What We're Reading | Week of December 5, 2011
This week’s round of articles FSC has curated for your reading pleasure is full of great content about social media trends and developments, paid search’s rising popularity, inspiring marketing individuals, and that gray area of new media censorship. Feed those inquisitive minds with FSC’s weekly reading list.
Ashley: After hearing Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, speak at an American Marketing Association event last year, I left feeling inspired, empowered and ready to take on the world. Although, it must be noted that this was also the day I met my current boss, McKenzie Coco, so Hsieh can’t take all the credit! It was fascinating to get inside the mind of someone who has created an incredibly successful company with a clear, concise vision that is vehemently adhered to. I keep an eye on these industry innovators that inspire me, and this week I read how Hsieh is using social media and online communities to help raise awareness and money for a fellow Summit Series “Summit At Sea” attendee attempting to create a safe haven for wildlife in the Bahamas. I love to see powerful influencers use their powers for good, especially when it comes to protecting the environment.
Andy: Top 10 Twitter Trends of 2011 – You can learn a lot about people based on they content the choose to share on Twitter. For example, if you follow me you probably know that I have an unhealthy obsession with bacon and an inexplicable fascination with mustaches. Yep – that’s what I choose to talk about on Twitter. Fortunately, the rest of the Twitterverse isn’t quite as weird; trending topics for 2011 included the Japan Quake, NBA and the FIFA World Cup among other things (including the Jonas Brothers and Justin Bieber). See what the top Twitter trends were this year.
Burke: Enterprise Social Software to Become a $6.4 Billion Market in 2016 – Enterprise software is a buzzword among large corporations which just means software that everyone in the company uses for productivity and communication. In the coming years we will see more and more large companies using the social media features of Facebook and Twitter in our day-to-day business operations that have become so familiar to our personal lives. So instead of rating your friend’s bachelor party photo, you might be able to rate every email and memo you get from your co-workers. Sounds more like fun than work.
Kristin: Everyone’s jumping on the paid search bandwagon - Once again, paid search advertising is forecasted to grow, with brands spending 12.6% more in 2012. Mobile marketing is crediting with driving a large part of this growth, and the proliferation of political ads for the 2012 presidential elections will also add fuel to the fire.
Adele: Well, it seems Kristin and are on the same page (read as “she stole my article”) when it comes to newsworthy reads this week. There seems to be no lack of coverage surrounding the increase in the cost of paid search. As popularity soars do to the measurable impact of this marketing medium, even with the costs per clicks on the rise, we should not forget that the overall cost to market online continues to be far less than the cost of many other mediums and it bears repeating, the ability to measure the return. So good news indeed for those of us who make a living managing online paid search campaigns, and a hint of bad news for those who are paying for the clicks. Then again, the challenge is presented to online marketers to find those long tail, less competitive niches that bring not the volume but the quality of visitors to client sites - and to that we say “challenge accepted!”
Sally: The Times reported that the Indian government requested a cease and desist on any “offensive” online content propagated by social media “operators.” India’s minister of communications met with Yahoo, Google, Facebook and Microsoft executives asking them to pre-screen all content about India before publishing to protect his people’s “cultural ethos.” Not surprisingly, their response was that the request was unrealistic and unconstitutional, as it violates their First Amendment right. The companies denied to accommodate Mr. Sibal, stating they will continue to post controversial content as long as it’s legal.
Brooke: Social Media: So Easy, A Caveman…Did It? - “In the past we did it through cave wall paintings, yesterday it was mass marketing through TV and radio, today and in the (foreseeable) future it is a status update on Facebook or Twitter. The way we share information is different, but the drive and the reason why are still the same” – see how these social media thinkers are standing out in a world where the average person is exposed to over 1600 marketing messages a day!