The Growth Of Social Media [INFOGRAPHIC]
The Growth Of Social Media – Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Instagram
(Source: Search Engine Journal.)
My Dad’s bigger than your Dad – “the social taunt”
Perhaps some have of us have moved on from the playground taunt of “my Dad’s bigger than your Dad” to “I have more followers than you”. In fact just yesterday I was listening to a webinar where the speaker went into bragging mode, I hope it was not just me thinking – “so what?”
I relish getting more followers, that instant fix that justifies why I am here in the social arena. If they then share my content, that is what I call success, that is what I am addicted to (see previous blog) So having a huge following does not really count for much unless they can move your content for you, does it?
So my first question to you. Does the size of some ones following impact your decision to click the follow button?
For me, in some small way, it does. But I also consider the other numbers that are displayed, like how many tweets versus how many followers. For instance :-
So here we have someone who is either providing great content, or they deemed it necessary to purchase fake followers. How do you know if this entity is able to provide value to you and strengthen your reach. I use StatusPeople, its a great tool, to help me decide the answer to that last question. So in regards to the above twitter user this is the view StatusPeople provided:
With that kind of information I can make an informed decision to follow, either they have some great content and or they can help move my content (if they like it)
So let me give you some other examples
and StatusPeople said
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and StatusPeople said
Perhaps I am just too cynical in my old age, but if you cant provide me with reciprocal value, then that is why I don’t follow you back.
Does size matter? Please leave your comments below as to how you make a decision to follow or even like someone back. Do you use another tool you would like to tell us about?
The Fake Follower Factory [Infographic]
Twitter search alerts via email with @Twilert
Twilert is back!
I have been using this tool to great effect, allowing me to receive email alerts, against any search words of my choice. Whether you want to monitor what’s being said about you or your brand or keep an eye on your mentions, hashtags, defined search words on Twitter, this tool could be for you.
Now I said “its back”. This is because it stopped working. As you may have heard Twitter changed its API and effectively cut of access to many great applications out there. Twilert was one. The team have been tireless in rebuilding the tool and launched a revamped version. They also listened and responded to customer requests for enhancements. New features include:
– Realtime alerts
– Twitter search history stored for browsing & searching
– Excluding users from results
– Better Geo searches
– RSS, JSON feeds
– No ads
The new platform is ready to use here: http://www.twilert.com/
Unfortunately given the changes Twilert are unable to offer a completely free service. They do still offer a basic free plan but in order to pay for the hosting and deliver the features customers asked for they are charging a small subscription fee.
Why my account got suspended on Twitter
I woke on Friday morning to no new followers, and no re-tweets and a feeling of withdrawal kicked in from my addiction of social. See this post about my social addiction Singing About Social.
Upon opening my email, I saw a note from Twitter ” Your Account Has Been Suspended”. Panic set in. What have I done? What have I posted? Whom have I offended? Was it another accidental posting of erroneous material? (Yes that has happened to me!). Then came questions of “don’t they know who I am?” and the realisation that I am just a “small fish – big pond”, with possible delusions of grandeur. 
It was time to find out why this happened. Twitter did kindly supply a link to advise me on why suspension occurs. But in it I found a never ending list of potential reasons. Nothing was helping me, no opportunity to learn from my mistakes. The question “Why” was still spinning in my head.
I submitted a help ticket that resulted in “you have been suspended for one of the following reasons” and “if you do not respond and admit you made a mistake and promise you will not do it again” this ticket will be closed.
Not surprisingly when I chased the ticket some five hours later, it had been closed. After raising yet another ticket and name dropping some Twitter VP’s I received an email that answered my question, Why? – This is the reason Twitter gave me:
This account was suspended for sending multiple unsolicited messages using the @reply and/or mention feature. These features are intended to make communication between people on Twitter easier. Twitter monitors the use of these features to make sure they are used as intended and not for abuse. Using either feature to post messages to a bunch of users in an unsolicited or egregious manner is considered an abuse of its use, which results in account suspension.
Wow! My first thought was, Really? I mention someone when saying thanks for following me or thanks for sharing, when giving credit to content, engaging with questions and answers and when having general chit chat. Is twitter now saying I can not do this any more? The only time in I could think of in the last week or so that I mentioned someone who was not even following me was when I wished them a Happy Birthday. How rude of me.
As I thought more about the message above I started to hone in on the “unsolicited messages”. How is this defined? This is a platform that you opt in to receive communications from as soon as you join. I of course realise that there are those who abuse and spam corrupt links. So did I fall into this category when I gave credit for content I shared? It would seem so.
So yet again I went back to Twitter. “Please could I speak to someone, I am eager to understand what I did to result in this penalty. Clearly I do not want this is happen again. Educate me”
This was the response:
Our systems are automated and it seems that they considered you as spam as you were @replying people with a link (which is a legitimate link).
My account was soon after reactivated and several hours later my community was back. The situation resolved but I was still none the wiser. I can understand automation because of the size of Twitter, but it is clearly not intelligent.
Will I continue to give credit where credit is due – Yes – Will I be at risk of being suspended again – It would appear so.
Has this happened to you? How long did it take to get your account was reactivated? What did you learn?
Social Selling – The Evolution of Sales
What is social selling?
Social Selling is use of social media platforms to listen, relate, engage and identify opportunities for engagement at the right time.
A social seller is someone who demonstrates the ability to blend digital technology, innovative web and social media to increase reach, depth, leads and expedite the sales cycle.
Why is Social Selling important?
The average company can access twenty times more information about you and your competition than they could five years ago. Sales people today are at a huge disadvantage, if the statistics are right, customers are not interested in picking up the phone until after they have scoped solutions. How can the salesperson reach them early and then keep their attention.
Isn’t this Social Marketing?
Social Media Marketing is the use of social networks to create awareness and broadcast a brand message. Social Selling leverages social networks to build relationships. A marketing team will handle a brand account versus a salesperson will handle a personal individual account to create engagement.
Social Selling vs Traditional Selling
The good news is that Social Selling is not a break from traditional selling practices. In fact the use of ABC (Always Be Closing) is now ABC (Always Be Connecting). Social Sellers do not and should not abandon email, phone or face to face methods. In fact a deliberate use of social media will make these traditional methods far more productive. The customer becomes a warm contact, so if anything Social Selling will eliminate the wasteful parts of a sales process such as cold calling.
I said earlier that the sales people of today are at a disadvantage, so let me quickly mention the Social Buyer.
The huge amount of online data gives the seller an opportunity to create value for the buyers. Buyers may well be incredibly informed but they are desperate to shorten their purchasing cycles. The more data they have to process and the more stake holders they must consult, the longer it takes for them to make a buying decision.
If salespeople could deliver insights to buyers at the right times, they could bring purchasing times down and then everybody is happy. You may read this content to better understand customer buying behaviors which may help improve your company’s sales.
The Evolution of a Salesperson
We as a species are social creatures, we always have been and that will not change. Social media has exploded into this era because of technology, the fastest adoption of technology in human history in fact. Your customers being on a social platform is just the tip of the iceberg. Smart devices are allowing us to be social 24/7. As younger generations step up the career ladder and become your customer, are you ready to communicate directly into their pockets? Salespeople may improve their skills by reading some sales tips on this page, https://about.crunchbase.com/blog/10-verbal-and-nonverbal-sales-buying-signals/.
I will leave you with this last question:
Will the traditional 9-5 sales role be replaced with a 24/7 seller? I look forward to the conversation.
Why B2B Businesses Should Leverage the Potential of Social Media in 2013
There is nothing better than facts and figures to get an idea about the immense potential of social media and how B2B marketers are tapping into its potential. This B2B social media infographic from Real Business Rescue lays out the case as to why B2B companies should be leveraging the opportunities that social media and social networking offer.
Are you using social media in your sales strategy? What works for you? Which platform yields the best results?
Which CEOs have the Most Influence According to Klout? [Infographic]
Digital First Impressions Make or Break Your Job Search [Infographic]
Most job seekers are aware that a very large majority of companies now use social media to recruit and research potential candidates… Facebook, LinkedIn and/or Twitter (at least).
However, few understand how to best leverage social networking during a successful job search. Check out this infographic by Jobvite for all you need to know about a positive social media presence; a digital first impression that can get you hired… or not.
Have you had first hand experience? Did you get hired from your digital presence alone?
Say hello and drop your comments below.
Connect with me on Twitter: Ben Martin
