Marketing Pilgrim

Any time I read Facebook and privacy in the same line I get a little chill that runs up my spine. Facebook and privacy don’t get along mainly because Facebook’s founder, Mark Zuckerberg, truly believes that everyone should share everything with everyone at all times. That philosophy is couched in the “we’re gonna change the world” talk but the truth behind that is that the more you share the more Facebook stands to make.

Well, according to the Wall Street Journal, Facebook is trying to get its privacy ducks in a row and many feel that this is being pursued as a April 2012 deadline approaches relating to the mythical Facebook IPO becoming reality. At that point Facebook would be required to file public financial results so the mystery would be gone. Don’t want to IPO after that one gets out do ya? The Journal states

We are seeing more and more reports coming out about the involvement of B2B marketers in social media. That’s a very good sign and something that is necessary on many levels for marketing success in the future. Of course, with anything that is just getting traction in a particular space there are some hiccups.

eMarketer reports on a survey produced by the management consulting firm Accenture. The report is dated November 3 but the data comes from May of this year. First is a look at how B2B marketing executives see their level of engagement in social media.

Now one would expect marketing executives to say that they are involved in social media because that’s what all the cool kids are doing and there are now more and more rumblings from the C-suite in the vein of “Are we using The Twitter?”

2011 is headed into the home stretch, so it’s time to look back at what the third quarter had to offer. Yes, it’s time for another look at a MillennialMedia SMART report.

Overall, the report shows that mobile advertising is still on an upswing which shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. What might surprise you are the stats themselves. Like this: Watch Video as a post-click campaign action rose 78% over last quarter. It jumped from 18% to 32% making it one of the top 3 trends of Q3.

Video is everywhere. More advertisers are using video to show off features and benefits of their products. Others use video as a source of entertainment creating a positive (and hopefully viral) experience that shoppers will learn to associate with a brand.

“I am not a number!”

After only ten minutes on the new B2B social media site, Identified, I wanted to shout that phrase from the rooftops. I wanted to have it printed on a T-shirt and email it over and over again to the site owners. We’re human beings, for heaven’s sake. Can we stop trying to quantify a person’s worth with a single number!

Now that I have that out of my system. . .

Identified is a new social network for the job hunter. It’s like LinkedIn, in that it’s business driven, but the goal is to open a line of communication between companies and potential employees. That’s what they say. I don’t believe it.

The Pew Internet and American Life Project has done their usual stellar job of giving insight into the online social life of teens in their study “Teens Kindness and Cruelty on Social Network Sites“. If you are a parent you will want to look at the study and get a glimpse into the world of the social teen.

As a marketer though one of the first charts that should catch your eye is the one showing the social media homes of teens and adults alike. Nothing new here really but when you see the numbers you can’t help but wonder if Facebook isn’t the most influential part of many lives these days.

We hear this all the time. People want to be heard. That’s why social media is taking off like it is. Even the Godfather of social, Mark Zuckerberg, talks this way and he is betting Facebook’s future on this desire for people to share and even overshare, if that’s what it takes to be heard.

If being heard is so important then why does a recent study show that many companies that are involved in social media aren’t placing listening, and the incumbent response, as one of the highest priorities? eMarketer reported on a study conducted by MarketTools and found the following with regard to companies hearing and responding to customer complaints. First a look at whether or not companies even THINK that their customers complain online.