2010 the year of social media marketing?

Not that 2009 was much different, but it does seem that 2010 has kicked off dedicating a lot of column inches to 'the rise of social media online marketing'. I would suggest that it has long been an ill of the 'full service' digital dilution agencies that the key to selling digital services is lurching towards their client base with the "next big thing" in digital. Client's who want to seriously consider a social media strategy should start by assessing the extent to which their category and brand already generate social media postings by fans and customers alike. Social media should be considered as part of a larger online reputation piece rather than as a route to "FREE" viral marketing. Email delivery rates have become ever harder to keep high partly due to poor content being sent out by brands to their customers. If the same tactic is followed in Social Media then consumers will vote with their feet. Tread carefully and consider how your customers can do this work for you as a better approach to social media.

Brilliant Browser Compliance statement

I had to share this from www.newtoyork.com. It is once of the finest addresses to usage of Internet Explorer 6 I have ever seen:

"Hi, if you are coming to this site via Internet Explorer 6, you might not be getting the best experience possible. Honestly, I can't even begin to think about what your entire experience on the internet must be like? (...probably like riding a bike on the highway while cars blow by you on their way to Costco to get gallons of mayonnaise and 60-inch plasma TV's). How will you ever be able to use this website?????? You wont. You're an asshole and your browser is an asshole. So look, I'm going to be honest: I kind of hate you. BUT we c-a-n make this work. Here is what I am going to need you to do: fire up your Toshiba ShitBook© that weighs about 45 pounds, wipe the Cheeto dust off the screen, download Safari, delete Internet Explorer from your computer, punch yourself in the face, and get me a pulled pork sandwich."

Brave but so wonderfully honest.

Tadpole Holidays - dA France's 1st travel client goes live

DigitalAim's first alpine French client has gone live following scoping and SEO consultancy. Tadpole Holidays are a tour operator that provide accommodation for skiers and snowboarders in the resort of Serre Chevalier in the Southern French Alps. We have worked with them since July in planing this winter seasons online booking site and we are very happy that this work, combined with the content work on Disentis Sedrun in Switzerland has brought a snow-capped fee to our portfolio of recent client wins.

Google launch PC operating system

Is the market too crowded and dominated by Microsoft and Apple to have an operating system take on the Windows monopoly? Would you invest your life savings in this business? In marketing terms finding a unique and compelling sales proposition for any product is hard work. It is yet harder for the complexities of software selling and even more so for 'operating systems'. I suggest however, that the time is now for Google's move. Microsoft's launch of Vista has been fraught with technical and user experience difficulties, to the extent that a laptop now sold which is Windows XP backwards compatible, commands a premium over a new Vista only machine (relates to drivers bla bla). At the risk of sounding negative, (and I didn't even mention the "I'm a PC" child, failed musician and extreme sports exploitation ads) I will offer Google's own words as to how a new OS could change the way even our mothers and grandmothers feel REAL interaction with their PC:

"We wanted to share our vision now so everyone understands what we are trying to achieve:
Speed, simplicity and security are the key aspects of Google Chrome OS. We're designing the OS to be fast and lightweight, to start up and get you onto the web in a few seconds. The user interface is minimal to stay out of your way, and most of the user experience takes place on the web. And as we did for the Google Chrome browser, we are going back to the basics and completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so that users don't have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates. It should just work."

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/introducing-google-chrome-os.html

I will take heart in a future from an organisation that deals in excellence in programming over 1 famed for lawsuits, hostile takeovers and buggy launches. Google, aggregate and use my data all that you wish for your commercial purposes if this is how we are to be rewarded for our loyalty to your search engine.

Google Search Wiki threatens SEO industry

Goggle has recently added increased 'search result personalisation' in the form of "Search Wiki" to its Engine. A registered Google Account holder can now vote up and down their search results the quality of pages. In theory of course this provides a significant threat to the traditional Search Engine Optimisation industry. Where clients now pay for efforts taken to get increased traffic through the exposure of 'higher listings' in Google, a registered user can downgrade those efforts or even delete your website from the results served to them. This mirrors advertising removal or behaviourial targetting direct online advertising models.
This raises a number of questions:

1/ Is this level of 'personalised customisation' just an initiative by Google to increase the loyalty of its current, market dominating, user base?
2/ Is it the start of a push to bring a behavioural targetting element to Google Adwords advertisers?
3/ Is this a piece of functionality aimed to increase the uptake of Google Account usage as this increases Google's ability to promote trialling of their other software?
4/ AND MOST interestingly I feel, is this a test bed of user data gathering that helps Google further eliminate Search Spam from its listings? If so, then this release of the functionality could be a forerunner to when Google incorporates this user 'voting' data alongside its measure of inbound links (PageRank) to help contribute to the algorithm's own decision making. Could Google's greatest coup be to have their Users doing manual site evaluation work on their behalf. If so, then with 85-95% market share they would truly merit Pied Piper of Hamlyn status.

I will leave readers to ponder this, as yet unknown longterm motivation. Please feel free to comment...

Recession boosts digital

No question about it. Having been recruiting 2 posts for the last few months and been in contact with numerous web design and web development agencies over the last 6 months it is clear that this recession is growing digital again. While the run up to the recession proper had many clients stuck 'in the headlights' movement once again is shifting toward the digital player who know how to 'Do it Right'. Clients need transparency, the ability to question the technical and user experience assumptions made and have support is demonstrating the value of customer activity happening online. An agency confident in meeting these expectations and happy to be questioned on their scoping assertions has no reason not to grow in strength over the next year. Those that will suffer will be the "we've always done it this way" brigade who wait for clients to simply define there expectation levels for agency response.