Being involved in conferences, trade shows and other events is essential for brands of all industries to stay educated on the latest developments, establish a strong brand presence, and show off their expertise.

Crowd sourcing through Twitter enables the conversations at those events to live far beyond any 100,000 square-foot room.

Extend conversation digitally by providing pre, live and post-event coverage

Engaging in crowd-sourced conversation through event #hashtags lets you ignite or fuel the conversations that matter to you. Tweeting around events gives you the opportunity to be an influencer and disrupter of the status quo. It starts days or weeks before an event and can go on for weeks.

Meet more qualified prospects (Generate Leads)

You cannot physically work the room fast enough. Because there are people behind each tweet, connections started from these digital conversations can develop into healthy debates or long lasting, valuable connections, and they live far beyond the walls of the exhibit hall.

Position your brand as active industry leader

By actively tweeting during an event or conference, your audience gets to see that you are an active and growing brand. Tweeting key takeaways, photos and quotes during a conference educates your audience on the ideas that get you excited and the visions that drive your business.

Enable the digital community to be involved

There are individuals in your industry and community who won’t be at the event, but it matters to them.  When you curate the golden nuggets of a conference you enable the community to gain valuable insights, and you are positioned as a trusted thought leader.

Live tweeting gives you and your company the opportunity to invite new people in. Tell them what matters, and why.

But why? LinkedIn had a model that hit the nail on the head for many professionals plagued by social noise on other platforms. LinkedIn was a quiet refuge to build connections and business relationships. Now that LinkedIn is taking a more aggressive social stance, how will anti-social-site members adapt?

Some additions are well-tailored to those old-school members. One such feature is “Channels,” where members can follow topics of interest to receive articles by influencers and top news sources. Members can customize their news, ranging from “social impact” to “the economy.” LinkedIn spokespeople argue that the network is trying to help its members develop professionally and stay informed on the latest news.

Other new features may be more tailored to the younger and more visual audience –LinkedIn’s new call-to-action is “don’t just say it, display it.”

“For the first time, you will now have the ability to showcase your unique professional story using rich, visual content on your LinkedIn profile,” LinkedIn’s Udi Milo wrote at the LinkedIn Blog. “This means you can illustrate your greatest achievements in the form of stunning images, compelling videos, innovative presentations and more.”

Unless you’re social and tech-savvy, then the visual tools may seem like unnecessary overkill… and over-sharing.

So what’s in it for LinkedIn? “Offering more content – and offering more interesting content – is a key way to get people to use the site more frequently,” ReadWrite.com’s Owen Thomas wrote, “which helps LinkedIn in obvious ways, like building up its advertising business.”

But far more interesting is the potential for LinkedIn to build up its database of information about its members, Thomas explained. Right now, LinkedIn mostly has explicit data that members share, like their job history and education. Now LinkedIn will be able to understand members’ specific interests.

Social Factor has seen firsthand the power of LinkedIn’s network, so it’s no surprise that LinkedIn is incorporating new and exciting features to keep members coming back for more. As LinkedIn works on its social edge, how will other platforms increase or change their offerings? Will LinkedIn be able to obtain new members while keeping LinkedIn-traditionalists happy? Like all our digital platforms, we’re excited to see what’s next.

Just announced at #TCDisrupt that @twitterads is open to all US users. $50 credit for the 1st 100 eligible signups: twitter.twimg.com/Disrupt2013

— Kevin Weil (@kevinweil) April 30, 2013

Weil explains: “As most of you guys know, the Twitter advertising platform has until today has been invite only. We’ve had brands and agencies, thousands of small businesses using the platform but all on an invite-only basis. Today we’re taking the next step and opening up Twitter ads to everyone in the US. Every brand, every business, every account, every individual. Businesses have been on Twitter since day one and we’re really excited that today every business in the US is going to be able to leverage the power of Twitter advertising, either through Promoted Accounts to build a loyal follower-base, or through Promoted Tweets to reach a broader audience.”

Along with this, ads can also be targeted based on keywords used in Twitter’s search engine, a lot like the way Google AdWords functions. Businesses can also track the success of the ad through Twitter analytics. With all this change, what does this mean for Twitter’s future?

Josh Constine, writer for TechCrunch says,  ”The ads rollout means the microblogging platform can start more seriously competing with other social outlets like Facebook and LinkedIn for ad dollars. Some expect Twitter to hit $950 million in revenue in 2014, largely from ads. That could be enough to lure advertisers to invest in the company if it in fact IPOs. Getting its ad business humming on mobile before announcing any move to go public could let Twitter avoid the bashing Facebook’s share price received when it IPO’d. Facebook had mobile ads running for just three months at that time despite users shifting to the small screen in droves, and the lack of proof that its mobile ad business would work was widely cited by investors as why $FB lost 30% of its value soon after hitting the market.”

With all this in mind, it is clear that this new option is good news for small businesses. Having ads will allow companies to divert from one-way traditional advertisements and reach and engage with new customers. Will this become a marketing must?

The Associated Press hack isn’t the first. There have been multiple hacks of major companies that are beginning to wear down on the trust people hold with Twitter. The company must react quickly, and give their users the safety and security they deserve when using the social media platform.

Social Factor bears these security concerns in mind. We’re here to safeguard your company’s social properties by constantly monitoring your accounts to keep your information private and secure. We maintain our clients’ integrity and we work hard to protect it.

Twitter must do the same for their users, but until they do make sure to keep your passwords secure and check your Twitter regularly to make sure no one else has accessed it.

For more information on the AP hack see the CNN Money article from earlier this week.

In the 1960s, Milgram didn’t have the luxury of email via the information superhighway so he tested his theory the best he could by sending packages and letters. Starting with 160 mailings, Milgram asked random participants to start a chain that he hoped would all end with one specific recipient in Boston. The only condition? Milgram required each person to only forward his or her package to a friend known on a first name basis.

Since this experiment, the idea of the six degrees of separation has been tested in a multitude of ways, including on social networks like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

So with the internet on your side, how long do you think it would take to track down a random individual?

Alex Rutherford, from the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology in Abu Dhabi, found an answer to this intriguing question. Using social media, Rutherford sought to recreate Milgram’s experiment in a game called the Tag Challenge. The challenge is to identify individuals in five different cities in North America and Europe based on a single photo and what city they live in. Rutherford and his team identified three of the five individuals in twelve hours. Like Milgram’s experiment, Rutherford credits his success to asking people that he knew might be able to help.

Rutherford and his team said, “We have shown that this 12 hours of separation phenomenon relies crucially on the ability of social networks to mobilize in a targeted manner, using geographical information in recruiting participants.” Most of us have seen this phenomenon in action this past week with the bombings in Boston. Over a period of two days, people were asked to submit any evidence to the FBI. This request led to a fury of teamwork and collaboration among Americans, resulting in a swift resolution.

Social Media has allowed us to connect even more personally than Stanley Milgram ever imagined. Not only do we have 12 hours of separation, we have a far greater sense of community. We can unite as people and community to solve crimes and pull through the greatest tragedies.

This infographic illustrates ways to improve SEO — and the sites that are most likely to do so:

Austin is known globally as a mecca for creative and entrepreneurial people, including musicians, artists, tech companies, and the University of Texas and its new medical research hospital to name a few. High-speed ubiquitous connectivity can make an immediate impact on the work of all of these groups. 
When we were originally choosing where to bring Fiber in 2010, Austin had one of the most enthusiastic responses. Austin city leaders have worked hard to make this possible, and we’re excited to be here. 

Google Fiber will offer three pricing options:

The cheapest is their Free Internet package which is free monthly, but has a $300 construction fee.

The second option is the 1 Gigabit Internet access at $70 per month. This includes storage of 1 TB of Google Drive and a Network Box.

The third option includes Internet bandwidth, TV services, storage, and hardware at $120 per month and a waived construction fee.

To get a better idea of what lies ahead for Austinites, writer Farhad Manjoo describes his experience with Google Fiber:

At Fiber Space, I sat beside Carlos Casas, one of the company’s community outreach managers, on a couch in front of a big TV connected to a laptop. To prove that we were connected to a real Fiber line, one of Casas’ assistants loaded up Google Fiber’s speed test page. A few seconds later, we saw the astounding results: The computer was getting 938.24 Mbps download speeds, and uploads were at 911.67 Mbps. By comparison, my AT&T U-Verse home Internet line—which costs me about $60 a month, only slightly less than Google Fiber’s 1-Gb plan—gets downloads of about 22 Mbps and uploads of 3 Mbps. Google’s download speeds are 42 times faster than mine and its uploads are 303 times faster. When I saw those numbers, I had to stifle a few tears.

Casas’ assistant pulled up a high-definition video on YouTube. It started playing immediately. Then he opened another browser tab and launched another 1080p video. Then another and another and another—he kept going until he had five videos playing simultaneously. (He’d muted the sound.) Next he clicked on each tab and fast-forwarded each video to a random spot in the middle. They started playing from that spot instantly, with none of them sputtering or slowing in any way. “I hate racing that little gray bar when I’m watching videos on YouTube,” Casas said. “You’re always like, ‘Oh, it’s going to catch up, it’s going to catch up!’ With this, it’s never going to catch up. Your video isn’t going to stop playing.”

Native advertising is changing how audiences see a brand’s message, but, as with all forms of paid media, it has the potential to turn consumers off of the brand.  Thus, it is important to take a few notes on how to do native advertising right.

First and foremost, native advertising should showcase your brand’s personality. It’s not a sales pitch – it’s an opportunity to share your company’s values, beliefs, and thoughts.

Second, realize that native advertising, just as any, can damage not only your brand, but the publisher’s brand identity. In turn, it is vital that your design, message, and value proposition align with the the publisher’s user experience and content. It should not be immediately apparent to the viewer that your content is a sponsored post.

Last, as always, it is necessary to keep your customer in mind. Ask yourself a few questions. How is your customer going to view this ad? How will they engage with the post? Is it going to elicit a positive response to the brand? Is it deceptive? Will it turn the consumer off or will it formulate a deeper relationship between the brand and the consumer? Always think about the impact your message will have on your audience before delving into a native campaign and make sure to measure their responsiveness to your actions.

Native advertising is affecting the way information is received and processed by users through social media and other online platforms. When content is so heavily integrated into the user experience, it is easy to mislead your audience. In order to maintain credibility, it is imperative to listen to your audience and provide content that is unique, honest, and reliable.

Austin-based Spredfast delivers product innovation and will allow Social Factor to serve our clients with exceptional ROI-based social media reporting. The relationship enables us to deliver the greatest value in engagement, measurement and campaign management.

Named one of the 5 Superior Social Media Management Systems by Mashable, Spredfast is a proven SMMS powerhouse. Beyond reporting, Spredfast facilitates multiple use cases from building brand awareness, providing customer care and increasing sales pipeline; this flexibility will allow us to adapt powerful and measureable social campaigns to our increasingly diverse portfolio of clients. With permissioning and content approval processes, Spredfast will support our ability to scale our operations to any size.

All in all, we appreciate the direction Spredfast is taking social and are proud to be on board while supporting our neighbor. We look forward to sharing this valuable tool with our clients in order to best serve their marketing needs and exceed ROI goals.

This is “social hygiene” month at Chief Outsiders. Yep. We’re cleaning out closets and getting into better shape – starting with LinkedIn. If you follow our blogs and our firm, you know that we’re not a social marketing company, even though we rank reasonably high in our use of the media. Yet we certainly know the advantages of staying fit online. More importantly, a healthy social footprint is strategic for our immediate and long term business goals, as it is for many of our clients.

Bring in the Trainers

With the help of a rising star and Austin-based agency, Social Factor, we set out to improve our presence on LinkedIn. Recognizing the strength of our firm is our CMOs, and as a result how accurately they are perceived, we started with an assessment of our personal profiles. Are they complete? Compelling? Are we fully active? Are we tapping all that LinkedIn has to offer in terms of merchandising our strengths and extensive executive marketing experience?

Many of us were shocked at the results of our initial audit. Social Factor developed an extensive scoring system – 35 criteria – to assure a rigorous assessment. Scores ranged from “0” (no mention of Chief Outsiders in profile) to “222” or 81% out of a possible 272 points. Our average was a wimpy 65% of the total possible. Ok. This is embarrassing for a marketing firm – especially when many of our profiles are in the top 1% viewership (according to LinkedIn’s recognition program institute recently). Here are the general LinkedIn Profile categories that were evaluated:

Profile – Starting with your photo! Is it professional? Front-facing? Your full name, professional headline and location? Plus industry? Is your URL/direct link custom? How many connections to you have? Does your contact information include email, phone, Twitter handle, your business and related websites?

Background – Is there a complete and compelling summary? Is your resume of experience complete? Do you have references and recommendations for a mix of credible sources?

Associations – How many organizations are you associated with?

Skills to Education – Are your skills and expertise areas listed? Have they been endorsed? Do you list your educational background? Is it complete with dates, degrees, fields of study, activities and societies?

Interests and Followings – Do you share personal interests, how to connect with you? How many LinkedIn groups are you part of? How many companies and news groups are you following? What languages do you speak? Where have you been published? What honors and awards have you received, what causes and organizations are you volunteering to help?

We held a company-wide webinar where the Social Factor team took us through their findings, explaining their scoring methodology and making a compelling case for improvement. Then, one of Social Factor’s “millennials” followed up with each CMO to provide a 30 minute personalized consultation for improvement. The feedback on this program has been extremely positive.

Game Ready

What might the benefits be for your company? Is it possible that your company’s cohesion and culture is being evaluated by potential employees as well as customers based upon your presence on LinkedIn? Surely, there are growing occurrences of applicants and prospects searching for and reviewing LinkedIn company profiles and connected staff. What does your team look like individually or in aggregate? Perhaps there are simple and low cost opportunities to improve your presence, professionalism and…social hygiene. For Chief Outsiders, our social presence is highly strategic. So we’ll continue to make the incremental investments required to assure we’re in tip top shape.

For more information on Social Factor, visit www.socialfactor.com.