Banyan Branch

Here’s your weekly roundup of major news points from the social sphere:

• Facebook officially signed papers for an IPO, possibly coming in May. See reactions to Facebook’s IPO here. Can the social network keep growing?

• Pinterest is now on par with Twitter and Google for referral traffic.

• Facebook debuts a Timeline Movie Maker for its new profile layout.

• Twitter updated its policies on censorship in various countries. Founder Biz Stone explains how here.

• How many of your tweets are actually worth reading?

• Facebook‘s profile changes have boosted visits to its partner sites.

• Twitter rolls out branded pages to more companies, including NBC and Al Jazeera.

• President Obama hosted the first-ever presidential Google+ Hangout, fielding questions from YouTube, G+ and more.

• What did Seattleites tweet about during the snow & ice storm last month? KIRO TV included our snowpocalypse analysis here.

• Best Buy trades in celebrities for tech innovators from Instagram and Square for this year’s Super Bowl commercial.

• Which Super Bowl team is winning in social? ESPN breaks it down, with a little help from us!

• Bill Gates hosted a live webcast yesterday, fielding questions on the Gates Foundation’s latest efforts:

A Conversation with Bill Gates: Global Development Opportunities from The Gates Notes on Vimeo.

• While Apple gains in the smartphone market, Android still dominates.

• Microsoft lays off a part of its marketing staff in a restructuring of its marketing efforts.

• Google updates its privacy policy, and Microsoft takes the opportunity to show its advantages over the updates.

• YouTube looks at subscription-based services for its channels.

• Tumblr looks to hire writers and editors to talk about…Tumblr.

• Twitter and ExactTarget set up camp at the Super Bowl as a real-time hub for marketers during the big game.

• Looking to ramp up your social media strategy this year? Check out our list of suggestions for balancing your social media diet, and Soshable’s reading list.

• Need to refresh your Twitter background? We’ve updated our handy guide to creating backgrounds for Twitter.com to reflect the new profile layout!

• We took a look at LinkedIn for brands in our latest “What’s the Hype?” post. Get your company page up to speed with these latest features.

Have a great weekend!

Written by Derek Belt, senior content manager

The Super Bowl has long been an exciting part of our national identity, and thanks to social media the past few years have really kicked off a new level of fan interaction with the game.

Last year, the Super Bowl truly went social. From the more than 4 million tweets shared during the game to the advertisers who pre-released their multi-million dollar spots before the game on YouTube and Facebook, 2011 ushered in a new era of Super Bowl marketing. And we, the fans, are better off because of it.

What’s in store for this year’s game? To fully understand what the 2012 Super Bowl has to offer, let’s take a quick look back at what took place last year. Then, we’ll explore just how fans can get the most out of Super Bowl XLVI, featuring the New England Patriots and New York Giants.

Year in Review—Twitter Gives Ads a Boost

Online conversation surrounding the 2011 Super Bowl was up 9% over the previous year, which isn’t a surprise considering how vocal football fans are. This group is one of the most active on social networks—see the record-setting tweets about Tim Tebow (9,420 tweets per second) and the fact that in 2011 the Green Bay Packers’ win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLV was the second most-popular Facebook status update in the world behind the death of Osama bin Laden.

The 2011 game saw more than 4.5 million total tweets and roughly 4,000 tweets per second at its peak, as many viewers took to their mobile devices to talk extensively about the commercials, Christina Aguilera’s botched rendition of the national anthem, the wild halftime performance by the Black Eyed Peas, and, of course, the football game itself.

Best Buy, Doritos and Paramount’s teaser for Transformers 3 all garnered nearly 50,000 mentions on Twitter in the six-hour period surrounding the game, while Pepsi Max got the greatest lift from its spot and boosted its social media shares by 3,000%. Many of these brands released their marketing spots before the game even started, building significant buzz in advance of the big day.

Social Media Warms Up the Crowd

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Written by Katy Balatero, research analyst, with infographics by Adam Cornille.

Two weeks ago on January 18th, Seattle suffered a blizzard of epic proportions received 4-7 inches of snow, followed by a day of freezing rain that paralyzed the city.

In Seattle we love our coffee strong, our beer bitter, our indie rock bands bearded — and we absolutely love to talk about snow on the rare occasion that it occurs. I took a look at over 10,000 tweets about snow in Seattle from January 11-January 22, 2011, to see what the buzz was all about.

Not surprisingly for a hilly city that becomes treacherous with only a couple of inches of snow and ice, transportation was a major topic of conversation. Out of total tweets about driving a car, bussing, biking, or walking, driving a car was by far the most popular topic, boosted partly by Twitter users who were angry at an LA Times article that criticized “wimpy” Seattle drivers. A few intrepid Seattleites shared information about making DIY studded snow tires … for bikes!

*Percentages are out of total tweets mentioning driving, bussing, biking, or walking

People playing hookey from work or school took to the outdoors en masse; “snow day” was mentioned in 3% of total tweets. Here at Banyan Branch we worked from wherever we could find an Internet connection – social media continues despite acts of weather, of course – with occasional breaks to play in the snow. Below are graphs showing snow sports and other popular snow activities ranked by volume of tweets, with sledding and building snowmen/women getting the most attention.

*Percentages are out of total tweets mentioning these sports.

*Percentages are out of total tweets mentioning these activities.

Seattle is a collection of neighborhoods, each with distinct characteristics. I was curious which ‘hoods were tweeted about the most during the snowy week.

*Percentages are out of total tweets mentioning these neighborhoods.

Popular sledding neighborhood Capitol Hill was mentioned in twice as many tweets as Queen Anne Hill – both are home to some of the steepest sections of street in Seattle. Creative sledders grabbed whatever they could find, from pieces of cardboard boxes to kayaks, sofas, and even wheelchairs.

After a long day of braving the elements, what could be better than finding somewhere warm and cozy and drinking a tasty beverage? Below were the most popular beverages in Twitter discussion:

*Percentages are out of total tweets mentioning these beverages.

Perhaps not surprisingly, coffee was the drink of choice. As Twitter user @NickGravelyn put it:

Here’s your weekly roundup of major news points from the social sphere:

• President Obama adds Google+ Hangouts and Quora to his social media mix, taking questions on both platforms for his State of the Union address earlier this week.

• Could we see the Facebook IPO next week? Maybe!

• Facebook Timeline finally rolls out to all users. Need help figuring out the different features? Check out our guide.

• ExactTarget does away with CoTweet and replaces it with SocialEngage.

• Facebook and our home state, Washington, sue an alleged “Click-jacker“

• SoundCloud reaches over 10 million registered users.

• Research in Motion (RIM) replaced its co-CEOs this week.

• Vimeo shifts its focus on sharing content in its redesign.

• Over 100,000 visitors came to Reddit on Monday, setting a new record for the site.

• FormSpring comes to Android phones.

• Twitter translation comes to right-to-left languages.

• Apple announces an astounding $46 billion quarter.

• How exactly has Google profiled you? Check it out in your Ads Preferences.

• Google launched a new privacy policy this week. What’s changed?

• Looking to ramp up your social media strategy this year? Check out our list of suggestions for balancing your social media diet, and Soshable’s reading list.

• Need to refresh your Twitter background? We’ve updated our handy guide to creating backgrounds for Twitter.com to reflect the new profile layout!

• We took a look at LinkedIn for brands in our latest “What’s the Hype?” post. Get your company page up to speed with these latest features.

Have a great weekend!

We’re delighted to be a partner in the Seattle Metro Chamber’s IN-NW 2012 conference! Seattle may be known as a hotbed for coffee, tech and retailers like Nordstrom and Costco, but the region is also home to a strong community moving the needle in social media.

The Seattle Metro Chamber and 206Inc have created IN-NW 2012, a not-so-traditional conference, taking place on Wednesday, February 15th from 9:00a.m. to 5:00p.m. at Showbox SoDo.

IN-NW 2012 will take a look at exactly what’s happening in the world of social engagement today, and what will help influence what will be in the future. IN-NW 2012 will:

INSPIRE creativity and thought leadership
INFORM participants with best practices
INSTIGATE action throughout everyone’s respective online communities

People are talking, tweeting, posting, pinning and tumblr-ing about what’s happening right now – let’s look towards what will be next.

For full details, current speaker lineup and registration, visit the Seattle Metro Chamber event page.

Follow IN-NW on Facebook and Twitter.

See you there!

Three years ago, Jeremiah Owyang started the annual Community Manager Appreciation Day. “Community Manager” is the term used for those social media professionals who execute on the following four key responsibilities: community advocate, brand evangelist, savvy online communicator, and involvement in shaping future products. It’s a lot to handle with the quickly-evolving landscape, and we salute every one of you.

Social Fresh prepared this handy infographic to outline the current profile of community managers around the country.

Infographic by SocialFresh

Download the “Community Manager Report” whitepaper at Social Fresh for more info on the current state of this crucial role!

Here’s your weekly roundup of major news points from the social sphere:

• SOPA is withdrawn after a major online blackout and protests on Wednesday.

• Apple gets into the textbook game with iBooks 2 for iPad.

• Facebook launched Timeline app integrations via Open Graph from over 60 companies, including Pinterest, eBay & Ticketmaster.

• HootSuite surpassed 3 million users this week.

• The AP revises its social media guidelines for the third time in less than a year.

• Could Twitter be considering a traditional TV & print advertising campaign soon?

• Vevo is in talks with Facebook to stream on the social network.

• Posterous adds privacy controls to its Spaces.

• According to Google CEO Larry Page, Google+ has over 90 million users and over 80% log on daily.

• Quora now lets you follow users and topics.

• YouTube plans to launch a new player complete with thumbnail previews and storyboards. Meanwhile, it’s also updating its subscriber counts for accuracy – which means you could lose some!

• Who’s the GOP frontrunner according to Twitter this week?

• Facebook‘s opposition of SOPA prompts Mark Zuckerberg to tweet for the first time in two years!

• Who are some of the top brands on Twitter, Facebook & Google+? Take a look.

• Looking to ramp up your social media strategy this year? Check out our list of suggestions for balancing your social media diet, and Soshable’s reading list.

• Need to refresh your Twitter background? We’ve updated our handy guide to creating backgrounds for Twitter.com to reflect the new profile layout!

• We took a look at LinkedIn for brands in our latest “What’s the Hype?” post. Get your company page up to speed with these latest features.

Have a great weekend!

While marketers might focus their time and spend on Facebook, Twitter and other major social sites, there’s still something to be said about LinkedIn. Though maybe not as press-worthy, LinkedIn has persevered as the social network for business professionals. Many who spend time on LinkedIn do not generally spend much time on other social networks, and are definitely there strictly for business purposes.

With over 119 million users and counting, plus recent upgrades to brand resources, LinkedIn is a potential gold mine for target marketing as well as recruiting.

Let’s take a look at the various resources now available to brands on LinkedIn.

Your official company page

This might be a no-brainer, but in case you haven’t logged on to LinkedIn since before summer 2011, take the time to create and fill out your brand’s official company page. Make sure all of the info, from your company’s description, employees and links to other properties are correct. Put some time and care in filling out your product offerings, and select the keywords you want to associate with your products & services (this will be helpful not just for potential employees, but vendors, clients and SEO purposes as well.)

Ads

Just like with Facebook ads and sponsored stories or Twitter’s sponsored tweets and hashtags, LinkedIn’s beefed up its brand offerings by allowing self-serve advertising. Taking your all-time CTR and bids, LinkedIn creates a quality score for your apps similar to Google AdWords. You can target, split test and adjust your LinkedIn ads just as you would with other online ad buys, and your minimum daily spend is only $10.

Linked apps

If your brand makes use of Google Docs, blogging, SlideShare, online portfolios and more, you should definitely connect LinkedIn Apps to your company profile. This is an easy way to integrate things you’re already doing as a brand with your company page. Those who follow your brand on LinkedIn can see your latest blog posts, speaking presentations, webinars and more.

Twitter

Another small but impactful tip: if you’re making most of your updates over on Twitter, connect it with your company page on LinkedIn so your LI followers will see the latest too.

Answers

LinkedIn Answers, like Quora, is a way for your business to get answers from the public as well as a way to share knowledge and expertise on various topics.

Groups

The oldest and most popular feature on LinkedIn, Groups are an easy way to engage in discussions with consumers, bloggers and other professionals who have interests in product and service categories that matter to you. If getting involved in forums is useful but difficult to work into your schedule, use LinkedIn groups to find out what people are saying about topics your brand is interested in.

Events

Use your online activity to expand your networking offline too. LinkedIn Events are a good way to find industry events, meet potential partners or clients, and promote your brand’s upcoming events or sponsorships.

Just like you’re doing with Facebook, Twitter and the like, make sure you are making it easy for your LinkedIn audience to understand your brand’s offerings, read about your latest news and communicate with your brand.vWhether it’s for making your next great hire, improving your SEO or expanding your lead generation opportunities, LinkedIn is no doubt a valuable resource.

Have any questions on using LinkedIn for business? Email us at info@banyanbranch.com!

Follow Banyan Branch on LinkedIn.

Resources: SocialFresh & LinkedIn

As marketers look to spend more of their budget this year on online advertising, it’s clear that social media’s cemented its place as an essential piece of brand marketing. Take a look at how brands have advertised over the past few decades in this infographic by InfoLinks:

Image via InfoLinks

Here’s your weekly roundup of major news points from the social sphere:

• Google debuted “Search + Your World” this week, further integrating its own Google+ network into search results and possibly putting Facebook and Twitter at a disadvantage.

• Could we see a billion Facebook users and over 500 million Twitter users this year? It’s possible!

• Facebook is capturing more share of brands’ online spending this year.

• How are marketers spending money on Twitter? Find out here.

• First Lady Michelle Obama joined Twitter this week.

• With the London Olympics approaching, volunteers are receiving strict “No Tweeting” orders.

• How much does the average LinkedIn user make?

• Spotify breaks hearts by ending its free unlimited streaming service.

• Vimeo launched mobile apps for iPhone & Android this week at CES.

• Want to be a YouTube official music publisher? You have through this weekend to sign up!

• Reddit plans to shut down for 12 hours next Wednesday in protest of SOPA.

• You have Klout…but do you have Kred?

• Ever wonder who spends their time in online gaming?

• Bing overtakes Yahoo in search queries for the first time.

• Turn off your iPhone at the Symphony, or this might happen!

• China halts iPhone sales after crazy riots.

• Who are some of the top brands on Twitter and Pinterest? Take a look.

• Instagram traffic continues to grow each month.

• Looking to ramp up your social media strategy this year? Check out our list of suggestions for balancing your social media diet, and Soshable’s reading list.

• We are so grateful to be included in Forrester Research Inc.’s 2011 report by Sean Corcoran, “How to Choose the Right Partners for Social Media Marketing.”Check out the report here!

Have a great weekend!