It's Open - Social Media Strategy Consultancy

Take a look at these newsworthy photos that have been shared through Twitter.

Some are stunning

For small businesses, the world of social media can often seem intimidating and bewildering. But a recent infographic by Postling not only shows which media are the most successful, but the kind of response different social media accounts are getting. This can help SMEs focus their social media efforts for a more productive result.

In fact, the results are useful for anyone who uses social media. It’s interesting to see that Twitter is by far the best interactive medium, but that Facebook does just as well on turning that engagement into traffic.

It’s probably no surprise to hear that regular posting brings in more comments, but it’s staggering to see that those who post 8+ times a week get 10.28 comments per day, while those that post less than once a week only get 0.02 comments per day. Proof that the more you interact, the better the results.

Source: Mashable

Are you surprised by any of the statistics in this infographic?

Facebook has done plenty of profile pimping in the last year. But one thing we haven’t had the ability to do is to change our profile picture to a profile video.

Now Flip Video, the shoot-and-share HD video camera loved by bloggers and convenience fans alike, has launched a Facebook application that lets you “Flip Your Profile.”

Released on Valentine’s Day this year, it allows users to upload videos onto the profile picture section of their fanpage. This is likely to make it a popular feature for celebrities (particularly musical artists), and big brands who want to take advantage of the potential advertising opportunity.

It’s really simple to use. Go to the , and follow the instructions. The instructions are as basic as choosing your browser (from Chrome, Firefox, IE and Safari) and connecting your profile with the app. Once you’ve done that, you send your Flip Video to . You can also use other videos, although the video quality isn’t guaranteed.

Check out the video below to see how it works.

How would you use Flip Video in your Facebook profile?

A lot of businesses work hard at building a social media following, only to find the sales don’t exactly follow suit. It’s frustrating, but this infographic is useful in showing why this situation can occur.

It seems that a following doesn’t necessarily go hand-in-hand with brand-trust. Case studies from Starbucks, Burger King and Clinique show how actions and promotional activities can have a negative impact on the opinions of followers.

We love a good social media stats video here on It’s Open, and this one on Facebook by has everything you need to know about the social networking giant.

It’s a little scary, though somewhat expected, to see that 57% people talk more online than they do in real life. But it’s interesting to see how many people use the site, and how much media is shared on Facebook. Further proof that Facebook is an essential tool for increasing online business.

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We’re looking forward to our next members-only Social Media Leadership Forum session with Microsoft this Tuesday (15 March).

We are expecting a full house! Mel Carson and the Microsoft Advertising team have been using social media to lower costs and build relationships with customers in all parts of the globe.

The team will share their tips, tricks and best practice on how to quickly execute social media tactics, and measure return on investment. They will talk about the key findings from a study by the IAB and Microsoft Advertising about how to use search and social media to make your brand stand out; and they will also talk about how social media is supporting the launch of cutting edge technology and products such as Microsoft Kinect.

This is a great opportunity to hear directly from one of the world’s leading software companies on how they are using social media to make a difference to their business. Everyone attending should come away with some great insights to help their businesses harness the power of social media.

Please drop me a line if you are a leading organisation and would like to be considered for membership of the Social Media Leadership Forum ()

The internet is a foundation of our economy, equipped with tools so powerful that young people are using them to orchestrate revolutions in the Middle East.

This is probably one of the best interviews I have seen with Don Tapscott.

I recommend you set aside time to watch this and gain a fascinating insight into the future that is unfolding in front of us. Tapscott is brilliant.

Courtney Love has had to hand over $430,00 in libel costs to a fashion designer, after a number of defamatory tweets in 2009.

Dawn Simorangkir sued Courtney Love after she sent a number of tweets accusing her of being a thief and a criminal. The pair had previously discussed some custom clothing, but the working relationship quickly declined. Courtney then took to her old Twitter account to make several comments about Dawn, which she claimed were simply reflective of her opinion. Dawn disagreed, and claimed that her position in the entertainment industry made her a person of influence and power. Particularly as, as Dawn claims, the comments were false.

In the end, Courtney Love avoided court by paying a settlement fee.

The case is a particularly interesting one, as it impacts hugely on how careful celebs (and indeed influential tweeters) need to be with what they say. The UK takes a firmer stance on this than the USA, who stand firmly by the concept of freedom of speech. Therefore, many cases are bought to these shores by those prosecuting.

Social media might be a place to share information, links and contacts, but perhaps this ruling means we’ll all have to put a little more thought into what we share.

Source: Daily Mail

What do you think about the ruling? Big Brother or a reputation saver?

I’ve been on the hunt for a social media and email aggregator for a while now. Digsby is great for quick alerts, and Inbox2 was great until it got buggy and then moved servers (actually, it’s still in the process of moving servers, several weeks on.) But I’m looking for something that displays all my social media activities and emails in one desktop app. Basically, Tweetdeck with integrated email.

Which brings me to Threadsy. Threadsy is actually an online application, much like Hootsuite, that displays all your emails (from multiple accounts) and your social media activity in one window.

Additionally, it pulls up all the social media information of a Twitter or Facebook user if they get in contact with you, including earlier tweets, images and other contact information.

Threadsy has two panels, one on the left for all your messages and emails, and one on the right for monitoring your Facebook and Twitter.

There are several things I love about Threadsy

• Twitter replies, Direct Messages, Facebook Messages and alerts all land in your ‘Inbox’, so you don’t need to run another social media application at the same time.
• It’s easy to use, with a quick setup and very little changes need.
• Having everything in one place makes your activities more streamlined, saving you time and avoiding procrastination.
• It refreshes regularly, usually within 10-30 seconds of the original accounts.

A few things that need improvement.

• Once it’s been running for a few hours, it really slows down. It’s easily fixed by closing the window and restarting it, but they’ll hopefully sort this in the future.
• In theory it picks up all the social media info of email contacts too, although I haven’t found many examples of this so far.
• I’ve got filters set up for a number of sub-folders. It gives the option to open these sub-folders, but I only seem to get a blank page when selected.
• The only social media accounts available at the moment are Facebook (not pages) and Twitter. Adding more accounts can be confusing too, as it’s often not clear which accounts a Twitter user is from.
• You can only post from one account, so it’s not an ideal option for dealing with multiple accounts.

The potential is definitely there, and I’m now using it along side Tweetdeck to keep on top of my online activities. Once it’s more suitable for multiple account usage and offers more stability, I’ll happily dump Tweetdeck and Hootsuite, and migrate across.

How do you keep on track of your online activities?

We are delighted to announce that Zappos is going to be talking to members of the Social Media Leadership Forum this year. Aaron Magness,  Senior Director of Brand Marketing and Business Development, Zappos Development, Inc, will be talking with members in November.

Zappos is a hugely successful online retailer and is regarded as a leading trailblazer when it comes to using social media to make a difference to the business.

Aaron has worked in retail for over 10 years with brands that put a focus on customer service.  He joined Zappos.com in 2008 and oversees Brand Marketing, PR and video/blogs as well as Business Development.

He received his BBA from University of Wisconsin – Madison with a double major of Marketing and Management & Human Resources.

He ran with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain only five weeks before his wedding day.  Luckily, he made it out alive.  He is also an endurance athlete, though he’s not sure why he puts himself through the pain.

If you would like to join with your peers to help discover how social media can make a difference to your business, then please get in touch () and I will happily tell you how membership of the growing Social Media Leadership Forum.