11 Social Media New Year’s Resolutions For 2011

Here really is a very good article and one that should be forwarded away as much as possible. Yes, it is another article about social media and yes, all the points Greg Finn makes you have read before and yet, most of us, myself included, even though we do know better, do not make enough of an effort to keep up with social media.

It is true that the simple fact of keeping up with what is new is time consuming and therefore we find it difficult to keep our social media account active, organized and up to date. That said, all these are extremely efficient marketing tools and most of them are free and when they are not, they are extremely cheap compare to the more classic methods.

I won’t be going through all of his resolutions, but he made 4 points, which I thought were really important:

1) Market your social accounts. It is truly surprising that so many companies do not use all the tools to integrate their social media account within their own website… again, easy ad free! It is equally important to market it offline!

2) Claim your social name on new network. If a new web was to be launched, uww. for example (Universal Wide Web), everyone will instantly go and buy their respective domain names and yet when a new social platform starts, a lot of people don’t bother registering their company name until the site get some traction. I would imagine quite a few people will have (or already had) bad surprises which can easily be avoided.

3) Increase your video presence. Video are quite easy to make now and more and more popular, especially with speedier Internet access!

4) Test location based social network. The entire web might be to big for some people but now it doesn’t have to be! Almost all the social media platform are launching “local” services and they are an extremely useful tool to get in touch with your immediate and local clientele…

Here are Greg Finn’s 11 Social Media resolution for 2011

1 Keep Building & Improving Your Customer Service
2 Market Your Social Accounts As Often As Possible (Even In Other Marketing)
3 Improve Your StumbleUpon Presence
4 Test Social Advertising
5 Take a closer look at podcast
6 Claim your social names on new network
7 Make Sure You Have A Social Analytics Program That Is Working For You
8 Leverage Video Sharing Sites
9 Keep Rewarding Loyal Fans With ‘Social-Only’ Exclusives
10 Test your location based social media
11 Leverage Your Offline Presence To Boost Your Online Social Accounts

Read the full article here

6th Sense in the Hospitality Industry

6th sense in the hospitality industry on Prezi

Six social media trends for 2011, according to Harvard Business Review

 Mr David Armano, in his article for the HBR makes quite a few very good points and I have to say that his analysis of the market trends for 2011 are looking rather spot on. That said, social media are moving so fast that, it is unlikely a new “type” of social media would not rise by the end of the year…

Out of the six possible trends Mr Armano is proposing, I found trends 1 (It's The Integration Economy, Stupid) and 6 (Social Functionality Makes Websites Fashionable Again) to be pretty much the same and with the rise of social media (SM), it is to be expected that big brands would seriously consider SM to be one of the most important factor for growth in the next few years. They will, I’m sure, invest heavily, both time and money, on social media.

Trend 2 (Tablet & Mobile Wars Create Ubiquitous Social Computing) was on the cards since the launch of the iPad and can only be good news for us consumers, as prices will fall sharply as soon as all the tablets are launched. This time Apple did not get that much of a head start…

Trends 3 (Facebook Interrupts Location-Based Networking) and 5 (Google Doesn't Beat Them, They Join Them) could also be one and the same. Facebook fighting with all his might (and ressources) to get as much of foursquare “location” market share and google getting a few more fingers in a few more pies is  not so much of a trend than a tradition!

However, trend 4 (Average Participants Experience Social Media Schizophrenia) will definitely be the one to watch! Not only having so many usernames and password is a bit of an annoyance but it also makes you think about which social network s worth using and which are worth dropping. The problem for SM is that the more people are using them the more attractive they are but it is also true the other way around and I think in 2011, we might witness the fall of more than one social media…

http://www.hotelmarketing.com/index.php/content/article/six_social_media_trends_for_2011_according_to_harvard_business_review

You can view the full article here: http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2010/12/six_social_media_trends_for_20_1.html

Are Google, Facebook and Apple monopolizing the web?

Are Google, facebook and apple getting to big for the web? Are they a danger to the web as we know it?

These really are interesting questions. And the answer is probably “yes”. Maybe not today, but they will certainly become too big at some point! Unlike the person writing the article, I am not sure I would compare Google and facebook to totalitarian governments and after all, if you do not want to have a facebook account, well, no one is forcing you to have one! I also disagree with the idea that freedom of information means that everything must be available to everyone. Having a private online group if you so desire, isn’t that what freedom is all about? When Berners-Lee thought the web, wasn’t that the all point? Share what you will… or don’t, it surely must be up to us to decide what of our private life must be available for public viewing and what you would prefer to remain private (or within a private circle).

I think the real danger is not the companies on the web but rather the internet providers. In Paris for example, I find it very difficult to find a truly “free” internet connection. Almost everywhere, you need to have a password and username to connect to internet, therefore telling the “man” who you are and where you are when you are connected. If providers were allowed to get too big, they would probably be able to dictate which sites you would be able to access, and worst of all, which sites need to be censored… There I think lies the real danger!

http://www.hotelmarketing.com/index.php/content/article/are_google_facebook_and_apple_monopolizing_the_web

Website Analysis

Soho rockwell

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The Impact of smart phone on the travel market

I think this article really was an interesting piece but I have to say, I think their study is rather limited. Yes, their studies show that people would like to use their phone check flight times and book hotels rather than update their facebook status but don’t this people know that you can already do that? Asked what sort of application they would like, and they answered apps with weather forecast and restaurant reviews… seriously??? These apps have been on the market for ages already, both in free and paying format! This really makes me wonder how they choose their panel!

Anyhow, after reading this article, I started to look at how the smart phones could really impact the travel market and I found some pretty cool stuff!

Some airline are now offering mobile boarding pass, meaning that you check in online through your mobile phone, choose your seat, you meal preference and all sorts of other options, then you receive a e-boarding pass (2-D barcode image) on your phone. You just need to present it at security like you would with a regular boarding pass except that now you are “paper free”…

Other companies are now offering the possibility of paying with your mobile, the amount is debited from your mobile phone account rather than your bank account. Not a mind blowing revolution but not having to type your credit card number through your phone can only be a good thing and I quite like the idea of getting extra “point” with my phone provider…

Application in the very near future will know where you are and will automatically tell you where are the best restaurants or attractions and how to get there from you stand. Other apps will let you know to get inside within 5 minutes because it is about to rain where you are in 6 minutes, or while walking in a foreign city, the compass will know which direction you are facing and the apps will tell you what you are looking at!

I only search the net for 5 minutes but already I think these I much more interesting options and much more important for the future of the travel industry and I am pretty sure most of these apps will be obsolete by the time you read this…

The Impact of smart phone on the travel market

Charlotte Street Hotel Google Search Review

Csh

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