August Event Preview: Search + Social

Search and Social

So, you might be wondering, what's SMCSTL doing hosting an event about SEO? Well, the way we see it, social media is far more than just high-profile social networks like Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Google+.

For the last several years, SEO and social media marketing have existed on parallel paths. Both can be lumped under the header of digital communications, but each requires a different skill set, and it is easy to assume they don’t intersect.

The truth is search and social are becoming more intertwined. The average user has probably noticed social media content in their search results. Advocates of Google’s social network, Google+, point to its SEO impact as a key reason for marketers to get involved.

Recently, a controversial article from Forbes, “The Death of SEO: The Rise of Social, PR, and Real Content” suggested that social media content will kill the SEO industry as we know it.

Clearly we all need to better understand how these disciplines work together. That’s why SMCSTL has assembled a panel of specialists for our August event, including:

• Will Hanke, Independent SEO Consultant - @TechLH
• Erin Steinbruegge, Moosylvania - @steinburglar
• Jared Reed, Pan Galactic Digital - @SearchWookie
• Nick Sargent, Standing Partnership - @NickSargent
• Brandy Woolford, Fleishman-Hillard - @BrandyNicole

The panel will be moderated by SMCSTL President Erin Moloney.

The panel will cover key topics including how social media effects search engine visibility, hot topics in search and social, and best practices.

What do you want to know about SEO? Please submit questions for our panelists using the hashtag #smcstl, on our Facebook page or in the comments of this post

14 Twitter Stats This Week from Twitter CEO @DickC

According to a Los Angeles Times in a story published yesterday, Twitter CEO Dick Costolo gave us a bit of a "State of Twitter" this week. I found 14 nuggets of information about the fast-growing social network, all of which are going to change (read: grow) as time passes, so they're most relevant right now. Here are some of the best facts and insights about Twitter that Costolo shared this week:

1. Twitter has 140 million active users.
2. 400 million tweets are sent a day.  It takes 2 ½ days to send 1 billion tweets.
3. 25% to 30% of active users are in the U.S.
4.  U.K. and Japan are Twitter’s No. 2 and No. 3 countries, respectively.
5.  Saudi Arabia is the fastest-growing country with 3,000% growth last month.
6. Half of active users log in every day.
7. More than half of users are primarily accessing the service on their mobile devices.
8. Twitter is seeing even higher rates of mobile usage in the U.K. and Japan than the U.S.
9. Mobile users are more active than desktop users.
10. Twitter is on track to generate $1 billion in revenue in 2014.
11. Twitter has raised about $1.1 billion.
12. Twitter is valued at $8.4 billion.
13. In a "Promoted Tweets" advertising campaign for Porsche, 80% of the people who saw the promoted tweet clicked on it.
14. Twitter is predicted to finish 2012 with tens of thousands of advertisers.

Follow @SMCSTL on Twitter.

Follow me on Twitter: @ErinE

Follow Twitter CEO Dick Costolo on Twitter: @DickC

6 million LinkedIn passwords leaked and posted to Internet

You may want to change your LinkedIn password today. In the past few days, I've had several friends tell me that they're noticing a lot of spam occuring in their LinkedIn account - spam emails coming to them via other users on LinkedIn and various other strange activity. Well now, we know why:

Business social network LinkedIn says it is investigating reports that more than six million passwords have been stolen and leaked onto the Internet.

Source: KSDK.com

Additional Sources:

1. 6.5M LinkedIn Passwords Posted Online After Apparent Hack

   PCWorld (blog)‎ - by Ian Paul‎
2. More than 6 million LinkedIn passwords likely stolen

   CNNMoney‎ - by David Goldman‎

SMCSTL & Ford - Auto Show Bash

Start your engines!

Welcome to 2012 and a new year of social events with the Social Media Club of St. Louis. We're changing things up this year so look for new formats, new events and new faces all around. Our first event will be a FREE reception at the St. Louis Auto Show hosted by Ford Motor Company for all the SMCSTL fans. This event is first come first serve and will have a limited capacity so please RSVP and let them know you're with SMCSTL when you arrive. Come mingle with other professional and casual social media users in town and enjoy complimentary, appetizers, drinks and admission to the Auto Show, courtesy of Ford.

Friday, January 27th, 2012

Reception: 5pm-7pm, Show Floor: 7pm-10pm

America's Center - Room 142

This event is FREE but space is limited, so please RSVP and honor your commitement. Stop by, grab a drink, then head off to the show floor!

Big thanks to this months sponsor: Ford Motor Company

Best Practices for Your Company's Social Media Policy

Last week, the Social Media Club of St. Louis held it's March monthly Meet-Up at Moulin. We featured a panel to discuss social media implications on privacy, security and other legal concerns. Our panel was Craig G Moore (@CraigGMoore), Pete Salsich (@PeteSalsich) and Anthony Martin (@AMPrivacy). The panel did a great job, and we hope to have a recap and some video from the event posted soon.

Corporate social media policies and agreements came up during the discussion several times throughout the discussion. When asked about key elements of an internal social media policy, the panel advised that it should be customized to the organization type, size, needs and goals.

Brian Solis, an author, principal at advisory firm Altimeter Group and a significant thought leader in social media, recently published an article on his blog titled "The Rules of Social Media Engagement." It's a post examining some of the risks involved when you play in this space as an organization, but it also includes an excellent list of some key considerations for your social media policy. I saw a lot in the list that my employer has considered in crafting the policy we present to all of our employees who blog or tweet on behalf of the company. I've quoted the first 15 from the list here, but I encourage you to visit Brian's full article for the full list and for more analysis.

The Top 25 Best Practices for Drafting Policies and Guidelines

1. Define a voice and persona representative of the brand’s purpose, mission, and characteristics

2. People expect to interact with people, be personable, consistent, and helpful

3. Keep things conversational as it applies to portraying and reinforcing the personality and value of your brand and the brand you represent

4. Add value to each engagement — contribute to the stature and legacy of the brand

5. Respect those whom you’re engaging and also respect the forum in which you participate

6. Ensure that you honor copyrights and practice and promote fair use of applicable content

7. Protect confidential and proprietary information

8. Business accounts are no place to share personal views unless they reinforce the brand values and are done according to the guidelines and code of conduct

9. Be transparent and be human yes, but also do so based on true value propositions and solutions

10. Represent what you should represent and do not overstep your bounds without prior approval

11. Know and operate within the boundaries defined, doing so protects you, the company, and the people with whom you’re hoping to connect

12. Know when to walk away. Don’t engage trolls or fall into conversational traps

13. Stay on message, on point and on track with the goals of your role and its impact to the real world business in which you contribute

14. Don’t trash competition, spotlight points of differentiation and value

15. Apologize where applicable and according to the established code of conduct. Seek approval by legal or management where such action is not pre-defined

More at Brian's Blog...