Game of # in 2012

Trends(generally affixed by a #) are the topics for which we see noteworthy Twitter conversations. Trends reveal what captured our attention, rather than what terms were consistently popular.
Since using twitter i have noticed the following trends this past year 2012 :- 

Conversation Starters : Hashtags help to organize conversations around topics: #nowplaying to share your favorite music, or #blessed to enumerate the good things in your life. The popularity of terms like #oomf (“one of my followers”), #lrt (“last Retweet”), #shoutout, and so on highlight the personal interactions at the heart of Twitter.


#nowplaying
#oomf
#blessed
#quote
#lrt
#salute
#news
#followfriday
#throwbackthursday
#shoutout

Sports : Rooting for their favorite team, discussing an MV player's performance, or getting caught up in Olympic competitions, sports fans never flag on Twitter. And there’s never an off-season.

#nfl

#nascar

#mlb

olympics

#sfgiants

jeremy lin

super bowl

dwight howard

kobe

#yankees

Politics : This year, voters discussed candidates and their ads, campaigns and conventions. Hashtags like #tcot (“top conservatives on Twitter”) invited more conversation, and real-time events like the debates saw record levels of engagement.

#tcot

#teaparty

#gop

#romney

mitt romney

#dnc2012

charlotte

#gop2012

#rnc

#obama2012

TV : People tweet incessantly about favorite contestants on reality shows like Big Brother (#bb14) and American Idol; they obsess over plot points on hits like Pretty Little Liars. TV nostalgia is popular too, as fans reminisce about shows from the past.

family guy

#bb14

american dad

hey arnold

american idol

pretty little liars

106 & park

SNL

fresh prince

boy meets world

Food : People love talking about food on Twitter. This year, trends spiked around specific eateries and that perennial favorite #coffee — as well as a certain coffee chain.

ihop

starbucks

waffle house

mcdonalds

bbq

#coffee

taco bell

denny's

burger king

olive garden

Movies : Movie buffs take to Twitter to discuss the hottest releases, most buzzed-about blockbusters, and all their favorite films. Based on this list, it seems fans are drawn to action flicks and dark tales — but romance always finds a way.

think like a man

the hunger games

the avengers

Red Tails

21 Jump Street

Dark Knight Rises

Dark Shadows

The Devil Inside

Safe House

The Vow

Tech : As new products were announced (cf. the new iPad, iPhone or Kindle, they saw significant spikes in Twitter discussion. Other buzzworthy tech terms reflected the social sphere on platforms like Skype and Pinterest, or with a social game (Draw Something).

at&t

iphone

instagram

skype

kindle

ipad

pinterest

draw something

amazon

apple

Music : Fans share their favorite songs via hashtags like #nowplaying and #musicmonday. This year, hip-hop stars took center stage on Twitter. Large music festivals like Coachella also generated much live tweeting, and fans all over chatted about performances.

rick ross

#hiphop

trey songz

nicki minaj

#musicmonday

kendrick lamar

chris brown

coachella

big sean

r&b

Countries : Whether it's firsthand photos from Syria, the drama of Italian football, or the latest in Afghanistan, Americans are tweeting about a wide range of global issues

#syria

china

japan

iran

India

afghanistan

australia

israel

italy

Canada

So Enjoy Tweets and wish you all #HappyNewYear2013 .

Content Marketing is Branding ! NO??

It took the major CPG brands some convincing that content offered solutions to consumer reach and engagement that neither display advertising nor search could, and these are the companies with “exploratory” budgets for new strategies and ideas.  Where does that leave SMBs who lack that luxury in the content marketing landscape?

Ironically, content marketing has become something of an equalizer for SMBs competing for consumers’ attention.  As the cost of Adwords skyrocket, the old dictum that you get what you spend is no longer the case.  When it comes to search in fact the opposite is true.  Increasing bids on keywords is a losing a strategy for many SMBs because a bigger brand who can afford to spend more in the cost-per-click market is always lurking around the corner.  Direct competition over an asset like a keyword poses a serious challenge to sustainability.

What makes content so attractive is that it’s truly ownable.  Creating, commissioning, or otherwise earning content provides SMBs the opportunity to extend their branding in a more meaningful way to consumers.  Content creates value for consumers where other forms of digital advertising like display seek to extract value with direct-response cues that consumers have now been trained to ignore, a likely explanation for why display has hit a wall in recent years…

A blog is a perfectly simple way to engage consumers with content they find interesting, educational, or entertaining.  Rather than sell them on what a product can do for them, SMBs should consider what they as a company –and member of the digital community—can offer consumers.  What is their subject matter expertise?  What is the source of inspiration behind their company?  What makes them laugh?  Bringing a smile to someone’s face may not directly result in a sale, but it can increase that person’s affinity for the brand or create a share on Facebook that extends reach to a new audience.

Previously, SMBs seemed unaware that this kind of engaging content could produce lasting, positive results for their business.  Understandably, content marketing requires a shift in mindset from “how can I get customers to buy this?” to “how can I engage this customer today?” but it’s one that can and should occur organically.  We are all consumers, after all.  SMBs should ask themselves “As a consumer, what would I want to click on?  What would interest me?”  An honest answer probably wouldn’t involve a display ad.

Nowhere is this empathetic approach more needed than in the Quality department.  Content is an experience and should be as engaging, immersive and pleasurable as possible.  Skimping on design may not diminish the impact of the content’s substance, but it can diminish the impact of the experience, and that could be the difference in repeat visits, brand recall and social sharing.  Including multimedia assets like video, pictures and illustrations when possible can go a long way at a minimum cost in projecting sophistication, which can help SMBs distinguish themselves from their competition.

In addition to owned media, earned media is a valuable component to any content marketing strategy.  News coverage, press mentions or products reviews from third parties can go a long way in educating consumers without a brand’s direct involvement—which is to say consumers often trust earned media more than branded content.  Look no further than the holiday season to see the role of earned media in consumer spending.

With the price of paid traffic getting steeper and the returns diminishing, SMBs should take comfort in the fact that increased organic traffic is well within reach thanks to content marketing.  The popular SEO practice of link-building is at the mercy of Google’s algorithms, which continue to evolve in the direction of more natural, human results.  Consistently producing great content that actual human beings interact with and share, on the other hand, creates quality traffic opportunities, including social, search, and viral.  The greater the content footprint, the stronger the SEO.

Unlike other CPC platforms (where the bigger the budget, the higher the bid and the greater the number of impressions) you should foremost try about helping people find interesting content recommending SMBs’ content to engage audiences on premium publisher sites (e.g. CNN, Mashable, Slate) for as little as $10 a day..  For SMBs, that means the more clicks they drive—purely through the interesting nature of their content—the more their content is served across our network, leading to lower CPCs over time.  Furthermore our content recommendations are personalized; we’re pretty good at getting the right content in front of the users who want to read or watch it.  The content is exposed in the top tier publisher space and produces high quality traffic at a cost SMBs control (see how some businesses have used their articles, video and third party reviews to double their traffic, time spent on site and save with lower CPCs than other ad platforms here.

Finally, it’s worth noting that Sunday, December 9, was Small Business Sunday, a day devoted to supporting small, local businesses between breaths for Black Friday and Cyber Monday.  The mere existence of this “holiday” speaks volumes about the way consumers prefer to interact with brands: if they deem you part of their community, they want to support you.  What better way to foster community than content that adds value to their lives rather than extracting it.

What are some things that money can't buy?

Most beautiful and awesome things in the world that matters the most for long-term cannot be bought by money.

1. Money can't buy Love - True companionship is not about the bauble. It involves emotional availability, real interest in someone else, some personal introspection, a sense of humor, kindness, empathy for others and an ability to listen, reveal and share. They cost nothing financially, but do require real emotional energy. It might not come easily to you if you have a naturally glib nature, but those are the things that will really draw someone to you.

2. Money can't buy Happiness - Respect really matters. According to a new study, feeling one is respected and admired ranks over having money when it comes to what makes people feel a greater sense of happiness and well-being. One of the reasons why money doesn't buy happiness is that people quickly adapt to the new level of income or wealth. Lottery winners, for example, are initially happy but then return to their original level of happiness quickly. Being respected, having influence, and being socially integrated just never gets old. 

3. Money can't buy Health - We can’t buy good health, no matter how much money we have. We can buy profound medical treatments but actual good health is not for sale. Good health is vitality, vigor, high energy, emotional equilibrium, mental clarity and physical endurance. If you have your health you have more wealth than all the riches in the world. A healthy mind, heart, reserves of stamina and an abundance of vreative energy to draw on, will have the world literally lying at your feet – with good health you have it all. 

4. Money can't buy Peace - Think of the amount of money that governments have spent over the years in the name of “peace.” Has it worked? Nope. Peace isn’t something you buy. Peace only comes from acting fairly, humanely, and treating others (people and countries) as we would want to be treated. And even then, it might not be possible. But for sure money won’t buy it. 

5. Money can't buy stable Marriage - You can buy cars and houses, boats and vacations, jewelry and jets. But you can't buy a really good marriage. And the more that material things matter to you, the poorer your marriage is likely to be, according to new research from BYU and William Paterson University. Couples who care less passionately about money and possessions tend to be happier.

6. Money can't buy Respect - Money, whether in the form of cash or products and services, does not promote the growth of respect in one person towards another. Instead it promotes the growth of greed, denial, and subterfuge. Respect can only be earned. Both through hard work and honest deeds. People who try to do the right thing and strive to bring the best out in others is slowly building up respect, for the people who receive benefits from a person's actions directly, or others who observe such noble behavior.

7. Money can't buy Conscience - Lot of people would want to purchase the ability to clean their conscience, but as we all know, this can only be done through the character-building exercises of apologizing, making things right, and setting the record straight. But money cannot.

8. Money can't buy Empathy - When we imagine ourselves in someone else's shoes, for just a moment, we gain a better sense of what life looks like to them and what challenges, issues, and joys they have in their day-to-day. Again, money cannot buy you Empathy.

9. Money can't buy Dreams - Dreams are, of course, free, and no one can buy better dreams. 

10. Money can't buy Good Ideas - Ditto. If you're looking for good ideas, you'll have to come up with them yourself. The flip side of this is that if you yourself have a good idea, patent it, and bring it to the marketplace, you may be able to receive money for your good idea.

11. Money can't buy Talent - Self-explanatory. Someone can take lessons or tutoring to improve natural talent, but you either have this or you don't.

12. Money can't buy Time - Money cannot buy time. Each second it passes and no amount of money will buy a second back.

Money can't buy Priceless moments -

A First Kiss from Someone Special  
The Feeling of Self-Accomplishment  
Surprise Encounters with Long-Lost Friends 
An Unexpected Compliment  
The sweet voice of our children calling out to us ‘Mom!' or 'Dad'!
Seeing our children smiling!
Watching our children receive Award! at school.
Time with family
Baby smiles and bonding.
The way a daughter makes her 99-year-old great-grandfather smile when nothing else can.
Son looking across the table one morning and saying, ‘You know Mom, you are really beautiful.’
An infant’s firm grasp of your finger
When our children look at you like you’re the only person in the world.
The look on our childrens face when they’ve accomplished something meaningful and felt proud of themselves.
The Sound of Raindrops Outside  
Randomly Hearing Your Favorite Song 
Amazing Talents You Are Born With 
Exercising Your 5 Senses – Sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. 
Sharing a Good Laugh with Friends and Family  
Watching the Sunrise and Sunset with Your Beloved 
The ‘Pump’ After a Great Workout  
When an Unlikely Someone Remembers Your Birthday  
When Your Pet Snuggles Up Next to You 
A Long Hug from a Loved One 
Cuddling a Newborn Baby 
Sitting Around a Bonfire with Your Friends 


Money can buy -

Medicine, but not health
It brings you food, but not appetite
Acquaintances, but not friends
Servants, but not loyalty
A house, but not a home
Days of joy, but no peace nor happiness.

Damaged Online Reputation Recovery

Now that is not what a real estate marketing company would like to recover being an Ostrich after reputation damage. Trying to stop a competitor from using trade dress similar to there trademarked theme brand these companies have got an up-close and unwelcome look at the dark side of the internet specially for the clients.

Blogger pals of their well-connected adversary, including one at a major industry website, blasts for being a bully and filing a frivolous lawsuit, often misrepresenting the circumstances. Some posts generated hundreds of angry responses, and anonymous callers began phoning office, leaving scathing messages. At the low point, one person even decided to inject some personal terror into their life by claiming their relatives had been in a serious car accident. Now to recover form such issues is a tough nut to crack. So here it goes this way :-

When misinformation and rumors circulate about your business, it can dominate your company's search engine results and potentially damage your business, says Michael Fertik, founder and CEO of Reputation.com, an online reputation management firm in Redwood City, Calif.

Such companies must advice his clients to grab as much of their "Google Real Estate" as possible. That means reserving the .com, .net and .org versions of URLs and claiming identities on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and local review sites including Yelp, Google Places, Citysearch and Yahoo Local. You might also want to reserve URLs that pair the name of your business with pejoratives like "sucks,". Businesses can use such vehicles to distribute positive, search-engine-optimized information about their companies, which can push down negative information in search results. In such cases, Global Computer Technologies  also creates several new websites optimized with various descriptions of the company, with links back to the main site to further drive down negative results.

But some rumors keep bubbling back to the top always. Since 2005, members of the Social Network family have been battling a persistent falsehood of their image so as the companies with web based networking. The stick rule is that "The nature of our background makes it believable, but it never happened," company president Elwood Martin says. Global Computer Technologies always extend their hands to the benefits of their customers in all possible ways.

Why my Education never ruined my life.... SMACK THAT !

I have a friend, who I won’t name who went to a university, I won’t name. He is very proud of having gone to this particular university. He insists that his son will go there. He used to attend their football games regularly. He brags that he is the only member of his family who was ever admitted to that school.

Whenever he says something he thinks he is silly, He makes fun of him for not knowing much because he went to this dumb school. Now in fact, he does not think the school he went to is dumb and he does not think he is dumb but his razzing gets to him and his friends are so that it just gives a way that they talk to each other.

The other day he insisted that his school was ranked in the top 20 universities in the country. This being my business he assured himself that it was not and he got very angry and then eventually looked it up and realized that on some lists his school didn’t appear even in the top 200 in the world. Recently he bet himself that his school was in the top 10 hardest schools to get into the state. Of course it was no where near that hard to get into these days.

Why am I telling this story? I do not believe that one receives a better education in one university than one receives in another (unless one is planning a research career in which case where you go to college may matter a great deal.) It doesn’t matter where he went to school, it does matter what he has done since school. But his alma mater matters to his friends a great deal.

When he moved, as a jobless, from one state to another as he was always being asked why he would make a move like that by his parent. People perceived him as moving down in class. And, he succumbing to the status issue we all live with, will usually respond “HELL YEAH” when asked where he got a job if he does not have the time to list all the places he has been.

This is the point. The obsession we have with going to college in this country, with test scores, with SATs, with rank in class, and so on is not an obsession about education at all. It is an obsession about status. If you can say you went to Harvard every one will say ooh!! and wow!! and suddenly people will believe you are very smart. 

Having taught at places that are thought of that way I can tell you that there are smart kids and there are dumb kids at all these places. What they have in common is an ability to please their teachers and do well on tests.

It is a very sad state of affairs that people spend tremendous amounts of money on exorbitant tuitions, push their kids from kindergarten onwards to get good grades, and obsess about test scores for small children, all in the name of status. Moreover, they attach status to schools that don’t even have that status. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard the phrase “its a very good school” after having been told that someone’s kid went to some school no one ever heard of.

This isn’t just an American obsession of course embedded on all of us through generations. Exactly the same phenomenon exists in the UK down to even which college at Oxford is better than which other college and in France with the Grandes Ecoles and in every other country I know about.

I wish I could say it is all nonsense but it isn’t. Companies make hiring decisions based on which school one attended and your friends think about you differently based on which school you attended. But it is simply not about education in any way. A lecture is still boring everywhere anywhere round the globe. The same books and internet are available anywhere, and college has never actually been all that much about education in any way. Graduate school maybe. College not so much.

We really have to start thinking about all this differently.

Here are some numbers to think about. MIT and Harvard are top research universities. They are really about researchers teaching students to do research. One out every 64,000 people in the US and INDIA are researchers. On the other hand, there are 1 million lawyers, 6 million teachers, and 12 million health care workers. Colleges do not teach these three, graduate schools (and technical schools) do that.

Stop worrying about what college your first grader will go to. Leave him alone. Let him have fun and learn what he wants. Most of us never attended Top Universities (including me) and have managed happy lives thereafter based on the College. Live life to the best on what you want because you never know what happens when where and how ?

Next-generation water policy for businesses and government

The solution to water scarcity, in part, will come from new technologies for better managing water as a resource. But to make these technologies more effective, business and policy leaders will need to work more closely to implement them.

http://www.pabitragroup.com

Water insecurity looms as one of the great challenges of the 21st century, and it is one that policy makers and business leaders must face together. Policy makers recognize that certain technologies being developed by leading companies are critical tools for effectively managing scarce water supplies. But business leaders must do more to help shape the understanding of how good policies make it possible for technologies to be productive—and how ineffective ones do the reverse.

Public-sector leaders and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have long dominated the debate on water policy, but within the last five years, a growing number of progressive private-sector companies have also started to lend their perspectives on how best to effectively manage water. These companies have begun by paying much more attention to the water environment in which they function. As they develop a new generation of water-related technologies, they also increasingly influence a new generation of public policies that stimulate the development and use of these technologies. Here is how a number of them are engaging along both of these dimensions.

One group of companies, including beverage, mining, and energy businesses, has found that growing water scarcity constitutes a threat to their social license to operate. In response, some have made large donations to activist groups in the hopes of buying peace. Others have asked for water standards that they can then meet in their plants. The most far-sighted of these companies, however—with Nestlé as a leading example—recognize that while companies have to manage water efficiently behind their factory gate, society (along with companies and their suppliers) needs an equitable, efficiency-stimulating, and predictable legal and regulatory environment that governs all water uses. These companies also believe that private businesses have useful and legitimate inputs to make into the policy-formulation process, and that good business practices can guide effective implementation.

A second group of companies is developing technologies that can enable society to get more product—more food, energy, income, employment—per drop of water. There are three broad segments. The first comprises companies that develop productivity-enhancing seeds and agricultural technologies. Because agriculture accounts for more than 80 percent of water consumption in the developing world and because the productivity gains of the last round of agricultural technologies (the “green revolution”) have fallen to less than 1 percent a year (from about 3 percent a year in the 1960s), these innovations are vital for better water management. The importance of genetically modified organism (GMO) crops—a core agricultural technology—is illustrated by the contrasting performance of corn in Europe, where GMOs are not allowed, and in Iowa, where 90 percent of corn is grown from using GMOs. In the last ten years, corn yields in Europe have stagnated, while in the United States productivity has grown at over 2 percent a year. Existing GMOs already use substantially lower amounts of fertilizers, pesticides, and water. And some new-generation crops will be better able to thrive despite water stress.

A second segment of companies is developing new technologies for treating water and wastewater. The process of desalination illustrates the importance in this area. The laws of thermodynamics state that it is theoretically possible to desalinate seawater by using only 25 percent of the energy currently required to do so through existing technologies. If new developments in, for example, nanotechnology and membranes allow even half of this potential to be realized, the cost of desalination will fall to a level where most cities and industries in coastal areas throughout the world can turn to it as the new source of choice. The third segment comprises companies that provide users with just-in-time and just-what’s-needed information—such as on the probability of rainfall, on soil moisture, on water, and on fertilizer requirements. This is essential for energy consumption, domestic use of water, and, most important, for agriculture. Precision agriculture can produce much more crop per drop than traditional methods can, and industries and cities can use much less water too.

Executives at these leading companies know that progress in water management depends on linked advancement in technologies and policies. They have seen instances in some countries where policy shortcomings mean that many existing technologies that make more efficient use of water are not being fully employed. This has prompted a growing number of companies to engage with policy makers to ensure that key policies—such as tradeable water rights, support for intellectual-property rights, and efficiency-enhancing regulation—are implemented. In conversations with policy makers, corporate leaders highlight examples like the Murray-Darling Basin, in Australia, where an enabling policy environment means that a 70 percent reduction in water availability has had virtually no impact on agricultural production. In situations like this, policy makers know that what is needed is a “next generation” of technologies that will enable society to do more with less. And they know that the key to achieving this is a legal and business policy environment that stimulates the development of the next generation of water efficiency technologies.

Although the glass may certainly look half empty, it is also half full, not least because progressive business leaders understand that water scarcity is an issue that will affect their industries, suppliers, and the communities in which they work—and they’ve stepped into the policy area to help shape solutions. And as they have, policy leaders have begun to better understand the private-sector’s contributions and to draft more effective enabling regulations. But more business and policy leaders need to follow the lead of their progressive colleagues. That is how we will secure further development of new technologies and the formulation and implementation of a new generation of water-management policies.

Browse: Home / Socialnomics / Optimizing Your Social Marketing Program – A Practical Way to Social Media Optimization (SMO) Optimizing Your Social Marketing Program – A Practical Way to Social Media Optimization (SMO)

http://about.me/rajdeep.ramsay

If you are serious about your social marketing program, you are likely focused on executing across a number of social platforms.  I am of the mind that ideas are a dime a dozen and execution is key to success – that is, if our ideas are right to begin with. This is why I always advise our clients to take a breather and check in on their progress in the social realm at least twice every year.  Social media platforms change at an unprecedented rate and programs and plan we put in place just a few months can quickly grow outdated.  To add to that, we are often biased by our choices, and sometimes are too close to our programs to know if we are doing the best we can.  This is why we create How to Objectively Audit Your Social Marketing Efforts on white paper. I hope you will use suggested objective methodology to assess your progress and identify new ways to optimize your social marketing efforts.

An objective audit of your social marketing program will help you answer these key questions:

• How well are we doing with social marketing?
• How do we compare to our competition?
• What can our social marketing teams do better?

Start with some objective analysis of your Social Reach along with an analysis of the likelihood that your products or brands are or will be discussed in the social realm in the future.  You will learn that Social Reach is the estimated number of potential and existing customers you can reach via your presence on social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.  Your reach is an important first baseline – you are as big as the number of people you can reach and touch (for a deeper conversation on how to grow your Social Reach.

Proceed by analyzing the volume and types of digital conversations surrounding your category and products.  You will likely find that new entrants are vying for your customers’ and prospects’ attention.  Understand who they are, where they are investing and what they are talking about.  This will help you assess if you have sufficient resources and focus to participate and dominate these conversations.

Remember – keywords are the new digital currency.  Create a list of top strategic keywords you want to own and see how well you rank for them with the top search engines.  You have to be good at connecting with your prospects and customers – wherever they are, however they search for your solutions. The SEO , helps you better understand your rankings and keyword authority. I learnt that to succeed with search engines, you need to use landing pages – research shows that best-in-class companies across all sectors are using landing pages to get to the users who have a clear idea of what they need.

Equipped with this data, you can build your own Social Marketing Effectiveness Dashboard.  This dashboard becomes your benchmark against your peers and against your own progress.  Updating it at least twice a year will help you stay focused, nimble and relevant.  It will also help you identify untapped opportunities for traction and growth. To bring this objective assessment to life, we connected with our friends at Social Media networks, who kindly agreed to be our featured company example. It provides Web Content Management (WCM) software that helps businesses increase traffic, drive conversion and improve social interaction. Recently invested in a new marketing team, who will use the provided objective assessment as a baseline to measure their improvements and create a targeted approach to social media and SEO practices. Special thanks to our social marketing agency WEB VELOCITY who helped with the analysis for this paper.

If you would like to review other resources on the same subject, I recommend WEB VELOCITY. You will learn the difference between social media optimization (SMO) and engagement. I also recommend the Social Media Explorer .

Curious to hear from my peers. How do you keep your social marketing program focused? Do you run health checks of your social and SEO programs and how often?  What methods and tools do you use? Let’s continue the discussion on this blog, Twitter, Facebook http://about.me/rajdeep.ramsay and in our Google + https://plus.google.com/110074757401718973167/posts?hl=en Group.