If “Web 2.0″ was the next iteration of the web, is “Enterprise 2.0″ the next iteration of business? There seems to be some evidence to support this as not only a viable theory but a hugely important one. Under its current trajectory social media is going to lower internal corporate barriers and walls. This is largely because Social media provides a window into the customer’s life. The shift poses a huge marketing opportunity that has been widely documented. In much of the chatter something (important) has been ignored, what social media means to product designers. The problem Apple encountered with the iphone 4 wasn’t found by the media, it was found on the Social Web. Look at the data this 1 user provides, highlights the problem, explains how to recreate the problem and even how to avoid it.

As a designer you would be able to see the issue, test it yourself and save time on the fix just by watching what 1 guy figured out. It appears Apple knew about the problem when the product was lunched but if they didn’t the Social web had some answers. This week I came across and interesting study (thanks to.. @MikeDemler for pointing it out and @SAEintl for creating it) about how engineers are using social media. I don’t know the confidence intervals of this study but it is a sample of 1,153 completed surveys, with a 12.6% completion rate so it should be fairly representative of the class. Drilling down into the data there are some very interesting trends amongst engineers when it comes to social media…

#1 61% of engineers are using social media

#2 Of that group 55% are using Social Media for business purposes (at least some of the time)

This group represents a mindset that generally would not fit the classic techno-graphic profile of heavy social media users. This can be seen in the classes dirved from the study. Look closely at the youngest group in the study they are under 35. This indicates a strong slant toward an older group of respondents.

The question that this leads me to is “how is social media being used by this group of respondents?”…

Again there is something else shocking in these numbers (kind of)… 11% are using social media to solve problems, 10% are using social media to find new suppliers, and 20% use it to get technical information. To this (likely growing) group social media is a resource that actually drives real results.

Social media is a tool for use far beyond promotional marketing. Demonstratively it is a tool that can be used in product design, understanding distribution issues, and price point analysis. Social Media when listened to correctly can provide substantive insights into why products aren’t selling, and what the public thinks about them. That is just 1 area of Social Media and it has nothing to do with promoting everything to do with marketing!

This week has been interesting in Social media.. I think it already deserves a bullet point blog (its only Wednesday!?!)…

#1 Old spice Started having their spokesman respond to tweets via Youtube its working

Just one 1 of the many Videos

Twitter followers as of 12:30pm PST

#2 Ben and Jerrys decided to kill E-mail marketing and step into Social Media instead. Don’t get me wrong I love Social Media but this seems a little extreme to me. Its almost as if they have decided to stop doing print ads for TV… maybe budget issues were a concern.

#3 Facebook is extending their open graph to the mobile world. It looks like facebook is going to get into the Geolocation war at some point.

#4 Studies show that teens have Facebook fatigue but the site still experienced the highest traffic ever… This probably means that Grandmas are joining the site at alarming rates… or it was just par for the course.

#5 Twitter has decided it is going to make even more money with @earlybird. It is now apparent that while Facebook may have the users Twitter seems to have the dollars!

Last week Microsoft pulled the plug on the Kin experiment, leaving 503 users worried about the future of their service. Yes you read that correctly Microsoft sold 503 units in just a little over a month, I think that works out to 1 Prime Time ad per unit sold. What I find interesting about the Kin is every metric of success indicated people were interested in the product. Kins Facebook Page had over 200,000 fans! The ads were edgy, creative,and many even commented saying how cool they were.
Kin went wrong in a very simple way, it made life (seem) complicated. When I first saw the Ads I couldn’t sleep, the concept was that scary. Do I really want a total mashup of my Facebook feed, Twitter feed, my E-mail and my RSS? That thought which still gives me nightmares was at least one contributing factor.

The KIN probably suffered a bit because of the Microsoft brand (which has less street cred than a grandma) and the ambiguous concept of the Kin Suite (whatever that was). In case you think this phone may have been a good idea, watch this product demo and tell me you still want it!

Before coming to Nostrum I worked for 3 years in the B2B sector as a buyer. When I started working there it was the height of Myspace,  most people thought a Facebook involved an actual book, YouTube was just starting to take off, and twitter was a word for birdwatchers. Even in those early social days my industry was already social. There were (are) industry forums, blogs, videos, and even Myspace pages that were in wide use  (albeit often subversive use). The challenge for many was getting around internal site blocking software to get to the information which was so badly needed. Everyone had tips and tricks to get around a system. You might say we had a subversive network of buyers.  This wasn’t the best system (obviously) but management didn’t see the value in having an open (”dangerous”) web. Management also didn’t see the value in using social media…  The statistics in the following video should not be shocking.  Think about that subversive group of buyers, 4 years later many of them are finally getting into the management ranks. They understand the tools and they understand the potential,  and now they have the power to make changes. It stands to reason that B2B will expand the lead over B2C in Social Media over the next 5 years. Lead in part by a subversive group of buyers…

Some Facts and Figures To Consider For B2B Social Media Marketing

1. 81 % of B2B companies have accounts on social media sites compared to 67% of B2C
2. 75% of B2B brands participate in Twitter versus 49% of B2C
3. 54% of Chief Information Officers ban the use of social networking sites such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter at the workplace
4. 93% of all business buyers believe all companies should be on social media platforms
5. 85% of  of those buyers should use social media to engage and interact with them
6. 9 out of 10 buyers say that when they are ready to buy, they will come looking for you
7. Eight out of Ten  IT decision makers said word of mouth is the most important source when making buying decisions
8. 37% of B2B buyers asked questions on social media sites when looking for suggestions
9. 93% of B2B buyers use a search engine such as Google to begin the buying process
10. 74% of C- Level executives say that the internet is a very valuable source of information
11. Six out of  Ten C-Suite executives conduct more than six online searches a day
12. Managers in information technology are the top ranked users of the Web for information gathering
13. 49% of B2B marketers do not measure return on investment
14. 90% of marketing deliverables not used by sales
15. Sales generate 53% of their own leads and the marketing department provides only 24%

I saw someone comment on this today and decided to check it out. Facebook is beta testing English (Pirate) as a language. Playing with it for just a few minuets I cannot help but laugh every so often when I see something funny. See what I am talking about for yourself enjoy!

Want to enjoy some of this fun… Scroll down to the bottom of your Facebook page, click on English (US). A dialogue box will prompt you with a list of languages. You are then just 2 clicks away from Facebook being fun again via Pirate!

The first one of these videos went viral in no time… this second version has some cool new stats. Check it out!

Today at the facebook conference F8 an attempt to take over the world went on display. Today it became crystal clear that Facebook doesn’t just want to dominate social they want to dominate the web!

It seems like Facebook wants a like on every web page… personally I cant help but wonder how the IRS will fair on that front.

Facebook wants to eliminate Google as a search tool. This probably indicates a consumer e-mail format in the near future.

Facebook announced a very interesting collaborative effort with Microsoft… Docs.com. This is a full  attack on Google docs. Offering real time collaboration and document sharing online, the age of the cloud is very close.

Facebook connect is gone… now you just sign in with Facebook, and this has been extended to much smaller sites.

The days of being a fan are over…now everyone just likes stuff. As a result I will have a hard time following celeb pages. I can see it now “Mike likes Kobe Bryant” awkward….

If you paid attention a few months ago Facebook signed a partnership with Paypal… which will likely make them a huge player in the e-commerce biz.

The current make up of the digital landscape feels like this

Facebook V Google ::Google V Apple :: Microsoft V Apple

Apple V Amazon :: Microsoft V Google :: Google V Yahoo

Microsoft V Yahoo :: Yahoo V Facebook

Making Twitter::

This could be World War 3 depending on where you stand!

I’m not sure it sells shoes, but this ad is really causing a lot of conversations… What do you think??

Yup its a real thing… an actual movement to have the Internet win a Nobel Peace Prize… I wonder where the prize money would go?

Im not going to mock this because there are great minds behind this push.  I also think they have a valid argument about the Internets accomplishments… I just don’t know if I am on board.

Here is the manifesto.

What do you think?

I wonder how many industries are like publishing… reading their customers backward. If you listen your customers might be telling you that your brand has got it all wrong. Not sure what I am talking about… watch this.

I stumbled across a very interesting social media plan for the United States Air Force. It is a great guideline with clear action steps for any situation someone engaging in Social Media may find themselves in. Take a look!

Its a really brilliant plan from a resource one might not expect! I guess they are masters of strategy though, so maybe we should expect it.

Lesson: Don’t leave engagement up to chance!

Buzz has been alive and kicking for a full 2 weeks!  In my last blog I covered what buzz isn’t. Before I could explain what it was I needed to wait for some statistics to come out. Today the statistics came out and I am very proud to say I was right!

Buzz is a very important response to SEO bate and switches that have been haunting Google for years now. SEO companies have been creating page systems that look like content but are really just meaningless data. The goal of these systems is to create a complex system that pumps a client’s page to the top of Google’s organic search rankings.

Now that you understand the problem that Google is attempting to tackle with buzz lets talk about how it works.

1. The way many of these SEO systems work are through blogs that contain useless information and links.

2. Google reader has had a useless disconnected share feature for years. With buzz Google finally did something with it.
(Look at how much sharing Google has actually encouraged through)…

3. Using the shared reader data Google is able to add one more key matrix to SEO. Buzz allows Google to rank blogs on content.

4. Google is able to pull conversations around posts into its own ecosystem which will further benefit its SEO.

Finally Google is very aware of a huge change that hitwise highlighted a while back. In December for the first time ever Social Media sent more traffic to websites than searches… check it out

Google should be  worried because this is how they make their money. People click on the paid links by the millions and Google gets paid.

Next post: Dont Get Buzz 3… What Buzz means for Business

If you don’t get Google Buzz that’s ok because most people don’t. The network has merit and is important but you have to know what to expect.

Below is a list of things Google Buzz is not.. (Even though everyone is trying to say it is)

Buzz is not…

If you think you are joining another twitter you might be disappointed.  Twitter is great for engaging on conversations. On buzz conversations happen but in a different way. I have read the hundreds of blogs that say Buzz is Twitter+FriendFeed but they are wrong. I understand how the mistake can be made. To be honest I made the mistake and I was wrong.  Twitter is about short quick conversations happening at a rapid pace, it is a much different experience than having long engaged posts about content.

Buzz is not…

Facebook is a network that is locked down tighter than your grandmas lawn chair. Facebook is all about Privacy privacy privacy and more privacy! If you want to be found by only people that know you than this is the network for you. There are almost never any surprises on this network. You have your people that play games, the people that use it to post links only, the people who engage in conversations about how much they like sunglasses. Its a network of people who share stuff going on in their lives… that you know!

Buzz is not…

Sorry everyone that would declare buzz and friendfeed the same thing… they are not. Buzz may share some elements but it is something different. If you don’t use Google reader often/ don’t share stuff on it than this knock might not make sense. Google reader is what sets Google buzz apart. Google buzz has the best RSS integration ever. I can literally see the best of what people are reading in their RSS readers because they share it. I don’t have to find the links or blogs they are come to me.

Dont get me wrong buzz shares elements with these networks…

Open searches like Twitter

Full comment threads like Facebook

Buzz can even be a hub of Social media like Friendfeed

But to say one is like the other isnt really fair… In time people will figure out that Buzz is different… sadly that will take some time. If I were to point to any social network that buzz would be closest too I’d have to pick…

Or

More on that next time!

Google buzz is out! It was out yesterday however I didn’t have access until today. As with any new social network buzz is going to take time for it to find its place and function. Keep in mind that Google buzz is still a very young network (like 2 days old) clearly this means that it is not the final product. After using the product for about 15 minutes I think there is huge opportunity for business. However buzz is going to require engagement on the next level! Without a search feature you are going to need to be interesting to gain a following.

Some notes on Google Buzz

1. Google buzz does feature twitter “integration”. I put that in quotes because it will post your tweets to your buzz account. However buzz doesn’t use the O-auth or function like an API. Im not a fan of this because I always have and always will dream of the world when everything I want is on one dashboard… (I know there are a few sites that try but they are laggy and frustrating).

2. As far as I can tell google buzz lacks a searching feature … like twitter search which is ironic Apparently buzz does offer a twitter search look in comments blow great tip..

3. This is a network that will take some time to generate momentum… while this point may seem obvious… Google has millions of gmail accounts so some might assume an instant hit. However when you look at the bell curve gmail is nearing the laggard phase of adoption. That means many users are going to ignore it until everyone else figures it out.

4. Some evidence suggests that the product might be getting released a little ahead of schedule because of the so called “Facebook Titan project”. (Gmail v Facebook) This could be the reason why google buzz noticeably ignores Facebook as a social component.

5. There are many people suggesting that Google buzz will turn into a Digg or Reddit personally I cant imagine that google would have made such a large investment if that was the goal. The digg conclusion doesn’t seem logical because Google probably would have just purchased a company like it… (hipstr has been toying with selling for a while now)

If you are still wondering what the heck Im talking about here is a quick video about Google buzz…

In case you missed it the Grammys were on CBS last night. I say in case because not many people missed them, the ratings were up 33%… I was part of that 33%.

My wife and I weren’t going to watch the Grammys, neither of us ever have. In general we are not huge fans of award shows and our dial rarely ever goes below Channel 4.  However last night something happened. As we were on twitter and Facebook we took notice of all the post’s talking about how crazy this Gaga person looked. Other posts were highlighting how amazing the Black Eyed Peas did, and still others that poked fun at every opportunity.  It was at that moment we realized we had a choice watch the Grammys or find ourselves irrelevant.

Last night CBS added eyes via Social media are you?

About 15 hours ago Haiti the poorest country in the world was devastated by a 7.5 earthquake. Literally every hospital has been evacuated or destroyed. Almost every government building has been destroyed including the presidential palace and parliament. I was glued to my TV this morning as the photos and stories started to come in, it is totally shocking and sad.

I couldn’t help but wonder what I could do to help these people so I did some research and thought I would share.

I will try to keep this list updated in the coming days but here are some ways you can help.

The Red Cross already has a donation site up
The Salvation Army also has information on their site up
If you know a nurse that wants to help have them check out National Nurses United
Finally check out this Orphanage called Three Angels Children’s relief
The U.S. State department has a text program up Text “Haiti” to 90999 and automatically donate $10 (click link for details)
NPR just posted links to websites where people can take go for info on how to help

Please comment with other suggestions and ways to help.

Last week I stumbled across a headline that I only expected to see about pending litigation. The headline prominently featured Google and major players in the recording industry. As I gave it a glace I came to learn about a strange/ intriguing website that debuted last week, Vevo. Vevo is a joint venture between major recording companies and Google using the same Ad supported philosophy as Hulu.

Vevo has been called everything from the enemy of good, to the savior of traditional media or at least the music industry. While Vevo is undeniably controversial (a google blog search will amply show this), the site is really a non player at this point. Vevo still has technical issues (in its first week) which bog it down for what the site will be. The site also doesn’t boast nearly the content it will in the coming months.

My personal (Mike) take on the site is critics and supporters are jumping the gun. The site has a glut of cool features, and a ton of potential. However Vevo doesn’t have an identity because its still too new.  It looks like the site will reach a very commendable $25 CPM this week but will that price have staying power?

Its too soon to tell.

Over all I think the site has a ton of potential but is still just over halfway there. If this is the final product its a 50/50 shot for success. If Vevo continually improves and adds features…things could get musical. … (really cheesy I know)