Jason Douglas
Spyder Trap Online Marketing

While the rise in participation in social media channels has increased greatly for individuals and brands, one area where social media has become useful is for professional sports.

Why is social media right for sports teams? As with anyone using a social media channel, it is another opportunity to connect with people inside and outside of your network. You can keep the loyalists connected, and connect with disengaged fans.

Locally, there are teams using social media better than others. The Minnesota Timberwolves, for example, are using social media closer to its full potential than our other local teams.

On Twitter, the @MNTimberwolves provide injury updates, in game updates, and behind the scenes insight for the casual fan. For the serious fan, the Timberwolves are good at responding to followers, and following back fans as shown with their 7,574 followers and by following 3,357 back (as of the time of this post). The Timberwolves also integrate social media with their traditional and other online marketing tactics by promoting their social media channels as part of Wolves Nation prominently on their website and with in-game promotions.

One team that is not using social media to its fullest potential is the Minnesota Twins. Their job should be one of the easier Twitter campaigns to manage, as they have a brand new stadium, a great product, and of course, Joe Mauer.

However, the @MinnesotaTwins have chosen to establish their channels, especially Twitter, as an elite club. Despite more than 9,000 followers, the Twins have chosen to only follow back 20 users comprised of Major League Baseball accounts, other local sports teams, Twins player accounts, and Andrew Zimmern.

The Twins have largely pushed their own content on Twitter, and they have handed out tickets to users who follow them, but by not engaging or following their fans back, they are essentially shutting the doors on them. Are Target Field’s stands only full of MLB representatives, Twins players, and celebrities?

On the Minnesota Twins’ Facebook page, it is more of the same. While their reach is significantly larger with more than 280,000 fans, the same behavior is taking place. On their wall, it is just the Twins pushing out their own content, and not responding to the numerous likes and comments on each status update.

Now this may not hurt a brand like the Minnesota Twins now, as they are enjoying great success. But, what happens if – or when – the Twins experience a long term losing streak like the Minnesota Timberwolves? It is very possible that the fans they chose to ostracize may not be there in tough times.

It is critical that any brand using social media take advantage of the connectivity that each channel allows. For some, this may be the closest one comes to connecting with the brand. If that person reaches out to them, and receives no response, it will most likely leave a bitter taste in their mouth.

What are your expectations when engaging with a brand? Do you want a response? Do you want to be followed?

What makes you feel connected to a brand?

Ed Knowles
Spyder Trap Online Marketing

This is the first installment of our weekly Web Wisdom Wednesday series, in which we will cover topics ranging from social media, email marketing, sponsored search, SEO, and more! Each video will aim to inform and educate you on simple tips that you can use for your own online marketing efforts!

Stay tuned to the Spyder Trap blog, the Spyder Trap YouTube Channel and the Spyder Trap Facebook Fan Page each Wednesday at noon for a new video!

Happy Web Wisdom Wednesday!

Mike Rynchek
Spyder Trap Online Marketing

As a fellow marketer you likely wonder, “How can I better appeal to my target audience?” Better yet, “How can I produce more appealing/compelling content to drive a desired reaction?” I’m asking myself these questions as I write this post. The good news is help is just around the corner.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Most marketers have studied or at least heard of Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs (to the right) but few have related it to more current marketing efforts such as social media. As you read this post keep in mind that although technology evolves, people’s basic needs remain the same.

First, the premise: For the purpose of this post, I will keep my analysis related to social media. In some respect, Maslow’s theory explains the massive draw and assimilation to social media channels. The top three most psychologically complex needs are all easily obtained using social media (Self–actualization, esteem, love/belonging). Some people I suppose receive all five, but for the most part, social media allows for the authentic release of creativity, esteem personified by the ability to become a thought leader and, of course, belonging and contributing to a community is all at your fingertips.

The application: How can we use this information to become better social media marketers? Well, first understanding what people are seeking from a physiological standpoint empowers us to better optimize our marketing channels, messaging and calls to action in order to evoke a desired response. For example, creating channels for people to collaborate not only with your brand but one another might be considered an essential need for your audience. The theory is basic enough yet the application is often lost in the shuffle of day-to-day activities. Comments and reviews are all means to connecting with your consumer at a higher level. Creating compelling copy and messaging to appeal to people on an emotional level help to create a deeper bond between your brand and your brand’s consumers. More advanced opportunities are found in attracting “like minded or like needed” people while exposing them to your messaging.

With this application in mind, below are several basic emotion evoking tips that apply not only to social media channels but also apply to general marketing practices.

1. Facilitate – Allow people to creatively participate with your marketing efforts. Encourage and ask for opinions, feedback and collaboration
2. Be Authentic – No auto DMs! People are looking for real human connections, whether they are on the computer, phone or in person
3. Respond- Being heard and having one’s ideas validated by others is a basic need that all people share

What do you think about this analysis and application? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Minneapolis, MN, January 22, 2010 – Spyder Trap Online Marketing, a leading provider of online marketing and social media consulting services, today announced its President, Mike Rynchek, has joined the Community Leadership Board of the American Diabetes Association. Mr. Rynchek will serve the board as Marketing Communications Chair.

“We are very pleased that Mike has accepted our invitation,” said ADA Board President Chuck Halstenson. “Mike’s expertise in online marketing and social media adds a dimension to the board that will increase our visibility in many new and exciting ways.”

“It’s an honor to join an organization that has helped so many,” said Rynchek. “I am confident that together we can do even more by expanding the organization’s use of online communications tools including social media and online fundraising tactics.”

As Marketing Communications Chair, Mike has overall responsibility for the promotion of the Association’s Stop Diabetes^SM movement by coordinating and integrating marketing and communications efforts for all local activities including revenue-generating events, mission-delivery activities, and general awareness and outreach events.

Greetings to everyone! Due to a high demand, I am posting my presentation for everyone to view.

Thanks to all who showed up to the event, and to those who were unable to show, enjoy the slides. If there are any questions about this presentation, please contact me at jdouglas@spydertrap.com.

Glenn Seaberg
Spyder Trap Online Marketing

Today I saw an article in the Minneapolis Star/Tribune titled:  “Med-tech is shy on social media use.”

Among other things it praises a  medical device start-up for its innovative and viral use of  YouTube.  However, it goes on to explain that big medical device and other health care related companies are hesitant to use social media.  The writer points to legal concerns, especially retribution from the FDA as reasons for this.

Indeed, it would be foolish for Medtronic, St. Judes and other medical device companies to rush into the social media wave pool. But guess what?  It’s not foolish at all, providing they take the right approach.

With millions of people tweeting, posting to blogs, commenting on or posting videos to YouTube, chances are excellent that each of these channels are ripe with conversation about medical devices.  Just monitoring and amplifying these conversations hold huge value for an entire organization.  I know; I do this for several health care companies.

From the marketing manager to the CEO, the ability to listen to the unbiased conversation between your company’s staunchest supporters and most stalwart detractors provides insight and direction that no focus group or traditional market research investment ever could.

One need not chime into the conversation.  Remember the old adage: “You become wiser by listening than you do by talking.”   And guess what, no one will even know you’re in the room – not even your lawyers.

Am I off base here?  Is engagement the only real goal for a company with regard to social media?  Or does listening provide enough value on its own? What do you think?

Minneapolis, MN, October 12, 2009 – Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota has selected Spyder Trap Online Marketing to support the hospital’s online strategy and marketing initiatives. Spyder Trap will focus heavily on search engine optimization, marketing, social media, web site analytics, and content strategy.

“We’re deeply committed to connecting with and providing access for patient families, health professionals, donors and many others who have a relationship with Children’s,” said Randy Bunker, Manager, Web Strategy and Communication for Children’s of Minnesota.  “Spyder Trap gives us an opportunity to strengthen those relationships, and form new ones, in ways we haven’t done before.  They also share our passion in caring for kids, innovation, and in striving to be a national leader in the online space.”

“We’re extremely grateful for the opportunity to assist Children’s with their philanthropy and social media initiatives,” said Mike Rynchek, President of Spyder Trap Online Marketing.   “Children’s Hospital gives so much to so many that we’re honored and committed to helping them meet their outreach objectives.”

Spyder Trap will initially assist Children’s of Minnesota with the Fill A Room With Care fundraising initiative to help support the development of 280 state-of-the-art private patient rooms.  Specifically, Spyder Trap will lead site optimization for fillaroomwithcare.org, the initiative’s site, and will provide social media consulting and training services for Children’s staff.

# # #

Spyder Trap Online Marketing helps its clients find, win, and keep valuable customers with sound online marketing strategy and tactics including search engine optimization, search engine marketing, web site development and content management, email strategies, and a wide array of social media tactics.

For more information, contact:

Glenn Seaberg, Vice President
Spyder Trap Online Marketing
612-871-2270 phone
612-871-4199 fax
gseaberg@spydertrap.com
www.SpyderTrap.com

Jason Douglas
Spyder Trap Online Marketing

Earlier this summer, I purchased the iPhone 3g[s]. Once in the App Store, I downloaded as many applications as I could at once; I felt like a kid in a candy store. Google App, Weather Channel App, Facebook app, TwitterFon; the options of apps that were just a click away was overwhelming. The best part: all were free. I still have yet to pay for a single app.

When I got to searching for a Twitter app, I noticed there were free versions, and ‘Pro’ versions that cost anywhere from $0.99 to $4.99. I went with the free TwitterFon application, partially because I am too cheap to spend even $0.99 on something I would use daily, and partially due to the fact that there was a fully-functioning free option.

What if free was not an option?

That day may come, and may come quickly. We, as social media and social networking participants and contributors, have been lucky to use and enjoy networks such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, blogging platforms, etc. all for free. We all know that in this capitalistic world, there’s one thing we are all trying to do: make money. These social networks, along with all the others, are no different.

If tomorrow, an announcement came from all the above mentioned social networking channels that starting Monday, September 14, there would be a monthly fee to use their respective service, what would you do?

The question: social media: would you pay to play, or would you go away?

Jason Douglas

Spyder Trap Online Marketing

Yesterday, Ric Bucher of ESPN sent a tweet from his personal account stating: ‘The hammer just came down, tweeps: ESPN memo prohibiting tweeting info unless it serves ESPN. Kinda figured this was coming. Not sure what this means but’. On Monday, the Marines issued an order banning social media sites including Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace within its network. Each is an example of censorship, but for two very different reasons.

ESPN, like many companies, have employees that are visible not only on television, but in the social media world. These employees are an extension of the brand that ESPN has built over the last 30 years. With that comes a large responsibility to represent your company as best as possible. There is a fear that within this ‘new’ method of communicating called social media and with information available instantly, if something improper is said, it will spread like wildfire and may have a negative impact on the individual and the company they represent.

There are two approaches to take here: you an either set guidelines for how to approach social media (in this case: Twitter); or you can choose to trust your employees, and allow them to interact with fans, readers, and other athletes who are using Twitter or social media as their platform to announce newsworthy happenings about themselves. We know which approach ESPN went with.

ESPN

Within ESPN’s memo full of guidelines, included were the following points:
• The first and only priority is to serve ESPN sanctioned efforts, including sports news, information and content
• Assume at all times you are representing ESPN

Maybe I am about to react because the above statements are hitting me differently than others. When you are hired by a company, does that mean you are, in a sense, owned by that company? Are you always on call for that company? Are you ever ‘off the clock’?

If this is the way that ESPN wants to treat social media, they are about to miss the point of social media: two-way communication. One thing about us here at Spyder Trap is that we tell clients that social media is all about communication, engaging with fans, followers, etc. Anyone that just pumps out their own content and does not try to engage with people will not be successful or respected in the social media world.

Giving fans of ESPN the opportunity to communicate and converse with their favorite personality increases the brand perception of ESPN. You are humanizing the personalities, and at the same time, gaining more fans of ESPN. This is now no longer possible due to ESPN’s restrictions.

Marines:

Their restriction of social media sites boils down to one simple word: security. This is an easy out for them. Within their memo, the following is stated:

“THESE INTERNET SITES IN GENERAL ARE A PROVEN HAVEN FOR MALICIOUS ACTORS AND CONTENT AND ARE PARTICULARLY HIGH RISK DUE TO INFORMATION EXPOSURE, USER GENERATED CONTENT AND TARGETING BY ADVERSARIES. THE VERY NATURE OF SNS CREATES A LARGER ATTACK AND EXPLOITATION WINDOW, EXPOSES UNNECESSARY INFORMATION TO ADVERSARIES AND PROVIDES AN EASY CONDUIT FOR INFORMATION LEAKAGE THAT PUTS OPSEC, COMSEC, PERSONNEL AND THE MCEN AT AN ELEVATED RISK OF COMPROMISE. EXAMPLES OF INTERNET SNS SITES INCLUDE FACEBOOK, MYSPACE, AND TWITTER.”

Really? In all caps?

This is an example how having certain restrictions can help solve security fears. Instead of banning social networking sites (SNS), implementing some form of privacy requirements, having an approval process for who’s following you, who’s your friend, what groups you are a part of, etc; would be a better solution.

I have a close friend who is in Iraq with the U.S. Army. Usually, we converse by writing letters and sending care packages, etc. Instead, I know he will be on Facebook at the same time nearly every day, which is how we are able to connect, via Facebook chat. I know that since he is able to communicate with myself and his family most every day in real time, his time over in Iraq has been easier to deal with. If that was taken away from him and the rest of the Army, it could be a demoralizing blow to each member.

Does your workplace have any rules regarding social media? If so, I would like to hear about your company’s policy. If your company instituted a policy restricting your use and presence in social media, would that change your perception of your workplace? Would you look elsewhere for employment?

Glenn Seaberg
Spyder Trap Online Marketing

I wonder how many Taylor guitars United Airlines would give to Dave Carroll now that his scathing music video blasting the airline has been viewed 1.4+ million times on YouTube (as of this writing). What’s more, I wonder the level of regret UA has now that the popularity of the playfully acidic video has hit traditional media including big city papers and the major cable news channels.

A nice Taylor costs about $2,500. If I was in charge of customer service at United, I think replacing the guitar broken by baggage handlers with a nice collection of about a dozen new Taylors would be a nice gesture today. I’m sure they could have gotten off much easier had they admitted their apparent mistake and just replaced Mr. Carroll’s Taylor.

Too late.

United Airlines might have been able to ignore the voice of a single unhappy customer in the past. But businesses had better wake up to the fact that the voice of that single customer can now reach millions of potential customers via YouTube, Twitter, FaceBook and other social media channels. And when traditional news media gets wind of that groundswell, look out.

So what can businesses do? Is it enough to just treat customers as if they matter? Or do all businesses need to engage in brand monitoring via social media? Will online brand monitoring ever become as important as market research Or is it already?

Recently I was asked by a client to pull together some high-level social media statistics. I found some interesting facts from several different sources. I thought I would share. These stats are of course changing by the moment but this is a pretty good snapshot of the social media environment.

The next question is always… Why such growth and how should companies best to take advantage of these amazing statistics? Any thoughts? More to come soon.

Twitter:
- From March 08 – 09 Twitter grew at a rate of 2,565 percent – Nielsen. (Ning was number 2 at 283 percent.)
- Roughly 2.4 billion Tweets… on average about 11 million per day and growing – Giga Tweet

YouTube:
- 300 million users worldwide – YouTube.com
- 14.8 billion video “views” as of January 2009 – Comscore
- 147 million U.S. Internet Users watched on average 101 videos per person in January 2009 – Comscore
- Roughly 43 percent market share of video viewing as of January 2009 – Comscore

Facebook:
- As of February 2009 Facebook has the highest monthly active users of any social media site. – Compete.com
- 200 million active users. (Currently closer to 225 million)
- 100 million users log into Facebook daily

Jason Douglas

Spyder Trap Online Marketing

That’s the slogan twitter could go with, considering everything that has happened within the last couple weeks. It all started on June 12, with the Iran Election debacle with incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad being declared the winner over Mir-Hossein Mousavi with Mousavi claiming vote fraud. Since then, with many news outlets unable to report from Iran to discuss the current chaos, people have been relying on Twitter to communicate with the rest of the world, and has been at the top of twitter’s ‘trending topics’ section for the last week and a half.

That is, until yesterday happened. Twitter was where I, along with hundreds of thousands of others, found out about Farrah Fawcett’s passing. Though her passing was not a surprise, it was still a newsworthy event that created a lot of discussion. Fans paid tribute to her in their own ways on Twitter the entire morning. This story dominated the conversation and the ‘trending topics’ section until 4:40pm central standard time.

At that time, when I refreshed my twitter page, I noticed that Michael Jackson was #9 on the ‘trending topics’ section. Upon clicking it, I find that Jackson had been rushed to the hospital with cardiac arrest. The source was TMZ. I read the brief article, even refreshed it to make sure I was seeing things correctly. Upon the refresh, they had a new update about his condition. At 4:50, people on twitter were posting links to TMZ reporting Jackson’s passing. I instantly checked @cnnbrk, cnn.com and cnn.com/live, abcnews.com, nytimes.com, latimes.com, bbc.co.uk; a few of the mentioned sites were just breaking that he was sent to a hospital, with no further information. It was around 5:15 locally when some sites were finally reporting his passing. That is a 25 minute gap from when I found the story verifying his passing on twitter to when very reputable news sources reported it. Twitter had an overflow of people talking about is passing, and effectively crashed twitter for a few minutes. Jackson’s passing was 1-4 on the ‘trending topics’ right after, and currently holds six of the top ten topics: 1, 2, 4, 7, 8, and 9.

The above stories are only the most recent examples of how social media, in this case: twitter, kept myself and millions of others in the loop for current events of all types. I found out about former Minnesota Twins owner Carl Pohlad’s passing on twitter an hour before any local news sources reported it. I found out about US Airways Flight 1549 and the crash into the Hudson River from twitter. This image was taken by a person on a ferry, who was able to post it to his twitpic account. Anyone with a cell phone and an internet connection has the ability to be a reporter, and the ability to share their story instantly.

I will use twitter and the people I follow as my number one news source. Since twitter does not censor regulate what people say (freedom of speech), I still check more reputable news sites to get verification. Recently, there were false reports of Patrick Swayze’s passing that spread fast through the social media community. As with any news report, you must consider the source.

My choice source: twitter, the number one news source.

Mike Rynchek
Spyder Trap Online Marketing

Today I was asked to list out a few of the top reasons why social media should be outsourced versus managed internally. Since it was about the third time this week the question came up, I decided to address it in today’s blog post. This post speaks directly to the question of “should corporations participate in brand/product monitoring through social media channels? If so what are the benefits of outsourcing this work? Keep in mind, the goal of brand monitoring is to understand consumer trends both positive and negative as it relates to a specific product or service.

1. Unbiased Opinion – Outsourcing provides a perspective that cannot be created internally. Our data and analysis are not clouded by corporate-underpants, bias or politics. We simply gather the data, analyze it and tell the client what we think they should do with it.

2. Volume & Cost – As we all know, social media is unlike any other media in the respect that new data in the form of posts, videos and messages are always being created. You need eyeballs on it constantly. The cost associated with hiring the number of bodies required internally is generally much higher than simply outsourcing.

3. Time – Being able to identify the correct places to monitor is truly a skill in itself. The time it takes to gather and analyze the volume of information that is being obtained and then convert into action is usually too stifling for any company to take on in house. The analysis is really the value add that we provide for our clients. For example, we learned through social media brand monitoring that being called a “diabetic” is actually considered a derogatory term by many people, and they would prefer to be called “people with diabetes.” This is a major piece of information that doesn’t necessarily always come through in focus groups and common customer interactions. Other internal projects do not stand in the way of making sure this data is collected and analyzed.

4. Managing Engagement – Finally, unlike any other marketing tactic not responding to consumer engagement hurts and discredits the brand. If you decide to engage with an audience via social media, you need to be prepared to constantly be providing quality information, answering questions and engaging with new followers and users.

5. Strategy – What we bring to the table is very much unlike anything you could hire internally or outsource to one our competitors. For example; I recently presented X Factor to Fox and the CW and they were thrilled. They have heard the ‘we can get you on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace’ pitch a million times. What they have not heard (until yesterday) was a solid business strategy to make these vehicles work together while incorporating it into their business model, and tracking, quantifying and monetizing every step along the way. I probably should have put this first.

6. Best Practice Management – The rules of marketing are drastically changing and social media marketing is leading the shift. Questions such as how many messages are optimal depend on several factors such as: engagement of the audience, quality of the content or message or objective of the social media campaign. Most firms have found that it is much more cost effective to rely on the best practice knowledge of the social media firm rather than managing best practices internally.

Now you are probably thinking to yourself; that’s great but what is the cost associated with hiring an external vendor. I think you will be pleasantly surprised. In most cases you will find social media vendors are willing to be hired on a retainer or project basis for a reasonable fee, depending on the object.

To recap my recommended first step is to identify what your firm hopes to achieve through social media marketing, establish goals and objectives, and then consult a reputable vendor to help satisfy your objectives. Keep in mind the above and you are on the right path to a successful social media marketing campaign.

Jason Douglas
Spyder Trap Online Marketing

Yesterday, AdAge wrote about Kraft ‘s DiGiorno brand is launching a flatbread pizza line, and they are planning on using Twitter to do so. DiGiorno will be searching for Twitter users known as “influencers,” then delivering food to tweetups that are attended by people they deem as influencers.

This is not the first time that a product has been used with social media. Some of you may remember when Ford gave away 100 cars for a few months to “influencers” with the hope that positive buzz would spread throughout the social media world and turn into revenue. What real return did Ford get from that campaign?

There are other questions to consider here:

1) What return is expected from the twitter part of their campaign? I have attended a few tweetups; the average attendance in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area is around 40 twitter users. With the reach that Kraft and DiGiorno have, it is possible that more people would show up knowing food was provided. Even if 100 people show up to a tweetup, when does the idea show the ROI Kraft is looking for?

2) DiGiorno’s tagline: ‘It’s not delivery, it’s DiGiorno’. The whole point of the Twitter campaign is to deliver pizza to a tweetup. Does this go against their philosophy and how they have positioned their product?

3) How is Kraft determining who is an influencer? Kraft has hired Minneapolis-based agency Weber Shandwick to ‘reach out to the influential Twitter users who are willing to host tweetups in Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles. Tom Moe, director of marketing for the DiGiorno brand, when talking about what makes an influential twitter user: “(that) is something we’re in the process of working out with the folks at Weber.” Am I considered an influential person on twitter because I have near 500 followers? DiGiorno and Weber Shandwick have an interesting task here.

Will the Twitter aspect of their campaign work? If this shows a high level of success, will other companies follow suit, sponsoring tweetups and other social media networking events?

Glenn Seaberg
Spyder Trap Online Marketing

The Federal Trade Commission is moving quickly to limit speech on social media channels including Facebook and Twitter (FT.com). Can anyone be surprised? At first glance this appears another overreaching big government power grab. After all, social media has become a phenomenon that government neither created nor even predicted.

Pushing my stubborn cynicism aside, I’m cautiously changing my mind. It appears that the regulation is aimed at preventing commercial enterprises from corrupting the collective conversations held on social media. The regulation aims to prevent untruthful or fraudulent statements from those receiving compensation for those opinions. In other words, the days of companies secretly compensating “private” citizens for their “unbiased opinions” may be over.

However, anytime the government starts to regulate speech, I find myself becoming more and more skeptical. I’m left with questions to which I only have opinions, but no real answers. Is this a good move? Is it even necessary? Can social media participants police themselves? Can social media offer legitimate channels for commercial speech? Where does the role of government start and end with regard to social media?

Let me know what you think. Your comments will further this discussion on an important topic that will affect us all.

Brad Wellman
Spyder Trap Online Marketing

Today Research In Motion Ltd (RIM) – maker of BlackBerry devices – launched the BlackBerry App World, the official BlackBerry Application Store as their response to Apple’s iPhone/iPod Touch App Store. This doesn’t come as much of a surprise, as BlackBerry has been losing market share to both the Apple iPhone and Google G1 smartphones, both of which feature an application marketplace.

The BlackBerry App World features several free applications, from Social Media apps such as a Facebook, MySpace and AIM (sorry, no Twitter app…yet) to games, weather, and personal finance to name a few.  Purchasing apps is pretty simple, although users need a PayPal account first, as PayPal is handling all the billing for BlackBerry’s App World.  RIM is looking to work with carriers to allow users to make payments via their monthly bills.

Being brand new, the BB App World offers far fewer selections than Apple’s version. However, this should help BlackBerry grow in the future. Accordign to a post by TheMoneyTimes, “RIM said it expects about 1,000 applications to be posted on BlackBerry App World within a week. It is looking for applications from various partners including CC Media Holdings Inc.’s (CCMO) Clear Channel, Gameloft SA (GFT.FR), Viacom Inc.’s (VIAB) MTV Networks, the New York Times Co. (NYT) and Salesforce.com Inc. (CRM).”

So now that the long anticipated wait for BlackBerry Apps is over, what do you think of it? What are your favorite apps? What would you like to see in the future?

Mike Rynchek
Spyder Trap Online Marketing

Yesterday March 30, 2009 the social media phenomenon Twitter announced they changed the @replies tab to what is now being called “mentions.” Now whenever a follower mentions your @username in a tweet, you will receive the message. Previously the only way you would receive replies would be if a follower started the tweet with your @username, or by searching for your name on Twitter Search.

The new change comes with little surprise from Twitter users, especially those using third party clients such as Twhirl, which already displays mentions. Twitter states the change came as people started putting mentions in the middle of their tweets instead of the traditional beginning for the Tweet. Previous changes included linking the @ sign then user names to followers accounts. For more information about the new Twitter update check out the Twitter Blog.

Though a minor change overall (and a little late) I appreciate the fact that Twitter is considering, understanding and listening to how users are interfacing with their site. I also like the fact that Twitter is taking on these changes/improvements one step at a time instead of making multiple changes or worse yet a complete redesign of the interface. For those using the Twitter UI, this should be a welcomed change.

I know many users have expressed their want for a ReTweet button on the Twitter web UI. What other features would you like to see added to Twitter?

Jason Douglas
Spyder Trap Online Marketing

In recent months, social networking sites Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace, have gained notoriety for their ability to help people connect and interact with each other.  Whether you are connecting with a former high school or college classmate, or talking to someone across the world you have never met about a buzzworthy topic, the sites mentioned above are great at bringing people together.

Not too many people think of using the sites above as a way to generate leads on your job search.  They should, and people are taking notice.

This past weekend, Kare 11 aired a story about how social networking can help your job search.  The story highlighted how it is very important to be part of Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.  Many businesses and recruiters are part of these networks, along with many viable candidates for these jobs.  On occasion, employers may not list an open position on a site like Monster or Career Builder.  People that are not part of the social networking scene are missing out on opportunities that may be a great fit for them.

Social media is about being part of the conversation.  The conversation that job seekers want to be a part of is occurring on sites like Twitter and LinkedIn, among others.  In this economy, having every advantage is crucial in having a successful job search.  People that are on these networks are two steps ahead of everyone else.

Before this story aired, some college classmates of mine that were looking for work have come to me for advice.  The first thing I asked is if they are on Twitter and LinkedIn.  The overwhelming response to both was no.  They were not familiar with LinkedIn, which I feel is the future resume.  These social networks, especially LinkedIn, are professionally focused, keeping out the riff-raff that exists on Facebook and MySpace.  On LinkedIn, you are just a couple degrees separated from most people, which allows for a more personal introduction (which you can request).

Last week, I got a request from a college student who is looking for a job at a food retailer to connect her with a contact I knew at this food retailer.  After a message sent by me to my contact, my college student friend and my professional friend were connected and starting a relationship that may lead to future employment.  If both people were not part of LinkedIn, that connection would have been near impossible to create.  It sounds simple, and in most cases, can be that simple.

I have been on all of the above mentioned sites for at least a year, and have met many people that I now consider friends.  Even though my intent has never been to find a job using social media.  There are many people within my friend groups that are hesitant to join these networks, whatever their purpose may be.  Now that large news networks are recognizing the effectiveness and importance of social media and social networking, people may rethink their feelings about social media and become part of the conversation.

Connect with me on twitter: @jasondouglas

Connect with me on LinkedIn: Jason Douglas

Brad Wellman
Spyder Trap Online Marketing

So I recently stumbled upon the PepsiCo Zeitgeist, which if you haven’t seen already, I suggest you check out.

At first I was unsure what exactly I was seeing; it looked like nothing more than a glorified Twitter stream. But as I watched a little closer, I realized that the Twitter user streams were being categorized into different topics centered on the SXSW event in Austin, Texas.

I thought this was pretty cool, but what I found really neat was the “swarm” tab. “Swarm” uses Google Maps technology (similar to a previous post I wrote about Google Latitude) to collect GPS locations of Twitter users to show location-based tweets at different restaurants around Austin.

A “zeitgeist” is “the defining spirit or mood of a particular period of history as shown by the ideas and beliefs of the time,” and by definition I see why the PepsiCo site is titled the way it is. It really captures people’s real-time thoughts and feelings relating to events and places around SXSW.

However, besides the novelty of the site, how does this at all relate to PepsiCo? The site lacks any interactivity, as it simply shows a stream of visitors’ comments. Personally, I think a way to improve upon it would be to allow Twitter users to respond and interact with other Twitter users, by using the Zeitgeist as a type of forum.

We already saw something similar to this with Skittles, but the Skittles site focused on conversation surrounding the Skittles brand, whereas the Zeitgeist seems to have little to no relation to PepsiCo.

What are your thoughts about this? Is this the new wave in corporate branding?

Mike Rynchek
Spyder Trap Online Marketing

We are all fans of the rainbow colored candy Skittles but recently their website has taken on a bit of a different flavor. Check out www.Skittles.com and you will see that the site is now an overlay of their Twitter search page and various other social media sites. (Notably not MySpace…hmm…) Test it out, by tweeting about Skittles and watch it show up behind the site. Skittles didn’t stop there. If you click on “Images” you will be taken to their Flickr page. “Video”? Yup, redirected to the Skittles YouTube channel. Check out the “Friends” link, of course it links to Facebook. In my opinion, the most creative feature is that the product links connect you to their Wikipedia page.

So the question I pose to you Social Media fanatics and general consumers is this: “What do you think? Good idea/bad idea? Is this a cool concept that lacks function or a ground breaking new strategy that will revolutionize the branding industry as we know it?”

I will reserve my opinion for a later date.

PS – Thanks to Jason Douglas of Spyder Trap Online Marketing (@jasondouglas) for pointing this out.