Last week as I was organizing my Twitter account I decided to re-evaluate the search terms I was using to find interesting content. This led me to take a closer look at hashtags and their latest use by marketers for business purposes.
As many know, the use of the pound sign (#) is at the crux of the hashtag. Putting symbols in front of words for taxonomy purposes isn’t a new concept. The @ sign has been at the center of email universe for decades now. Not surprising, it’s also used to address someone on Twitter.
However, the Twitter hashtag is more than a simple way to categorize content, identify themes or track real-time conversations. They're increasingly being used by companies to drive positive online conversation and build brand recognition and loyalty.
Hashtags Driving the Popularity of SocialTV
Television networks have been quick to leverage the power of the hashtag by displaying it in the bottom corner of the screen during a broadcast. Usually it’s the name of the program or TV show such as #Revenge, #TopChef or #PanAm. I noticed that LifeTime’s Project Runway gives each contestant their own hashtag for voting purposes, which is a fantastic idea and also provides more ways for fans to tweet about the show. Expect to see more creative uses of the hashtag by entertainment companies and TV networks in the near future.
Hashtags as Branding Vehicles for Companies
Many marketers are starting to use hashtags as branding vehicles for campaign awareness. A good example is Audi that recently promoted their new LED headlights with the hashtag #solongvampires. The unique hashtag was connected to a TV ad that showed the headlights destroying vampires because of their extreme brightness (part of the product message). The result was a memorable campaign with excellent integration between multiple mediums.
While hashtags can drive massive attention for a branded campaign, some companies are going even farther by using them organically to convey value proposition. Red Bull’s tagline, “It Gives You Wings,” has been parlayed into the #givesyouwings hashtag and is quite popular with consumers when discussing the brand on Twitter and referencing other activities synonymous with the tagline.
The Perils of Hashtag Hijacking
Just like any other communications tactic, careful consideration needs to be given to hashtags. Unfortunately, McDonald’s learned this the hard way when it decided to offer up stories on the healthy aspects of its food using the hashtag #mcdstories. Within hours of the first tweet, consumers hijacked the hashtag and posted negative stories damaging the McDonald’s brand. What started out as a solid communications platform for the burger chain quickly turned into a PR nightmare. (Read: When a Hashtag Becomes a Bashtag on Forbes)
Marketers need to think about how hashtags can be integrated into broader media campaigns without losing control of the narrative. This is especially important since hashtags are now moving beyond Twitter and into other media channels. We’ve only witnessed a glimpse of their true potential and the real opportunities that they can bring for brands and the marketers that use them.
Friday, 24 February 2012
Wednesday, 29 June 2011
Manage your Online Reputation
t’s a fair bet that your boss, dates and anyone you give your business card to will type your name into a search engine. If something negative appears in the results, your online reputation can quickly damage your offline reputation — and affect your life.
Of the almost 80% of U.S. hiring managers who had searched for candidates online, 70% of them said they had rejected a candidate based on what they found in his or her search results, according to a 2009 study commissioned by Microsoft.
While you might not be able to remove damaging content from the Internet, there’s a good chance that you can minimize its impact using simple SEO techniques. And even if your search results are squeaky clean, the same techniques can help you control how you’re perceived online.
Here’s how to get started.
Step 1: See Where You Stand
Before you can manage your online reputation, you have to assess it. Type your names in search engines. Set up search alerts for your name (Google recently made this easier to do from the Google dashboard through a new “Me on the Web” tool).
If you find something unflattering, ask yourself:
Did I post it? If, for instance, photos from your Flickr account that you’d rather keep private are showing up in search results for your name, you can simply delete the photos or adjust your privacy settings.
After you’ve removed the offensive content, you can use Google’s URL removal tool to stop it from appearing as a cached copy or snippet in search results. If you do nothing, the content will still eventually drop from Google’s index — it will just take a bit longer to disappear.
- Is it personal information that could be used in a crime? If someone posts your social security number, bank account number, credit card number or an image of your handwritten signature, Google will make efforts to remove it from search results. It will also contact the site’s hosting company to request that the page be taken down.
- Is it posted on a high-traffic news site? Competing for search results with a popular news site is difficult. But Patrick Ambron, the cofounder of a personal online reputation management service called Brand-Yourself, says that all hope is not lost. “Google usually only likes to rank one result per domain name per page,” he says. “So if you could get another result on the same domain name like Huffington Post that was better optimized for your name, you could theoretically knock the bad article off.” One way to do this is to create a profile on that news site using your full name. Use as many links as possible, and link to the profile from all of your other web properties.
If you can’t answer “yes” to either of these questions, your best bet for reducing the visibility of negative content is to compete for top search results using positive content.
Step 2: Post Positive Content
“If you can’t get the content removed from the original site, you probably won’t be able to completely remove it from Google’s search results, either,” reads Google’s guide to keeping personal information out of Google. “Instead, you can try to reduce its visibility in the search results by proactively publishing useful, positive information about yourself or your business.”
In other words, if you want to make negative webpages appear lower in search, you’ll need to create content of relevance to push the negative links down. Google suggests responding to negative reviews of your business, for instance.
Profiles on social networks are powerful tools for this purpose, as results from large sites like Facebook and Twitter often carry more SEO power than a single post on something like a personal blog.
Step 3. Create an Identity Hub
One secret to pushing your positive online presence further up in search results is to make a hub that links to all of your content. Ambron recommends these tips for pushing your hub to the top of search results for your name.
- Claim your domain name. Including the search term (in this case, your name) in the URL of your web page tells search engines what the page is about.
- Mention yourself. You’re trying to tell search spiders, “This page is about me!” A good way to do that is to use your name a lot. Use your name in tabs and headers.
Link to your content. “[Google] considers each link to your site a vote for the site,” Ambron says. “Google has gotten pretty smart, so where those links come from is very important. The more reputable links are better votes. A vote from CNN is better than some site you made that you just linked to yourself.”
Remember all of those social media profiles that you created in step two? They’re attached to reputable sources like Facebook and Twitter, which makes their “votes” count as much more reputable than a page you just created.
Sign up for as many of them as possible (use one of these sites to see what is available), and then link them all to your hub.
- Post often. Search engines like fresh content. One easy way to create it is to post your social media feeds to your blog.
Step 4. Consider Automating the Process
There are several services that will help you with your quest for a pristine online reputation for a small fee. Brand-Yourself, for instance, keeps track of your reputation on a dashboard and helps you improve it by helping you raise existing positive content or helping you create new positive content. Vizibility allows users to pre-select the information they want displayed in “search results” from a special button or URL that can be added to online profiles, websites, resumes, email signatures and business cards.
Friday, 19 November 2010
The biggest economies in the world
I was reviewing today who are the biggest economies in the World and I had a big surprise and I wanted to share it with you.
1) United States - $14.3 trillion dollars
At $14.3 trillion dollars the GDP of the United States is the largest in the world by a wide margin at well over 2.5 times larger than second place Japan and equal to about 1/4 of the entire world’s economic output. The main components of the United States Economy are services (76.9%), industry (21.9%) and agriculture (1.2%).
2) Japan - $5.1 trillion
Japan has the 2nd largest economy in the world with a $5.1 trillion dollar GDP. The main components of the Japanese economy are similar to the United States with services (75.4%), industry (23.1%) and agriculture (1.6%).
3) China - $4.9 trillion
China currently ranks 3rd with a GDP of $4.9 trillion but with a faster economic growth rate China will soon overtake Japan for 2nd place. The main components of the Chinese economy are industry (48.6%), services (40.5%) and agriculture (10.9%).
4) Germany - $3.4 trillion
At $3.4 trillion Germany has the 4th largest economy in the world and the largest in Europe. The main components of the German economy are services (67.5%), industry (29.7%) and agriculture (2.4%).
5) France - $2.7 trillion
France has the 5th largest GDP in the world and second largest in Europe at $2.7 trillion dollars. The main components of the French economy are services (71.8%), industry (24.3%) and agriculture (3.8%).
6) United Kingdom - $2.2 trillion
The United Kingdom has the 6th largest economy in the world and 3rd largest in Europe at $2.2 trillion dollars. The main components of the UK economy are services (75%), industry (23.8%) and agriculture (1.2%).
7) Italy - $2.1 trillion
Italy has the 7th largest economy in the world and 4th largest in Europe at $2.1 trillion dollars. The main components of the Italian economy are services (72.9%), industry (25%) and agriculture (2.1%).
8) Brazil - $1.6 trillion
Brazil has the 8th largest economy in the world and largest economy by far in South America at $1.6 trillion dollars. The main components of the Brazilian economy are services (65.8%), industry (28.7%) and agriculture (5.5%).
9) Spain - $1.5 trillion
Spain has the 9th largest economy in the world and 5th largest economy in Europe at $1.5 trillion dollars. Main components of the Spanish economy are services (70.7%), industry (14.1%), construction (9.9%) and agriculture including fishing (4.5%).
10) Canada - $1.3 trillion
Canada has the 10th largest economy in the world and 2nd largest economy in North America at $1.3 trillion dollars. The main components of the Canadian economy are services (76%), industry (13%), construction (6%) and agriculture (2%).
1) United States - $14.3 trillion dollars
At $14.3 trillion dollars the GDP of the United States is the largest in the world by a wide margin at well over 2.5 times larger than second place Japan and equal to about 1/4 of the entire world’s economic output. The main components of the United States Economy are services (76.9%), industry (21.9%) and agriculture (1.2%).
2) Japan - $5.1 trillion
Japan has the 2nd largest economy in the world with a $5.1 trillion dollar GDP. The main components of the Japanese economy are similar to the United States with services (75.4%), industry (23.1%) and agriculture (1.6%).
3) China - $4.9 trillion
China currently ranks 3rd with a GDP of $4.9 trillion but with a faster economic growth rate China will soon overtake Japan for 2nd place. The main components of the Chinese economy are industry (48.6%), services (40.5%) and agriculture (10.9%).
4) Germany - $3.4 trillion
At $3.4 trillion Germany has the 4th largest economy in the world and the largest in Europe. The main components of the German economy are services (67.5%), industry (29.7%) and agriculture (2.4%).
5) France - $2.7 trillion
France has the 5th largest GDP in the world and second largest in Europe at $2.7 trillion dollars. The main components of the French economy are services (71.8%), industry (24.3%) and agriculture (3.8%).
6) United Kingdom - $2.2 trillion
The United Kingdom has the 6th largest economy in the world and 3rd largest in Europe at $2.2 trillion dollars. The main components of the UK economy are services (75%), industry (23.8%) and agriculture (1.2%).
7) Italy - $2.1 trillion
Italy has the 7th largest economy in the world and 4th largest in Europe at $2.1 trillion dollars. The main components of the Italian economy are services (72.9%), industry (25%) and agriculture (2.1%).
8) Brazil - $1.6 trillion
Brazil has the 8th largest economy in the world and largest economy by far in South America at $1.6 trillion dollars. The main components of the Brazilian economy are services (65.8%), industry (28.7%) and agriculture (5.5%).
9) Spain - $1.5 trillion
Spain has the 9th largest economy in the world and 5th largest economy in Europe at $1.5 trillion dollars. Main components of the Spanish economy are services (70.7%), industry (14.1%), construction (9.9%) and agriculture including fishing (4.5%).
10) Canada - $1.3 trillion
Canada has the 10th largest economy in the world and 2nd largest economy in North America at $1.3 trillion dollars. The main components of the Canadian economy are services (76%), industry (13%), construction (6%) and agriculture (2%).
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