LeBron James is likely to pick up his third NBA most valuable player award as this season concludes, but he’s already the “king” of social media.
A new infographic from TheScore.com finds that James is the most popular NBA player in social media based on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ presence.
As the playoffs ramp up this weekend, you may also be interested to know which team would win the championship based on social media stats: the Miami Heat.
Check out these and other interesting social media/sports tidbits at TheScore. 
Hi, I'm Jamie. Welcome!
As a Community Manager, I need to keep up with the latest digital trends. I use my Digital Scrapbook to compile interesting articles on social media + digital marketing. The occasional fun reblog may appear on here too. ;)
More of me: http://jsilva.me
Happy Tumblring! • Ask me anything
Digital Scrapbook+
As a Community Manager, I need to keep up with the latest digital trends. I use my Digital Scrapbook to compile interesting articles on social media + digital marketing. The occasional fun reblog may appear on here too. ;)
More of me: http://jsilva.me
Happy Tumblring! • Ask me anything
Digital Scrapbook+
LeBron James named ‘king’ of social media
You know you’re addicted to social media when…
Studies have shown that social media is addictive.
A 2011 study found that 54 percent of social networkers felt a form of addiction to sites such as Facebook and Twitter, while a report from last month found that the urge to tweet might be as strong as the desire to smoke or drink alcohol. In some cases, people wanted to check social media rather than sleep or have sex.
A recent infographic explored Twitter addiction, suggesting you might be addicted to Twitter if:
You might be addicted to Twitter if …
You might be addicted to Facebook if …
You might be addicted to social media if …
(Image via)
A 2011 study found that 54 percent of social networkers felt a form of addiction to sites such as Facebook and Twitter, while a report from last month found that the urge to tweet might be as strong as the desire to smoke or drink alcohol. In some cases, people wanted to check social media rather than sleep or have sex.
A recent infographic explored Twitter addiction, suggesting you might be addicted to Twitter if:
• You not only know what the Fail Whale is, you have your own customized T-shirt.We asked the same question on Twitter. Here are a few of the responses.
• You’ve reserved a Twitter handle for your unborn child.
• You own the book Twitterature.
You might be addicted to Twitter if …
• You might be addicted to Twitter when your partner joins to spend time w you (via)We also queried Facebook users on PR Daily’s page. Here are some of the highlights from the many responses we received.
• You introduce yourself @handle (via)
• You tweet more often than [PR Daily publisher] Mark Ragan (via)
You might be addicted to Facebook if …
• It’s your only source of news updates. (via)You can check out the rest of the responses on the PR Daily Facebook page and share your own response—or let us know in the comments section below.
• You check FB in the middle of the night when you wake up to use the bathroom. (via)
• You spend all day on Facebook as a social media marketer and STILL sign on at home to see what’s going on. (via)
• You check your Facebook newsfeed before you say good morning to your spouse. (via)
• Facebook doesn’t occupy your day’s down time, but rather your life occupies your Facebook down time. (via)
You might be addicted to social media if …
(Image via)
What You Need to Know Before Running a Facebook Promotion
This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.
Facebook has become a no-brainer for small business owners looking for an easy way to promote and interact with new and regular customers. But before a small business owner launches a promotion on the platform, there are several things to consider — and a couple things to keep in mind after the launch.
North Social‘s managing partner David Brody, who specializes in promotion strategy and creative concepts, says that a small business owner should always take the time to craft the right objective, strategy and motivating value-based idea.
“By thinking through your promotional effort from start to finish, you’re giving your promotion the best chance at achieving social success — sounds simple right?” he says. “But you can’t imagine how many promotions fail because they didn’t have a smart plan in place.”
Building a Better Promotions Strategy
Before you rush to put a promotion in place, yourself these simple questions:
- What am I trying to achieve?
- How do I plan on achieving it?
First you need an objective — do you want fan growth, someone to sample your product, purchase, data collection or usage?
Brody says there are three common strategies to achieve your goals: added value, price discounts and merchandising. More specific examples of tactic would be coupons, product samples, sweepstakes, contests and downloads.
Once you’ve mapped this out, you can determine the type of Facebook application you’ll need. Keep in mind that there are a lot of promotions guidelines set by Facebook that small business owners might not know about. One common violation, Brody says, is using Facebook features or functionality as a promotion registration or entry mechanism.
“The act of ‘liking’ a Page cannot automatically enter you in a sweepstakes or contest,” he says. “You must also not condition registration or entry upon the user taking any action using any Facebook features or functionality other than ‘liking’ a Page, checking in to a Place, or connecting to your app.”
If you’re not sure whether your promotion is compliant with Facebook rules related to “like-gating” and entry collection, you could use a Facebook-approved promotion app. You can read the complete Facebook promotion guidelines here.
Are Contests For Everyone on Facebook?
“The ultimate goal of a running a promotion on Facebook is to inspire action — not squander away your valuable page traffic,” says Brody. “But in order to inspire action — Likes, shares, engagement — you’ll need to first serve up a meaningful experience or offer up something of value.”
Keep your audience in mind when planning a prize. Small business owners don’t necessarily need cash, cars and vacation trips to entice consumers into your Facebook promotion.
Instead, focus on what’s valuable to your audience — informative and entertaining content. Brody suggests digital goods, such as coupons, group discounts, samples, VIP invitations and video previews.
Things to Avoid When Running a Promotion
Always remember that simplicity is key — entry to the promotion should be as simple as possible.
“The more hoops you make them jump through in order to have a chance a receiving or winning something, the less likely they’ll participate — or tell their friends about it,” Brody says.
Also, don’t rely solely on the fans you already have to push new customers to your promotion. The best-constructed Facebook promotions can still fail without the help of other traffic drivers. It is unlikely, even among the hundreds millions of consumers on Facebook, that users will stumble onto your Facebook Page unless you give them directions, along with an easy way to navigate once they do find you.
Brody’s advice is to consider the following: “Outside of Facebook ads, which are extremely powerful at delivering new fans, what other marketing touch points do you have at your disposal that could create more buzz for your promotion?”
For example, if you sell a product or service offline, you could print a Facebook-only offer on your paper receipts to attract more fans. If your store is online, your packages could include a strong call-to-action, asking customers to join you on Facebook to discover special offers.
“Don’t assume your current customers already follow you on Facebook,” says Brody. “In fact, most of them probably don’t.”
Finally, keep in mind that the Facebook promotion itself is not the end goal. There’s an ultimate goal behind it.
“Your first goal should always be to get a visitor to take action by ‘liking’ or sharing your Facebook Page, but your second objective should be to get them to return to your Page and interact with your brand or business on a regular basis,” says Brody.
Examples Brody suggest are to entertain and inform — filling their news feed with thought-provoking and valuable messages that entice them to participate with your business.
“If you don’t deliver ‘high perceived-value’ on a regular basis, you could find your fans using their own thumb to hitch a ride to your competition’s page,” he says.
5 Clever Social Media Campaigns To Learn From
This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.
You don’t have to be in the market for a Super Bowl ad to learn the world’s biggest marketers. In fact, as a quick trip to Facebook illustrates, social media has a leveling effect: Whether you’re Coca-Cola or Jones Soda, your Facebook Page looks pretty much the same. Coke’s billions won’t buy a dedicated wing on Twitter, either.
With this in mind, the following social media campaigns from marketers big and small are designed to be idea generators. This isn’t a ranking of the most effective social media campaigns of the year, but rather the ones that have the most to offer an entrepreneur with big ideas and a not-so-big marketing budget.
1. Kraft Macaroni & Cheese’s Jinx
Last March, the venerable Kraft brand launched an interesting campaign on Twitter: Whenever two people individually used the phrase “mac & cheese” in a tweet, Kraft sent both a link pointing out the “Mac & Jinx” (as in the childhood game Jinx.) The first one to reply back got five free boxes of Kraft Mac & Cheese plus a t-shirt.
What you can learn from this: This is a low-cost way to track down potential fans on Twitter. All you have to do is search a given term and identify two people who tweet the same phrase at (roughly) the same time. In return, you’ll gain goodwill, a likely follower and probably some good word-of-mouth buzz on the social network.
2. Ingo’s Face Logo
When Swedish ad agencies Grey Stockholm and Ogilvy Stockholm merged last year, they wanted to get social media fans involved. The two agencies asked fans to participate by signing into Facebook to see the new name. Every time new people logged on to the dedicated site, the logo added their profile picture. With every picture, the logo got a little bigger, until 2,890 fan photos comprised the full name, Ingo, over a four-hour period.
What you can learn from this: This was another inexpensive way to get fans literally enmeshed with the brand. Another alternative is to create a real-life mosaic based on pictures of your Facebook fans, a project that Mashable recently completed.
3. BlueCross BlueShield of Minnesota’s Human Doing
What better way to illustrate the plight of the common man than an actual common man? That was the thinking behind a BlueCross BlueShield of Minnesota program last year that put Scott Jorgenson, a St. Paul resident, in a glass apartment in the Mall of America for a month. To demonstrate the recuperative effects of exercise, Jorgenson was put on a workout routine for the month that compelled him to exercise three to five times a day, in 10-minute spurts. In a social media twist, Twitter and Facebook followers dictated the type of exercise for each session.
What you can learn from this: Creating an event, especially one that involves social media fans, is an alternative to launching an ad campaign. Humanizing a problem for which your company provides a solution is also a good idea.
4. GranataPet’s Foursquare-Enabled Billboard
Pet food brand GranataPet earned worldwide attention last year for its billboard in Agenta, Germany. This wasn’t just any billboard, though. It was rigged so that if a consumer checked in on Foursquare, the billboard would dispense some of the company’s dog food. Someone from Granata’s ad agency filmed the billboard in action, and the video now has more than 50,000 views on YouTube (in various iterations.)
What you can learn from this: In the social media age, a single ad or a single billboard can generate images, press and videos, but only if it’s clever enough.
5. Reinert Sausages’s Wurst-Face App
Another German brand, Reinert Sausages, transcended its roots with a clever Facebook app that let users upload their photo and receive a “Wurst Face,” a graven image of themselves in cold cuts. The name “Wurst Face” comes from the extra piece of sausage that kids get for free at the butcher.
What you can learn from this: If you can create an app that’s social, fun and brand-appropriate, it will function more effectively than even a high-budget ad campaign.
OPI promotes Social Media Week!
OPI writes:
This week is Social Media Week. In honor of the occasion we decided to do a little tribute to the platforms we use with OPI. And where else would we show our love, but on our nails!?
Is this not the cutest thing ever!?
[Source]
How four brands manage their wildly successful Facebook pages
Social media managers dream of having an audience of millions. We think of how amazing it would be to have legions of engaged fans commenting, liking and sharing our brilliant posts while sitting back and watching the fan base swell.
For some brands, this is a reality.
And while some of these brands gained notoriety long before social media became popular, people followed and liked them on Twitter, Facebook, and elsewhere for a reason. Clearly, they’re doing something right in the social space, and those of us who don’t manage these brands have plenty to learn from what they’re doing right.
Here are three brands I’ve seen that have the whopping numbers and a solid strategy behind it.
Red Bull – 26.3 million Facebook fans
What we can learn:
The popular energy drink has become a lifestyle brand, evident from its Facebook presence. What do we mean by a lifestyle brand?
Red Bull has grown to become more than eight ounces of adrenaline proxy. It’s become a badge that signifies—in some circles—that you like extreme things. One way it’s achieved this is through its Facebook page, growing its community well over 26 million fans.
What makes Red Bull’s page so great? Simply put: strong content.
One of Red Bull’s smartest moves in the last couple of years was creating Red Bulletin, a magazine that celebrates all things extreme sports. On top of that, the company produces several videos of people doing anything but drinking Red Bull. They’re launching their bikes through the air, jumping off of high places and going fast on any number of conveyances.
Red Bull uses its many sponsorships and partnerships to find the content, and it does a great job of keeping it relevant. There’s a distinct look and feel to it that says “Red Bull” without having to shove product in people’s faces at every turn.
When you have strong content to post daily, it gives people visiting your page reason to return—and reason not to hide you from their feed.
A brief look at the page reveals that Red Bull generally posts two, maybe (though rarely) three times per day. Usually once in the morning and once in the afternoon. The posts ascribe to an effective tenet in the social space: be brief.
Take a look at the copy on some recent successful posts:
1.19: Laying it all out.
1.21: Yeah, that’s pretty dope.
1.22: Pat Moore gets real.
I could list dozens of such posts that are direct, conversational, to the point and—most importantly—brief.
Brevity gives posts the thing that performers have known for years—leave the audience wanting more. When the audience wants more, fans tend to click, like, comment and share.
Coca-Cola – 38.3 million Facebook fans What we can learn:
Not every brand’s social media presence will have as interesting a backstory as that of Coca-Cola. When you first visit the company’s Facebook page, you’re greeted with a reminder of one of social media’s all-time feel-good stories:
By “history” they mean that the two eventually came to run the page on Coke’s behalf—not exactly rags-to-riches, but interesting nonetheless.
This fan-first mentality continues to drive the page three years later. If you check out Coca-Cola’s wall, the first thing you’ll notice is a lack of posts from the actual company. It’s not that the company isn’t posting—it does so once or twice per day, every day—but when you have 38 million fans and you allow them to post to your wall, they will take over. You have to click “older posts” several times to find a post from Coke.
The result is a virtual shrine to Coke.
Fans are posting odes of love and images of themselves guzzling product. This can only work if it’s in your community’s nature to behave this way. If your page is a place where consumers come to regularly register complaints, it won’t work to be an absentee brand. But if your fans will drive the overwhelmingly positive conversation for you, it’s smart to be a bit more hands-off.
Victoria’s Secret & Oreo – 17.3 million and 24.5 million fans, respectively
What we can learn:
Among the top 10 most popular brands on Facebook, no two are more disparate than cookie purveyor Oreo and undergarment supplier Victoria’s Secret. But in terms of social media strategy, the two are actually quite similar.
Oreo’s greatest asset is its recognizable cookie. Victoria’s Secret, meanwhile, can flaunt its world-famous models. Each brand prominently features its greatest asset on its page—and the result is social media success.
Both brands are achieving high engagement rates andseeing a good amount of shares for their posts. (Shares are important because they take your posts and put them on your fans’ wall for their friends to see.) But let’s take a look at why.
Jan. 23 is a perfect example of each brand recognizing its audience and using a photo to create a shareable and easily likeable piece of content.
For Oreo, it’s an adorable fan photo of a little girl sharing Oreos and milk over Skype with (presumably) her father. The copy is simple: “Special moments are meant to be shared … does technology help you share them with the ones you love?” Here, Oreo shares an image that fans can relate to, and you can see from the numbers that it resonated.
The page managers at Victoria’s Secret also know their audience. They posted a photo, albeit less family friendly. Theirs is a photo of runway model Doutzen Kroes with a happy birthday message to her. More than 32,000 people liked that post and more than 1,000 shared it.
The lesson we can take from these approaches is that brands in the social space need to understand why people are willing to publicly connect with them.
For Oreo, it’s most likely families who love the shared experience of dessert and have a nostalgic tie to their cookies. For Victoria’s Secret, it’s women who use their product and men who adore their models.
For some brands, this is a reality.
And while some of these brands gained notoriety long before social media became popular, people followed and liked them on Twitter, Facebook, and elsewhere for a reason. Clearly, they’re doing something right in the social space, and those of us who don’t manage these brands have plenty to learn from what they’re doing right.
Here are three brands I’ve seen that have the whopping numbers and a solid strategy behind it.
Red Bull – 26.3 million Facebook fans
What we can learn:
• Brevity is the soul of building your fan base;
• Strong content paves the road to becoming a lifestyle brand.
The popular energy drink has become a lifestyle brand, evident from its Facebook presence. What do we mean by a lifestyle brand?
Red Bull has grown to become more than eight ounces of adrenaline proxy. It’s become a badge that signifies—in some circles—that you like extreme things. One way it’s achieved this is through its Facebook page, growing its community well over 26 million fans.
What makes Red Bull’s page so great? Simply put: strong content.
One of Red Bull’s smartest moves in the last couple of years was creating Red Bulletin, a magazine that celebrates all things extreme sports. On top of that, the company produces several videos of people doing anything but drinking Red Bull. They’re launching their bikes through the air, jumping off of high places and going fast on any number of conveyances.
Red Bull uses its many sponsorships and partnerships to find the content, and it does a great job of keeping it relevant. There’s a distinct look and feel to it that says “Red Bull” without having to shove product in people’s faces at every turn.
When you have strong content to post daily, it gives people visiting your page reason to return—and reason not to hide you from their feed.
A brief look at the page reveals that Red Bull generally posts two, maybe (though rarely) three times per day. Usually once in the morning and once in the afternoon. The posts ascribe to an effective tenet in the social space: be brief.
Take a look at the copy on some recent successful posts:
1.19: Laying it all out.
1.21: Yeah, that’s pretty dope.
1.22: Pat Moore gets real.
I could list dozens of such posts that are direct, conversational, to the point and—most importantly—brief.
Brevity gives posts the thing that performers have known for years—leave the audience wanting more. When the audience wants more, fans tend to click, like, comment and share.
Coca-Cola – 38.3 million Facebook fans What we can learn:
• Give your fans ownership.
Not every brand’s social media presence will have as interesting a backstory as that of Coca-Cola. When you first visit the company’s Facebook page, you’re greeted with a reminder of one of social media’s all-time feel-good stories:
Once upon a time, while searching for the official Coca-Cola Facebook page, a young man named Dusty discovered there wasn’t one. Feeling inspired, he enlisted the help of his friend Michael, found the perfect image of a Coke and created this page. The rest, as they say, is history.
By “history” they mean that the two eventually came to run the page on Coke’s behalf—not exactly rags-to-riches, but interesting nonetheless.
This fan-first mentality continues to drive the page three years later. If you check out Coca-Cola’s wall, the first thing you’ll notice is a lack of posts from the actual company. It’s not that the company isn’t posting—it does so once or twice per day, every day—but when you have 38 million fans and you allow them to post to your wall, they will take over. You have to click “older posts” several times to find a post from Coke.
The result is a virtual shrine to Coke.
Fans are posting odes of love and images of themselves guzzling product. This can only work if it’s in your community’s nature to behave this way. If your page is a place where consumers come to regularly register complaints, it won’t work to be an absentee brand. But if your fans will drive the overwhelmingly positive conversation for you, it’s smart to be a bit more hands-off.
Victoria’s Secret & Oreo – 17.3 million and 24.5 million fans, respectively
What we can learn:
• If you’ve got it, flaunt it.
Among the top 10 most popular brands on Facebook, no two are more disparate than cookie purveyor Oreo and undergarment supplier Victoria’s Secret. But in terms of social media strategy, the two are actually quite similar.
Oreo’s greatest asset is its recognizable cookie. Victoria’s Secret, meanwhile, can flaunt its world-famous models. Each brand prominently features its greatest asset on its page—and the result is social media success.
Both brands are achieving high engagement rates andseeing a good amount of shares for their posts. (Shares are important because they take your posts and put them on your fans’ wall for their friends to see.) But let’s take a look at why.
Jan. 23 is a perfect example of each brand recognizing its audience and using a photo to create a shareable and easily likeable piece of content.
For Oreo, it’s an adorable fan photo of a little girl sharing Oreos and milk over Skype with (presumably) her father. The copy is simple: “Special moments are meant to be shared … does technology help you share them with the ones you love?” Here, Oreo shares an image that fans can relate to, and you can see from the numbers that it resonated.
The page managers at Victoria’s Secret also know their audience. They posted a photo, albeit less family friendly. Theirs is a photo of runway model Doutzen Kroes with a happy birthday message to her. More than 32,000 people liked that post and more than 1,000 shared it.
The lesson we can take from these approaches is that brands in the social space need to understand why people are willing to publicly connect with them.
For Oreo, it’s most likely families who love the shared experience of dessert and have a nostalgic tie to their cookies. For Victoria’s Secret, it’s women who use their product and men who adore their models.
