo" option. An invite, which lasts 60 seconds, will display on their screen. You can also invite someone by posting a comment "Cameo @(their username)." Once the invitee takes over, you can end the cameo at any time as well as the person who took over your stream. When their appearance is over, the stream returns to you.
Currently the new "Cameo" feature is available only on iOS, with support for Android expected soon.
High Resolution Images Come to Instagram
Instagram has updated its app to support higher resolution images. Previously photos posted to Instagram were compressed down to a 640×640 resolution. As of this week, images will now be stored at a much higher 1080×1080 size.
You can also uncover you own 1080px resolution images on the desktop. If you're using Google's Chrome browser, just right click the image you want and select 'View Page Source.' Then run a search for '.jpg.' The first file listed is usually the image you want. Copy the file URL and then paste it into the address bar to see the 1080x photo.
El Baile de la Mascara / The Mask Dance Cuban Pete (Kid Version)
16 Puppies
Photo Credit: thuvienanh89 via Compfight cc
The post Things You Need To Know This Week – July 11, 2015 appeared first on V3B: Marketing and Social Media Agency.]]>
The post Managing the Data Security Risks of Patient Portals appeared first on V3B: Marketing and Social Media Agency.]]>
Health is always going to be a key area for the use of IT, especially with the rapid expansion of telehealth and virtual care. However, this is a landscape where development is not just driven by the end users' needs. Changes in our legislation also mean that health care providers and their IT teams are under pressure to improve outcomes, while also reducing costs. It's in this environment that the patient portal is going to play a pivotal role, still achieving balance between functionality and patient privacy.
Patient portals offer benefits to patients and providers alike, both in terms of access to health information and in enabling an effective means of communications. Patient portals allow patients to view medical records and test results, along with the option to request prescriptions, make appointments, and communicate with their health care teams via email or video link. Development is somewhat slow, however, due to two major factors:
Writing in Electronic Health Reporter in October 2014, Dell Healthcare compliance officer Martin Edwards highlights that legislation does offer some protection to patient portal providers. According to HIPAA requirements, if all devices containing protected health information (PHI) are properly encrypted, providers are exempt from any improper disclosure being considered a breach of the regulations. Providers though, must be on their guard, as legislators at both federal and state level continue to develop laws regulating the use of technology in the provision of health care services.
Take for instance some of the current issues under consideration as highlighted at Lexocology, an online information service for law practitioners from the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC). It appears that in addition to solid encryption, there are other issues under consideration that those who operate telehealth and patient portal services need to keep abreast.
These involve both national and state-specific regulations and developments. On a national level, there are several separate developments that have the potential to affect the way patient portals operate. These include the following:
Many states are considering or introducing new legislation concerning telehealth and this will no doubt continue on an upward trend. As anyone immersed in the field knows, it's becoming an increasingly complex landscape in which to operate. One of the key issues affecting the patient portal is determining what, exactly, defines the doctor-patient relationship. Take Texas and West Virginia as examples. According to the ACC article, both states are taking a different approach to the situation. Let's take a look:
Texas. The Texas Medical Board proposes that before any prescription is issued, a relationship between doctor and patient must be established by "at a minimum, among other things, a physical examination that must be performed by either a 'face-to-face' visit or in-person evaluation." The rules also establish that "questions and answers exchanged through email, electronic text, or telephonic evaluation of or consultation with a patient," are insufficient to establish a relationship.
West Virginia. By contrast, a senate bill introduced in West Virginia in January 2015 states that "when a prior physician–patient relationship does not exist, it can be established using telemedicine as long as real-time video conferencing or similar technologies are utilized."
Pretty interesting, isn't it? And definitely something to stay up-to-date on, whether you're a health care CIO, an IT pro working in the health care space, or a managed service provider serving clients on either a regional or national basis.
There is also the issue of reimbursement to consider, although I don't intend to bore you with the minutiae of Medicaid. Suffice it to say that of the eight states that introduced bills concerning the subject at the start of 2015, there were four different approaches to resolving the thorny issue of providing remuneration to providers. That, too, should only increase in complexity in the coming months and years.
Thus far, in general, our experiences with patient portals have largely been limited to basic functions with single-source providers. As our health care providers continue to recognize the value that technology can bring to engaging with patients in a cost effective way, that situation is likely to change. Providers will need to adapt and stay on top of what's happening from a technology standpoint, and their IT teams will need to work to create a great user experience across the board and a "one stop" experience for patients, with a single portal providing access to multiple services. In order for health care providers to not only stay competitive, but also to serve their clients most effectively, they're going to need to focus on developing effective communication channels to facilitate interaction between patients and medical practitioners.
The challenge facing health care industry IT pros is in ensuring that the development and implementation of the technology goes hand-in-hand with the evolving legislation. This is particularly so as individual states impose their own layers of regulation over the federal law makers. As the adoption of telehealth and patient portals grow, our health care providers need to keep abreast of ever-changing regulations and tread warily to make sure that their policies and practices around health IT aren't creating the potential for future liabilities.
What about you? Are you working on creating user experiences via the development of patient portals and navigating these waters? If so, I would love to hear your thoughts on the challenges ahead and how you might be dealing with them.
Other resources on this topic:
The Medical Internet of Things
Telehealth and health IT Policy: considerations for stakeholders
The Brave New World of Modern Medicine: Healthcare Meets the Digital Age
This post was written as part of the Dell Insight Partners program, which provides news and analysis about the evolving world of tech. For more on these topics, visit Dell's thought leadership site Power More. Dell sponsored this article, but the opinions are my own and don't necessarily represent Dell's positions or strategies.
Photo Credit: emilydpardo via Compfight cc
The post Managing the Data Security Risks of Patient Portals appeared first on V3B: Marketing and Social Media Agency.]]>
The post CMOTalk: Integrating Employee Advocacy Into Your Operations appeared first on V3B: Marketing and Social Media Agency.]]>
During this episode, we talked about what we believe are the cornerstones to any employee advocacy program–trust, training, and tools, and the biggie, disclosure. We also talked about how to most effectively develop, roll out, and sustain an employee advocacy program. If this is something you're focused on, here's an overview of some of what we discussed.
Cornerstones of an Employee Advocacy Program
Trust. When you go down the path of trying to develop and build a legitimate employee advocacy program, the first thing you've got to understand is that your employees are your first client. Keeping them happy is what keeps the business running. So you have to work to build a corporate culture that is built on trust, mutual respect, and have a goal that is really more employee-centric than corporate centric. This is something that's not always easy.
Training. As someone who does a ton of corporate training for clients, both on site and off, I'm very familiar with the uncertainties that employees in companies large and small have with regard to what is expected of them with regard to social media and/or what is appropriate. Some employees aren't at all interested in being advocates for the company using their personal online channels, and it's important that employers understand and respect that. Others do want to use social media channels and are excited about that, but are still unsure as to what to do, what to say, who will be watching, how the company might look at their own social profiles and the like. Add to that mass of confusion the fact that social media is changing on what seems like a day-by-day basis, and you can see why we are such big advocates of training.
Tools. Tools and training kind of go hand-in-hand, and the best employee advocacy programs are the ones that are developed in such a way that it is easy for your internal team to participate, to know the right kind of content and/or messaging to share, to be supported internally in their efforts and to have tools that make all that easy. The easier you can make it, the more you can serve up an easy button for your team, the more effective they will be in their advocacy efforts, and the happier they will be.
Disclosure. We talked about a lot of things in this podcast, but the last thing we covered was the topic of disclosure. There are new FCC guidelines that are very strict about disclosure. If someone on your team or within your organization is sharing content or information or bragging about the company in some way, it's critical that they disclose properly. We'll go into this in greater detail in another CMOTalk episode as well as in a blog post, but there will be a link at the bottom to the new guidelines that we encourage you to check out.
Want to Learn More About Employee Advocacy?
If employee advocacy is on your radar screen, we hope you'll pop over and have a listen to the podcast. More importantly, we hope you'll join us tomorrow for a webinar put on by our friends at The Marketing Scope featuring one of the smartest minds in the online space, Altimeter's Charlene Li. Charlene is the author of five books, including The Engaged Leader: A Strategy for Your Digital Transformation, Open Leadership: How Social Technology Can Transform the Way You Lead and, of course, one of the original manifestos on the power of social technology, Groundswell.
Charlene will be joined by Dynamic Signal's An Le and the discussion will be moderated by my partner in crime, Daniel Newman. There's still time to register – and this webinar is FREE, so there's no reason to wait. The webinar is tomorrow, July 9th, at 1pm ET, 12 Noon CT and 10am PT. You can register here.
And if you've not yet subscribed to our CMOTalk Podcast, where we tackle issues of interest to marketers, tech leaders, sales teams and more, we hope you'll check it out. I'm slightly biased, but I promise it doesn't suck. You can do that here: CMOTalk Podcast.
Other Resources on this Topic:
FTC Guidelines for Bloggers
The Rise of Employee Advocacy in the Digital Business Landscape
Seven Ingredients for Employee Social Advocacy
Photo Credit: H-sel via Compfight cc
The post CMOTalk: Integrating Employee Advocacy Into Your Operations appeared first on V3B: Marketing and Social Media Agency.]]>


text:
"Just awesome"
Loved the story the characters are well written and just plain fun I'm gonna read it again just to check out some of the game secrets they mention you will love it
"Slow starter, but great back half and performance"
This book was a slow starter for me, but the back half was great! It will help you follow the story if you were a nerd and grew up in the 80's, but even without fitting that bill I really enjoyed the story. Will Wheaton's performance was excellent as well. I will be looking for further readings from him.
"Excellent book"
Excellent book. Great story. Wil is awesome. Sucked me in till the end. Absolutely awesome. I even googled the oasis
"Best book I've listened to in awhile!"
if you want to feel every emotion then listen to this book, so very good.
"Great Listen."
Fantastic book. Will does a great job reading.
Definitely had trouble finding a stopping point! Gamers and non-gamers will both like this one.
"Amazing in every way!"
The story and performance were both epic. A must have for your Audible collection. Bravo!
"80's pop culture had a baby with the Internet..."
An enjoyable listen overall. Some parts may have stretched out a little more than necessary.
Also, some of the twists are perhaps a trifle predictable, but that just might be a natural reflection of the fact that I grew up with the 80's pop culture that's found swimming in this book. Wheaton delivers great narration as always.
"Geek or not, you should listen to it"
This book is fun. A lot of research done on the 80's culture and it brings out good memories. The plot is thrilling with lots of surprises.
"Brilliant story. Whedon does an excellent job"
Very hard to push pause on this one. It's a rise that leaves you day dreaming about the universe Cline has created for days to cone
"Pleasantly surprised"
Buy it. U will NOT regret it. I was not excited about listening to this book on my trip to the coast with my better half but hey you compromise when you can. I am so happy that we bought it. Actually I am so scared of the thought that I might have missed out all the other times I passed a book by because I didn't think it would appeal to me.
I'm not into video games or computers like some other reviews mention. Heck, I've had an iPhone for years and I recently figured out the emoji keyboard. 🙊 so NO! This book is not for computer/video/technology nerds. Instead ask yourself these questions:
1. Are you not entertained?!!!
2. Have You bought this book?
3. Do You want to miss out on something great?
If your answer is no to any of these questions... Buy the damn book. U can return it anyway and everybody wins. See... Compromise.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
5117 search results for interviews
Skyfall - Interviews with Daniel Craig & The Cast
Type: Video | Date: Sunday, Nov 11, 2012Watch Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, Judy Dench, Bérénice Marlohe and Naomie Harris discuss the new James Bond movie: Skyfall
'Pitch Perfect 2' star Ben Platt admits he never watched a 'Star Wars' movie
Type: Video | Date: Tuesday, May 12, 2015Skylar Astin and Ben Platt discuss the new 'Pitch Perfect' sequel.
Tom Hardy on reinventing Max Rockatansky in 'Mad Max: Fury Road'
Type: Video | Date: Monday, May 11, 2015Tom Hardy on bringing George Miller's vision to the legendary Mad Max franchise.
'Mad Max: Fury Road' car crash scenes scared Nicholas Hoult on set
Type: Video | Date: Monday, May 11, 2015Nicholas Hoult on the unsuspected twists in 'Mad Max: Fury Road'
Billboard Music Awards 2013 - Miguel, Jennifer Lopez, Will.i.am & more Interviews
Type: Video | Date: Sunday, May 19, 2013Miguel says he'd love to work with Mariah Carey, Jennifer Lopez is excited for her new music video, Will.i.am enjoyed collaborating with Britney Spears, and Mike Tyson hopes to dance all night long at the 2013 Billboard Music Awards
Alex Garland opens up about 'Ex Machina' to Edgar Wright
Type: Video | Date: Friday, May 8, 2015Writer/Director Edgar Wright chatted with Alex Garland the writer/director of the "sleeper" hit 'Ex Machina' about his incredible film. HitFix is proud to bring you this exclusive interview.
'Strike Back' star Philip Winchester: 'Maybe I'm just stupid enough to enjoy it'
Type: Post | Date: Thursday, Jul 30, 2015One adventure ends this summer, and a new one begins this fall on NBC with 'The Player'
Boy, the Kansas City Royals sure do love Fetty Wap's 'Trap Queen'
Type: Article | Date: Thursday, Jul 30, 20151, 7, 3, 8....
'The Gift' stars Jason Bateman, Rebecca Hall & Joel Edgerton still run into people from high school
Type: Video | Date: Thursday, Jul 30, 2015Jason Bateman talks about how some of his former grade school classmates are now hot shots in the Hollywood entertainment industry.
Jumping The Broom - Interviews
Type: Video | Date: Thursday, May 5, 2011The actors from Jumping The Broom discuss the making of the film and hanging out in Nova Scotia


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Lithologic and Stratigraphic Description of Cores of Organic-Rich Shale of Late Devonian and Early Mississippian Age in Northeastern Kentucky: Usgs Open-File Report 82-219Paperback
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- Publisher: Bibliogov
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- Publication date: 7 March 2013
Product description
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) is a scientific organization created in 1879, and is part of the U.S. government. Their scientists explore our environment and ecosystems, to determine the natural dangers we are facing. The agency has over 10,000 employees that collect, monitor, and analyze data so that they have a better understanding of our problems. The USGS is dedicated to provide reliable, investigated information to enhance and protect our quality of life. This is one of their reports.
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1000+ Rentals · Paris
1000+ Rentals · Paris
A lovely, bright appartment with a lot of space located at the beautiful Ile Saint-Louis in the 4th arrondissement in Paris. The appartment is newley renovated with fully equiped kitchen and bathroom. Easy access to metro, buses and RER (airport). Learn More
One of the most attractive areas in Paris. You will stay on the island Ile Saint-Louis which is located in the Seine river inbetween the trendy Marais and the more classy Saint Germain. Access to all the utilities and linen are clean and fresh at arrival. One of the most fashionable areas in Paris, very safe! You will have access to shopping, restaurants, bars, gardens and historical monuments by foot. You have a bus stop just outside the door, metro 5 minutes walk and the RER 15 min wal...
Saint-Paul - Ile Saint-Louis, Paris
Lovely very small independant studio studio for rent for hollidays. In the heart of Paris famous MARAIS near POmpidou/Beaubourg Museum.Metro Hotel de ville Separate room with shower and wc, Equipped kitchenette, sofa for 2 Beautiful historical building quiet and clean 300 euros/week 50 euros/nigt 0145892398 0651379940 email@example.com
Châtelet - Les Halles - Beaubourg, Paris
Comfortable and sunny flat in the middle of Paris ( 1st district ) . Perfectly located to explore the city. The appartement is fully equipped and has an elevator. Perfect place for you stay in Paris !! Learn More
Beautiful apartment decorated by an arquitect in the district of Les Halles (1st Arrondissement). The most central place in Paris. Sunny and perfectly furnished it is the perfect place for your stay in Paris. Very nice aud quite with all comfort. Located in a pedestrian zone. Nearby you have restaurants and bars, food shops, bakeries, caterers. You are just 1 minute walk from the famous Beaubourg Center, also from the hippest district of Paris: the Marais, near the royal palace and the L...
Châtelet - Les Halles - Beaubourg, Paris
Perfect place. Everything is close : museums, tourist attractions, restaurants, bars and night club. Everything remains open very late. The historic center when Paris was born. Learn More
The area is one of the oldest in Paris, most of the buildings are very old and date back to before the Haussmanien construction and the French Revolution. You will love to stroll in the small streets so magnificent that make the charm of the district All the studio is accessible to travelers. The kitchen has a microwave, conventional oven and all the necessary amenities.
Le Marais, Paris
Petit studio avec terrasse, au calme, en plein centre de Paris. Canapé convertible confortable pour 2 personnes, cuisine équipée. Douche et WC. Linge de toilette et draps fournis. Lave linge/sèche linge... TV, wifi... L'appartement, de petite surface, est situé au 1er étage de l'immeuble sans ascenseur, sur cour intérieure privative. Il est aménagé simplement, dans un esprit vintage. Ma fille et moi profitons également de ce studio. Il n'est pas destiné uniquement à la location. Il est don...
III Arrondissement, Paris
Atypical duplex in this historical & hype district, building XVIII century Mix of brocante & design furnitures Romantic & calm bedroom under the roofs with a bath to look at the stars from Learn More
Amazing apartment , charm and character in the area of UP MARAIS furnished with taste and refinement. Events companies and photographers rent often this space located in the center of Paris, in the heart of fashion & contemporary art area Beams and original floor tiles, building of the eighteenth century. Kitchen open to a bright living room more than 4m high ceilings with 1 sofa bed (double). The bedroom area (under the roof-double room) and bath-dressing is well separated from the res...
Le Marais, Paris
An exceptional location in the heart of PARIS ""LOUVRE Museum"" SITUATION: - between Rue Saint Honoré and Rue de Rivoli, 150 meters away from the LOUVRE Museum Near main touristics areas (monuments, restaurants, shopping, theaters, clubs, bars, ...) Learn More
Congratulations AIRBNB 159 on our apartments. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ IDEAL for tourism, shopping and business. SURROUNDS : stores (BHV, Galeries Lafayette etc) fashion stores, tourist sites, restaurants, cinemas, theaters, public gardens, (Jardin du Palais Royal and Tuileries), designers and jewellers (Place Vendôme, Palais Royal, Forum des Halles...), convenient stores for your personal needs at 10...
Châtelet - Les Halles - Beaubourg, Paris
Located rue st sauveur very near rue Montorgueil, this charming studio apartment is a few minutes away from Les Halles, in the Heart of the famous Montorgueil area Learn More
Located rue st sauveur very near rue Montorgueil, this charming studio apartment is a few minutes away from Les Halles, in the Heart of the famous Montorgueil area with its large choice of quality food products, restaurants and pubs. It's also within a short walking distance from main points of interest like : Le Louvre, Notre Dame, Ile de la Cité or Ile Saint Louis. You will have the whole apartment to your selves this is not not a share All the streets nearby host lots of nice galleries...
Châtelet - Les Halles - Beaubourg, Paris
Charming 47 sqm apartment perfectly located in heart of the very lively Marais district (rue Vieille du Temple) - yet our flat is perfectly quiet (all windows overlook a courtyard). Very bright, recently renovated, fully equipped Learn More
Le Marais, Paris
Located in the heart of Paris. Fully renovated, it is modern and cosy, offers everything you could possible want for a dream holiday or weekend in Paris: with charm, quality and good taste, this address is perfect for visiting Paris. Learn More
Fully renovated, it is modern and cosy, and offers everything you could possibly dream of in a furnished apartment, modern fully-furnished kitchen including washing machine/dryer, dishwasher, expresso machine, toaster, bathroom with massage shower, high speed WIFI internet (28Mbits/s), 42" flat screen TV, dvd/cd/ipod player, etc. The rates includes utilities (electricity, water), cleaning at arrival and departure and applicable taxes. The kitchen is fully equipped and the bathroom and bed...
Notre Dame - Ile de La Cité, Paris
I love my appartement. Located literally 10sec from the nearest metro station. It is 10mn walk from Gare du Nord and Gare de l'Est. Very sunny, bright, spacious. A room with a double bed, a living room with a sofa bed. Separate kitchen. I love it. Learn More
10 sec from Poissonniere Station on metro line 7. 10mns from Gare du Nord (métro lines 4 5 RER Lines B D E) and Gare de l'Est (metro lines 7-5-4 RER line E). 10mns from Barbès Rochechouart métro station (lines 2-4). 10mns from Bonne Nouvelle metro station (metro line 9-8).
Gare du Nord - Gare de I'Est, Paris
Charmant appartement dans le pictoresque quartier Montorgueil. Calme et silencieux il a été concu comme un petit nid de paix au sein d' une rue vivante Beaucoup de charme dans cet appartement avec pierres, poutres apparentes, parquet pointe d'Hongrie et canapé rouge. Dans la salle de bain avec bagnoire et douche, deux lavabos. L'appartement se trouve au couer de Paris, à 500m de la station RER/metro Chatelet Les Halles. A 30 min RER de Charles de Gaulle et 30 minutes de Orly. Si vous arriv...
Châtelet - Les Halles - Beaubourg, Paris
Studio loft located in a small street in the heart of the Latin Quarter on the first floor of a historic building (with elevator), close to Notre Dame, Sainte Chapelle (5mns), Louvre (15 minutes). Many public transport nearby (metro St. Michel, Odeon and Cluny 2 minutes), easy access from the airports of Orly and Roissy by RER B. Many shops. Tastefully decorated, fully equiped kitchen washer dryer, dishwasher, microwave / grill), WiFi and cable TV, a very comfortable sofa bed and, in th...
Saint-Germain-des-Prés - Odéon, Paris
In the real heart of the Marais, very SECURE area, a Studio on the 6th and last floor with elevator, very quiet Brand new with a luxurious Swiss Bed 140x190 cm Brand new, Tv loewe, hi speed internet, wifi, kitchen. fridge, microwave, and Nespresso. LADIES OF COURSE THERE IS A HAIRDRYER;;;;; Linen and towels, iron and board are provided, It is at a 2 minute walking distance from the Picasso Museum, Carnavelt Museum and the Place des Vosges (Vosges` square), the construction of which was requ...
Le Marais, Paris
Deux pièces en souplex dans un passage calme en plein centre de Paris. Proche de restaurant et bar sympa (Oberkampf et Bastille) du 11ème. Complètement aménagé pour pouvoir se sentir à l'aise comme à la maison.
XI Arrondissement, Paris
cozy flat at the 1 floor, 2 minute near to republique .next to canal saint martin. Very luminous flat (45 m2), with kitchen, bathroom, 1 bedroom and a living room with a sofa bed. Learn More
République, Paris
Cet appartement, sous les toits de Paris et plein de charme, au tarif économique, vous permet de passer un séjour dans le 3ème arrondissement de Paris, idéalement situé à proximité du musée Beaubourg, dans une rue calme du quartier du Marais... Cet appartement, bien que compact, est très fonctionnel, décoré avec soin et caractère. Il a été entièrement restructuré. Dans un immeuble avec une somptueuse cage d'escalier, au 6ème étage sans ascenseur, sur cour. L'appartement est entièrement éq...
Châtelet - Les Halles - Beaubourg, Paris
Located in an old typical Hausmann-style building, in a charming area 5 min. walking distance to the Lamarck metro station and 10 minutes from the Sacré Coeur. Close to great little bistrots, bars, lovely cafés, supermarkets, convenience stores. Learn More
Montmartre, Paris
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NHL: Flyers promote Ron Hextall to GM, Paul Holmgren to president
Hextall is Philadelphia's all-time winningest goalie and served as assistant GM last year.
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PHILADELPHIA—Ron Hextall got his "dream job."
Hextall was promoted to general manager by the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday to replace Paul Holmgren, who was elevated to president. Hextall is Philadelphia's all-time winningest goalie and served as assistant GM last year.
"I'm extremely excited about this new opportunity to manage the Philadelphia Flyers," Hextall said. "I look forward to working closely with Paul in our new hockey structure and working toward our ultimate goal of winning the Stanley Cup."
Holmgren replaced Bob Clarke as GM during the 2006-07 season and led the Flyers to within two games of the Stanley Cup title in 2010. He played for the Flyers from 1975-84 and coached them from 1988-92.
"I'm excited about what's ahead for me," Holmgren said.
The Flyers were eliminated by the New York Rangers in seven games in the first round of the playoffs. They haven't won a Cup since 1975, but have reached the Finals and lost six times.
Despite heavy criticism in Philadelphia for failing to win it all, the Flyers have long been considered one of the top NHL franchises. They've earned a playoff berth in 39 of their 46 seasons.
"The culture of winning is nothing to be embarrassed about," said Hextall, adding the Flyers are a "model" organization. "We should all be proud of this organization and what they've done. Short of winning the Stanley Cup, this organization has done everything. There's nothing anyone here won't do to win a Stanley Cup."
Hextall previously spent seven seasons as vice-president and assistant GM with the Los Angeles Kings. The 50-year-old Hextall played 13 seasons in the NHL and had two stints covering 11 years with the Flyers.
He burst on the scene in 1986, won the Vezina Trophy and helped the Flyers get within one win of the Stanley Cup before losing to Wayne Gretzky and the Edmonton Oilers on the road in Game 7 in 1987. Hextall was the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as MVP of the playoffs that year.
Hextall had 296 career wins in the regular season, including 240 for the Flyers. He retired in 1999 and joined the Flyers' front office. He spent three years as a pro scout and four as director of pro player personnel before joining the Kings in 2006.
"Ron is one of the league's bright young stars on the management side, and we're very fortunate to have him," Flyers chairman Ed Snider said. "He's had success in Los Angeles and will now put that experience to work for us as general manager. We all remember the enthusiasm, work ethic and personality he had as a player, and we're excited to watch him bring those qualities to building a team that will contend for the Stanley Cup."
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Jason Aldean Calls the Show!
by Kris Valentine
posted Jul 10 2010 5:27PM
Jason Aldean took some time out of his day to call and chat! What's Jason's biggest pet peeve? What was the moment he knew he had "made it" in the music business?
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Hah! Love this guy... rockin' musical cowboy! Have you seen the you tube video of Carrie and Jason rockin to "Paradise City" @ Music Fest? Kickin some hot summer musical tush on that stage!
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I've got some, and I've dreading having them there when she comes. Those of you who have/had them, what happened when you gave birth? I'm so afraid they're going to burst or something. :/
What happened to your hemorrhoids when you gave birth?
Posted 10/30/2012
Posted 10/30/2012
That was my fear too. They didn't do anything and I had no complications afterwards from them and now 3.5 weeks pp they are shrinking and seem to be going away. My MW said they just move to the side during delivery and won't be an issue. Maybe that's because mine weren't severe, Hope that happens for you hs well!
Posted 10/30/2012
Mine didn't do anything. I did end up with a new one though. They don't hurt. Just a nuisance.
Mama to 4... '01, '02, '09, '12
Julie ♥ Aaron
Mama to 4... '01, '02, '09, '12
Posted 10/30/2012
Mine were fine while having DD. after they got big, and I couldn't have a BM without taking exlax and even then it was extremely painful. Tucks was a lifesaver.
Posted 10/30/2012
The one I had got bigger but I didst get any new ones and it didn't hut it was just annoying
Posted 10/30/2012
I had the same concern with my second baby, but it wasn't a problem at all (and I had an unmedicated delivery). This time, no problem before delivery, but I did get very constipated and it caused a new a painful one to appear. I know that a lot of women are prone to constipation after giving birth, so keep up the fiber, prunes, fruit, etc., after delivery. Not fun when there are stitches. Best wishes for a happy and healthy delivery!
Posted 10/30/2012
I had a deflated one that didn't flare back up. Even if it does in the next few days, I find them more annoying than painful.
I agree with PP that tucks are a great helper.
I agree with PP that tucks are a great helper.
Posted 10/30/2012
Mine got a lot bigger but they are going down now (19 days pp) and only pop out after a BM. Be sure to take stool softeners after birth. My first few BMs were pretty painful but I did have a second degree tear and an episiotomy so that could have been why.
Kittehmunchkin · Original Poster
Posted 10/30/2012
Yeah, I've been taking miralax, and that seems to help.
Posted 10/30/2012
Still there :( not painful just annoying. I'm 2 weeks pp.
Married to J: 6/2011 Daughter K: 9/1999 Son T: 2/2002 M/C 8/2003 Daughter C: 10/15/12
Posted 10/30/2012
I had a csection so not reason to make them worse but for the most part they've went down.
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J.J. Hardy homers to remind Twins of mistake they made letting him go
Aug 23, 2011, 12:16 PM EDT
Last night the Twins were reminded of their biggest offseason mistake when Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy homered in his return to Minnesota.
Hardy, who was traded for a pair of mid-level prospects after the Twins decided they wanted to add more "speed" to the middle infield, now has 24 homers for the Orioles, which is the most by an AL East shortstop since Miguel Tejada back in 2006.
Hardy has 24 homers in 383 at-bats while the Twins' entire infield, including everyone to play first base, second base, shortstop, or third base, has 37 homers in 2,328 at-bats. And their shortstops have hit .233 with three homers.
Ron Gardenhire claimed yesterday that Hardy "was probably going to be non-tendered" by the Twins if they hadn't traded him to Baltimore, except they actually tendered Hardy a contract on December 2 and didn't trade him until December 9. Perhaps they already had the framework of a deal in place, in which case Gardenhire is telling the truth about their misguided plan to cut one of the best shortstops in baseball for nothing. Ultimately the only difference is the degree of the Twins' ineptitude.
Baltimore immediately liked what they saw in Hardy, signing him to a three-year, $22 million extension.
- sabathiawouldbegoodattheeighthtoo - Aug 23, 2011 at 12:21 PM
Time for that team to redefine what makes a "twins ballplayer." Trying to turn Liriano into Kevin Slowey and dumping Hardy for Alexei Casilla have turned out to be the difference between contending and October vacations.
- dodger88 - Aug 23, 2011 at 12:30 PM
Not to pick on the Twins but they famously cut David Ortiz as well which leads me to wonder which team has cut the best players in terms of filling out a roster. If one looked at each team position by position who would have the best roster of players cut over time?
- paperlions - Aug 23, 2011 at 1:22 PM
True, but it isn't like many teams thought he would amount to much…the Red Sox signed him for $1.25M.
- trevorb06 - Aug 23, 2011 at 12:33 PM
This is the same Twins organization trying to trade a 29 year old Kubel and sign a 32 year old Cruddyer to a 4 year deal. I can only imagine they'll let Kubel walk after the season. Want to know how to fix a lot of the problems with the Twins? Get rid of Bill Smith.
- kopy - Aug 23, 2011 at 12:41 PM
The Twins are making me embarrassed to be a Twins fan, and I haven't felt that way in over a decade. I can tolerate losing, but the utter incompetence on display shows the Twins are nowhere near their potential.
- Chris Fiorentino - Aug 23, 2011 at 1:23 PM
"about their misguided plan to cut one of the best shortstops in baseball for nothing"
Um, when exactly was he this? Oh, you mean this career year? Yeah, I think that's pretty fair writing. Look, you are talking about a guy who hit 6 HRs and had an OPS of 95 last year…his only year with the Twins.
If you want to make a case that the Twins gave up too early on the guy, then fire away. But don't make it out like the Twins were misguidedly going to cut one of the best shortstops in baseball for nothing, when he was not even close at the time they were going to cut him.
And by the way…a .312 on base percentage sucks no matter what position you play.
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Reflections on Nelson Mandela's Legacy
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, 1918 – 2013
"As a university long dedicated to human rights around the globe and civil rights here at home, we in the Columbia community feel acutely the loss of a true world leader like Nelson Mandela," said Columbia University President Lee C. Bollinger. "Few among us can imagine acting with the determination and dignity he maintained in standing up against a brutal apartheid regime he did so much to dismantle, whether from a South African prison cell or president's office. Perhaps the greatest testament we could pay to his humility, grace and vision would be to rededicate ourselves to scholarship and action energized by his ideals of racial equality, social justice, democratic change and peaceful reconciliation."
Professor Mamadou Diouf, Leitner Family Professor of African Studies and director of Columbia's Institute for African Studies, discusses Nelson Mandela's life and lasting influence. He believes the way in which Mandela left power may be his most important legacy. "This man decided to do one term and leave. And this is a revolution in Africa," says Diouf. "He could have stayed until his death because he was already the myth."
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